RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster has published the rules and regulations for the forthcoming Portuguese Eurovision 2018 national selection – Festival da Cançao.
The 2018 edition of Festival da Cançao (FdC) will consist of 3 shows which will be aired on 18, 25 February (semi-finals) and 4 March (Grand Final).
The first 2 shows of FdC 2018 will be held at the RTP studios in Lisbon whilst the grand final will be travelling outside the Portuguese capital, namely to Guimarães. We will be heading to the north of Portugal in order to select the 2018 Eurovision hopeful who will follow Salvador Sobral’s footsteps.
How will RTP select the entries?
A total of 20 acts will fight for the right to represent Portugal at the forthcoming 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. 10 acts will compete in one of the 2 semi-finals, thus 5 songs from each semi-final will proceed to the Grand Final.
- 17 entries will be submitted by established composers invited by RTP, the same mechanism used by the Portuguese broadcaster in 2017. The composers will be be free to select the singer/s for the national selection.
- 1 entry will be submitted by a composer who will be invited by the 2017 FdC winner Salvador Sobral. The composer will be free to select the singer/singers for his entry.
- 1 entry will be selected via the Master Class radio show on Antena 1 focusing on composers and authors who have not published any material (deadline for submission 15 September 2017). The special jury of this show will deliberate the composer who will enter the competition and submit his/her entry.
- 1 entry will be selected via an open call to all composers (established or new) to submit an entry. This will be open to all Portuguese nationals and residents, Portuguese nationals residing overseas, foreigners residing in Portugal and PALOP citizens (citizens of African countries where Portuguese is an official language). Composers entering the open selection are not required to have any material published beforehand.
You can find the rules for the 2018 Festival da Cançao here.
Portugal and its Eurovision connection
Portugal debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 and won the contest after a 53 year long wait. Strangely enough, the country never achieved a top 5 placing in the competition until 2017 when it swept Europe off its feet with Salvador Sobral’s Amar pelos dois.
