Boa tarde Europe, this is Lisbon calling! We are heading down south to the sunny shores of Lisbon for the First Semi-final of Festival da Canção 2021.

A total of 10 acts will be battling tonight for a ticket to the Grand Final of Festival da Canção 2021, only five of them will proceed to the next stage of the 2021 Portuguese national selection. Tonight’s show will be hosted by Jorge Gabriel & Sonia Araujo.

How to watch?

You can watch Festival da Canção 2021 Semi-final 1 at 22:00 CET  22:00 local time) via the following channels:

• RTP 1
• RTP 1 webstream
• RTP International
• RTP Asia
• RTP America

The Participants

• The Black Mamba – Love is on My Side
• Valéria – Na Mais Profunda Saudade
• mema. – Claro Como Água
• Nadine – Cheguei Aqui
• Miguel Marôco – Girassol
• Fábia Maia – Dia Lindo
• IRMA – Livros
• Karetus & Romeu Bairos – Saudade
• Sara Afonso – Contramão
• IAN – Mundo

About Festival da Canção 2021

Festival da Canção 2021 will consist of three live televised shows (2 semi-finals and a Grand Final) scheduled to be held on 20, 27 February and 6 March.

• 20/02/2021- FdC  Semi-final 1
• 27/02/2021- FdC Semi-final 2
• 06/03/2020- FdC Grand Final

A total of 20 acts will be battling for the right to defend the Portuguese colours at the forthcoming 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. 10 acts will compete in each of the two semi-finals. Five acts from each semi-final will proceed to the Grand Final. Hence a total of 10 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Rotterdam during the Grand Final of Festival da Cançao 2021.

All three Festival da Cançao 2021 shows will be held at the RTP Studios in Lisbon due to the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions and measures .

The 2021 Portuguese Eurovision entry will be determined via a mixed jury/public deliberation.

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.

Elisa was set to represent Portugal at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her entry ‘Medo de sentir’. Unfortunately she was not able to grace the stage due to the untimely cancellation of the event.