With the return of Festival da Cançao as Portugal’s Eurovision national selection process being confirmed earlier this year, today the Portuguese national broadcaster, RTP, confirmed the names of the composers set to participate in the forthcoming selection.

An annual tradition for the nation of Portugal, Festival da Cançao (FdC) will make its return for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest following the country’s grand success at this year’s European contest, gaining their first ever victory at the competition with Salvador Sobral and his entry, Amar pelos dois, composed by his sister Luísa Sobral.

Family triumph was seen in Kyiv following Portugal’s victory, but who will go forward in the hope of continuing the nation’s success at next year’s competition in the home city of Lisbon?

Composers for Festival da Cançao 2018

Earlier this afternoon, RTP released the names of the 26 composers set to compete at the forthcoming Portuguese national selection, featuring the following names:

• Aline Frazão
• Armando Teixeira
• Benjamim
• Bruno Cardoso
• Capicua
• Daniela Onis (Chosen from “Master Class” programme)
• Diogo Clemente
• Diogo Piçarra
• Francisco Rebelo
• Fernando Tordo
• Isaura
• Janeiro (Chosen by Salvador Sobral)
• João Afonso
• Jorge Palma
• José Cid
• JP Simões
• Júlio Resende
• Mallu Magalhães
• Miguel Ângelo
• Minta
• Nuno Rafael
• Paulo Flores
• Paulo Praça
• Peter Serrado (Chosen via contestant submission)
• Rita Dias (Chosen via contestant submission)
• Tito Paris

Whilst 22 of the composers were invited to compete via the Portuguese national broadcaster, 4 further composers were selected via a number of different methods such as the contestant submission process as well as the “Master Class” programme, together with a further invite from the previous Eurovision winner himself.

As with last year’s FdC edition, each of the composers will have the responsibility of choosing an artist to compete with their entry in the forthcoming selection, hoping to earn the right of representing their nation together at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

How will Festival da Cançao 2018 run?

The 2018 FdC competition will consist of a total of 3 shows: 2 semi-finals and a grand final.

In each semi-final, a total of 13 acts will compete in which a combined public and jury vote will take place in order to establish the 14 finalists for the selection, set to take place on the 4 March 2018 in the city of Guimarães.

A combined vote will once again take place in the grand final of FdC 2018, the winner of which will go on to represent the host country at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in the capital of Lisbon.

Festival da Cançao 2018 dates

• 18/02/2018: Semi-final 1 (13 participants, 7 qualifiers)
• 25/02/2018: Semi-final 2 (13 participants, 7 qualifiers)
• 04/03/2018: Final (14 finalists, 50/50 combined vote to determine winner)

Who would you like to see representing the host nation at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest? Which composers are you excited to see in the 2018 line-up?