RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, has unveiled the names of the sixteen Festival da Cançao 2020 competing composers and has confirmed the dates of the shows.

The Portuguese national broadcaster, RTP, is in full steam working round the clock  in order to hold its upcoming Eurovision national selection- Festival da Cançao 2020.

RTP has confirmed the dates for Festival da Cançao 2020:

• 22/02/2020- Festival da Cançao Semifinal 1
• 29/02/2020-Festival da Cançao Semifinal 2
• 07/03/2020-Festival da Cançao Grand Final

The semifinals will be held at the RTP Studios in Lisbon whilst the venue and host city for the grand final are yet to be confirmed.

RTP has unveiled the names of the 16 competing composers in the contest. Fourteen composers were invited by RTP to submit a song, whilst two composers were selected via Antena 1 ( public call for songs and Masterclass). The composers are also responsible to decide the artist/s who will perform their respective entries in the competition.

The 2020 FdC Composers

• António Avelar Pinho
• Blasted Mechanism
• Cláudio Frank ( via Master Class)
• Dino D’Santiago
• Dúbio feat. +351 (via Public Subsmission)
• Elisa Rodrigues
• Filipe Sambado
• Hélio Morais
• Jimmy P
• João Cabrita
• Marta Carvalho
• Meera
• Pedro Jóia
• Rui Pregal da Cunha
• Throes + The Shine
• Tiago Nacarato

Portugal in Eurovision

Portugal debuted at 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 competed 51 times in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2019 Conan Osiris was crowned the winner of the Portuguese national final Festival da Cançao with his entry Telemoveis.  Conan flew the Portuguese flag at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, despite an energetic performance Portugal failed to qualify to the Grand Final.