RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, has revealed that it has already selected the 14 composers for Festival da da Canção 2019, all of whom have been invited to submitted an entry for the competition. A further 2 composers will selected via a radio and public selection.
The Portuguese national broadcaster has unveiled further details regarding its upcoming national selection- Festival da Cançao 2019.
The FdC 2019 core team consists of RTP’s Gonçalo Madail (Deputy Director RTP 1), Carla Bugalho (Head of Delegation Portugal), Nuno Galopim (Festival da Cançao consultant) and Maria Ferreira. They all played a key role in organizing and producing the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.
During RTP’s evening news bulletin Gonçalo Madail revealed that the Portuguese broadcaster has already selected the 14 composers for Festival da Cançao 2019 and the line up of the artists has also been locked up. He went on to mention that the an announcement unveiling the names of the 2019 FdC composers and artists is expected by November/ December.
RTP has invited 14 composers to partake in the competition, whilst the remaining 2 composers will be selected via 2 other routes: Antena 1 contest and public submission competition. The competing composers are responsible to select the artist/s who will perform their respective entries in the contest.
Mr. Nuno Galopim stated that RTP was aiming to bring musical diversity to the competition next year, and that RTP had sought for a variety of genres in their quest to search for the 2019 Portuguese Eurovision entry: RnB, Pop, Urban etc. Hence in comparison to this year’s edition, we will see more musical diversity and less songs in the Portuguese national selection next year.
RTP has also confirmed that the two Festival da Cançao semi-finals will be held at the RTP Studios in Lisbon, whilst the Grand Final is scheduled to be held outside Lisbon in March coinciding with the broadcaster’s annniversary.
Festival da Cançao 2019
Festival da Cançao 2019 will consist of three shows ( two semi-finals and a grand final) scheduled to be held next February and March.
A total of 16 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Tel Aviv, 8 acts will compete in each semi-final, the top 4 entries from each semi-final will proceed to the Grand Final of FdC. Hence 8 acts will fight for the right to represent Portugal at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in the Portuguese national final.
Portugal in Eurovision
Portugal joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 and has won the competition once, namely in 2017 with Salvador Sobral‘s Amor pelo dois. The country successfully hosted the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.
Portugal has partaken 50 times at the Eurovision Song Contest.
In 2018 Claudia Pascoal & Isaura won Festival da Cançao and represented Portugal at the the Eurovision Song Contest on home soil with their entry O Jardim. Despite a beautiful peformace the 2018 ESC host nation finished last in the Grand Final.
