RTP, the Portuguese broadcaster are to hold a decisive meeting until the end of this week to finalise the details of the country's 2008 preselection for the next Eurovision Song Contest. The meeting will be held between the producers in charge and also members of the administration of the broadcaster.
The Festival da Canção format was already confirmed last month when RTP was contacted about the way next year's Portuguese entry would be chosen. What's left to know is what kind of strategy will the public broadcaster adopt this time. The final details will be decided in a meeting to take place till the end of the week.Invitations will be made to music producers and singers. However, no names can yet be revealed. The ongoing Operação Triunfo can be one of the sources of singers to take part.
RTP is also undergoing a change in the team of CEO's that run the public broadcaster. Nuno Santos, in charge of the decisions on Eurovision matters, is about to leave and another person will be chosen to fill his place. He was responsible for a "renewed" interest in the Eurovision takingthe 2005 participation in his own hands, something that is usually left to producers and not executives.What's left to know is if this change will bring a breath of fresh air on the way RTP faces the whole Eurovision process.
In 2006 Festival da Canção was reinstated after having been six years in stand-by. Different approaches have been tried. In 2006, five composers were invited to produce two songs each, in 2007, ten composers were invited and televote was the only means of deciding the winner.
