On March 2010, Portugal chooses their representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway. The regulations for this year's Festival da Canção are now online on RTP.
The 46thFestival da Cançãowill consist of two Semi-Finals and a Grand Final, all held in Lisbon (Campo Pequeno). In each of the Semi-finals 12 songs will take partand only six of these willqualify to theGrand Final,a total of 12finalists.
The performer or performers, and the author or authors of the lyrics must have Portuguese nationality and the lyrics of the song must be written in Portuguese. Thecomposer(s) may be Portuguese or foreign. The deadline for submission of the demos of songs will be the 15th of January 2010 (inclusive).
After receiving all applications, RTP will appoint a panel composed of three professionals related to music and television that will evaluate the submissions and choose 30 songs to be posted on the broadcaster's official website for the public to vote online between January 19th and 26th 2010. The 24 most voted songs willqualify for the two Semi-Finals.
Two respected producers appointed by RTP, together with the performers and authors of the song, will shape the final song in the competition. In both Semi-Finals the qualifiers will be selected by televoting. Lines will open atthe beginning of the first song and will close 15 minutes after the last, just like in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.
The Grand Final will have a mixed voting by national juries of each district and televote at a 50/50 split.
The full regulation can be found here.
