Semi-final 1 of Festival da Canção 2017 has now concluded in Portugal this evening and we now know our first 4 finalists of the festival!

This evening, we heard the first 8 semi-finalists performing their entries live to the public and jury for the first time.

Back in December 2016, the Portuguese national broadcaster RTP confirmed the names of the 16 composers shortlisted to produce entries for the festival, with each composer being given the responsibility of selecting a singer to perform their written entry.

RTP went on to confirm that the previous strict Festival da Canção language rule was set to be abolished from the festival, meaning that artists and composers are now eligible to perform their entries in a language of their choice.

Semi-final 1 results

Following tonight’s 8 performances from the first semi-final, it was down to a combined 50% televote and 50% regional jury vote to determine which 4 acts should qualify to the final of the festival next month.

The jury vote was the first to be revealed this evening, with Salvador Sobral receiving the 12 points. Viva La Diva was the second favourite of the jury, whilst Deolinda Kinzimba was third.

However following the combination of the televote, the scoreboard changed; Viva La Diva received the public’s 12 points followed by Fernando Daniel with 10 points and Salvador Sobral with 8 points.

The results of evening were as follows:

1. Viva La Diva – Nova glória (Jury: 10 points / Televote: 12 points / Combined: 22 points)
2. Salvador Sobral – Amar pelos dois (Jury: 12 points / Televote: 8 points / Combined: 20 points)
3. Fernando Daniel – Poema a dois (Jury: 7 points / Televote: 10 points / Combined: 17 points)
4. Deolinda Kinzimba – O que eu vi nos meus sonhos (Jury: 8 points / Televote: 4 points / Combined: 12 points)
5. Golden Slumbers – Para perto (Jury: 6 points / Televote: 5 points / Combined: 11 points)
6. Lisa Garden – Without you (Jury: 4 points / Televote: 7 points / Combined: 11 points)
7. Rui Drumond – O teu melhor (Jury: 3 points / Televote: 6 points / Combined: 9 points)
8. Márcia – Agora (Jury: 5 points / Televote: 3 points / Combined: 8 points)

Receiving the fewest amount of votes were Márcia, Rui Drumond, Lisa Garden and Golden Slumbers who are therefore eliminated from the competition.

Tonight’s winners will be joined by next week’s 4 qualifiers from semi-final 2 of the festival, all of whom will perform once again on the 5 March for the right to represent Portugal at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest this coming May in the host city of Kyiv.

Festival da Canção 2017 agenda

• 19/02: Semi-final 1
• 26/02: Semi-final 2
• 05/03: Final