The first phase of Festival da Canção 2011 has kicked off, RTP the Portuguese national broadcaster has released the 24 candidate entries online on their website. Fans will be able to listen to the snippets of the entries and vote for their favourite melodies. Online voting will close on the 27th of January at noon. The 12 most voted songs will qualify for the Portuguese Eurovision national final scheduled to be held in Lisbon on March the 5th.

You can now listen and vote for your favourite entry at the Portuguese Eurovision 2011 national selection. 24 songs are competing in their quest to qualify for the Portuguese Eurovision national final. You can listento the songs and vote for your favourite by clicking here.

Portugal debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 and is yet to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Portugal's best placing was 6th with Lucia Móniz in Oslo in 1996 with Ou meu coração não tem cor. Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news on Festival da Cancao 2011.