The Portuguese national final Festival da Canção 2008 takes place this Sunday 9 March and ten songs will compete for the right to represent Portugal at the 53rd Eurovision Songcontest in Belgrade. You can read here a preview of what can be expected from each song and from the show.
Last Wednesday, RTP held a press conference to present all the producers, authors and performers, but no songs were made public. Only the lyrics are by now available at RTP’s Festival da Canção website. You can read them and check more information on the entries here (only in Portuguese).
The show will start at 20.30 CET and will be broadcasted by RTP and RTP international. It is also be webcasted. The host will be for the first time Sílvia Alberto, who has presented the last edtitions of “Dança Comigo” and “Operação Triunfo”. For the postcards and the interval act the performers will sing past Eurovision Songcontest hits such as "Waterloo", "Hallelluiah" and "Everyway thatI can". Sabrinal will make a special appearance delivering the prize to the winner.
Here are the songs according to the draw by RTP:
1 – Marco Machado – Em Água e Sal
The producer Elvis Veiguinha selected a fado singer called Marco Rodrigues to perform his song. The lyrics are by a renowned portuguese writer Ines Pedrosa and the music by a music producer also linked to fado called Tiago Rodrigues. However, the producer has reveiled that the song will not have a fado sonority. “Água e sal” is described as a “powerful song” with the presence of classical music arrangements.
2 – Carluz Belo – Cavaleiro da Manhã
Composed, written and sung by Carluz Belo, the song has musical influences of various origins: portuguese, african and brazilian. The performer will be backed on stage by a trio of singers originally from a gospel choir, a female dancer and a bagpipe player.
3 – Big Hit – Por ti Portugal
The group BIG HIT is composed by four male singers: Pedro, Luís, Gonçalo and Carlos. The song will be uptempo and the lyrics will talk about the importance of being proud to be Portuguese.
4 – Lisboa não sejas francesa – Porto de Encontro
The group 'Lisboa não sejas francesa' has been recentely created and is fronted by Joana Melo, a former Operação Triunfo finalist. The song "Porto de Encontro" will combine traces of electronic music and traditional indstruments such as banjo, accordeon and drums. The lyrics talk about the loss and the return of the loved one in the sea.
5 – Vânia Fernandes – Senhora do Mar
Vânia Fernandes is the winner of the last edtition of the talent show Operação Triunfo. The song composed by Andrej Babic and written by Carlos Coelho is a strong ballad with a prayer to the “Lady of the Sea”. The author describes it as a “mediterranean ballad” with a bolero structure and the presence of the mandoline and other string instruments. On stage, Vania will be backed by five colleagues on the show which give the song a strong chorus.
6 -Vanessa – Do outro lado da vida
Vanessa is back to the national final with “a song that will perfectly suit her voice”, as the producer Nuno Feist announced. It is a powerful ballad that talks about the need to look to the other side of life beyond negativity. In 2007, Vanessa and Henrique Feist ended up in third place with “Além do sonho”.
7 – Ricardo Soler – Canção Pop
Ricardo Soler finished second behind Vania in the final of Operação Triunfo and is known for having a powerful vocal range. He was highly praised for his falsetto by the jury. The title of the song says it all. This is a pop song with simple lyrics and a catchy hook.
8 – Alex Smith – Obrigatório ter
Alex Smith is also one of the participants of the talent show. He made it to the top 5. The producer behind the song is back after many years. His most successful song was “Sempre (há sempre alguém)” which won in 1990 sung by Nucha. Jan Van Dijck summarises the song as “cheerful and uplifting”.
9 – Tucha – O poder da mensagem
The author of the song Ménito Ramos tried to compose and write a song that will create an immediate reaction in the audience. “O poder da mensagem” will have an energizing beat and the lyrics will talk about the willing of the Portuguese to go further and raise their voices. Tucha will be accompanied on stage by three dancers and two female backing singers.
10 – Bla Bla Bla – Magicantasticamente
The group Bla Bla Bla is composed by three members (Joana Almeida, Joana Dobrões and Francisco)and was created specifically for the national final to perform this song. The title is a mix of words “magico” (magic) and “fantástico” (fantastic). A bubbly and funny performance can be expected from this trio.
Festival da Canção 2008 will take place at Teatro Camões in Lisbon. Esctoday.com would like to wish all the best to the competitors and thank Mr. José Poiares from RTP for the co-operationin the past few months.
