Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

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Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Country Portugal
National selection
Selection processFestival da Canção 2023
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
25 February 2023
4 March 2023
Final:
11 March 2023
Selected entrantMimicat
Selected song"Ai coração"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Marisa Mena
  • Luís Pereira
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (9th, 74 points)
Final result23rd, 59 points
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2022 2023 2024►

Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool with "Ai coração" performed by Mimicat. The Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) organised the national final Festival da Canção 2023 in order to select the Portuguese entry for the 2023 contest. After two semi-finals and a final which took place in February–March 2023, "Ai coração" emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from seven regional juries and a public televote.

Portugal was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 5, "Ai coração" was announced as one of the top 10 entries and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May. In the final, Portugal performed in position 2 and placed 23rd out of the 26 countries with 59 points (43 from the jury vote and 16 from the public vote).

Background

Prior to the 2023 contest, Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 times since its first entry in 1964.[1] Portugal had won the contest on one occasion: in 2017 with the song "Amar pelos dois" performed by Salvador Sobral. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Portugal had featured in only seven finals. Portugal's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on four occasions, most recently in 2018 with the song "O jardim" performed by Cláudia Pascoal. Portugal has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1964 and 1997. In 2022, Portugal placed ninth with the song "Saudade, saudade" performed by Maro.

The Portuguese national broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), broadcasts the event within Portugal and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTP confirmed Portugal's participation in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 September 2022.[2] The broadcaster has traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with exceptions in 1988 and 2005 when the Portuguese entries were internally selected. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced the organization of Festival da Canção in order to select the 2023 Portuguese entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

Festival da Canção 2023

The official logotype of Festival da Canção 2023

The 2023 edition of Festival da Canção featured two semi-finals and a final, and saw 20 acts compete.[3]

Format

The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final.[4] Each semi-final featured 10 competing entries from which six advanced from each show to complete the 12-song lineup in the final. Results during the semi-finals were determined by the votes from a jury panel appointed by RTP and public televoting; the first five qualifiers were based on the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting where both streams of voting assign points from 1–8, 10 and 12 based on ranking, while the sixth qualifier was determined by a second round of public televoting from the remaining entries. Results during the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from seven regional juries and public televoting, which was opened following the second semi-final and closed during the final show. Both the public televote and the juries assign points from 1–8, 10 and 12 based on the ranking developed by both streams of voting.[5][6]

All three shows of the competition took place at RTP's Studio 1 in Lisbon and were broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional as well as on radio via Antena 1 and online via RTP Play.[7] The shows were also broadcast on RTP Accessibilidades with presentation in Portuguese Sign Language and in Spain online via RTVE Play.[8]

Competing entries

Twenty composers were selected by RTP through two methods: 15 invited by RTP for the competition and five selected from 667 submissions received through an open call for songs.[9][10] The composers, which both create the songs and select its performers, were required to submit the demo and final versions of their entries by 31 October and 30 November 2022, respectively. Songs could be submitted in any language.[5] The selected composers were revealed on 9 November 2022, while the competing artists and songs were revealed on 19 January 2023.[11][12] Among the competing artists was Cláudia Pascoal, who represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Artist Song Songwriter(s) Selection
April Ivy "Modo voo" Mariana Gonçalves, João Maia Ferreira, Francisco Santos, Manuel Morgado, Ricardo Moreira, Matheus Paraízo, Francisco Andrade Invited by RTP
Bandua "Bandeiras" Bernardo Adário, Edgar Valente
Bárbara Tinoco "Goodnight" Bárbara Tinoco, Mateus Seabra
Bolha "Sonhos de liberdade" Jacinta, Joana Gil
Churky "Encruzilhada" Churky
Cláudia Pascoal "Nasci Maria" Cláudia Pascoal
Dapunksportif "World Needs Therapy" João Guincho, Paulo Franco
Edmundo Inácio "A festa" Edmundo Inácio Open call winner
Esse Povo "Sapatos de cimento" Quim Albergaria Invited by RTP
Inês Apenas "Fim do mundo" Inês Apenas Open call winner
Ivandro "Povo" Ivandro Invited by RTP
Lara Li "Funâmbula" André Henriques
Mimicat "Ai coração" Marisa Mena, Luís Pereira Open call winner
Moyah "Too Much Sauce" Moyah, Kensaye, Miguel Gutierrez
Neon Soho "Endless World" Neon Soho Invited by RTP
SAL "Viver" Sérgio Pires, SAL
Teresinha Landeiro "Enquanto é tempo" Pedro de Castro, Teresinha Landeiro
The Happy Mess "O impossível" João Pascoal, Afonso Carvalho, Miguel Ribeiro, Paulo Mouta Pereira, Bruno Vieira Amaral
Voodoo Marmalade "Tormento" Voodoo Marmalade Open call winner
You Can't Win, Charlie Brown "Contraste mudo" Afonso Cabral, David Santos, João Gil, Pedro Branco, Salvador Menezes, Tomás Sousa Invited by RTP

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 25 February and 4 March 2023. In each semi-final, 10 entries competed and six advanced to the final: five based on the 50/50 combination of votes from the televote and a jury panel consisting of Alex D'Alva, Carlos Mendes, Márcia [pt], Maro, Neev [pt], Pedro Ribeiro [pt] and Sara Correia. One additional entry was then selected by televoting exclusively.[13][14] The first semi-final was hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato. Throughout all shows, Inês Lopes Gonçalves [pt] was in charge of the green room alongside Wandson Lisboa, the social media correspondent. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, HMB [pt] together with Nena, Ana Bacalhau [pt] and Wander Isaac, Fernando Tordo and Spanish Eurovision 2023 entrant Blanca Paloma performed as guests in the first semi-final. The second semi-final was hosted by Jorge Gabriel and Sónia Araújo, while Filipe Sambado [pt] together with Surma [pt] and Primeira Dama, juror Carlos Mendes, and Portuguese representative in Junior Eurovision 2022, Nicolas Alves, performed as guests.

Esse Povo, who took part in the first semi-final with their song "Sapatos de cimento", automatically qualified from the jury and televote round due to a technical issue related to their televoting line discovered during the first semi-final, resulting in the final featuring 13 artists instead of the planned 12.[15]

Key:
  Jury and televote round qualifier
  Televote-only round qualifier

Semi-final 1 – 25 February 2023[16]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Percentage Points
1 Moyah "Too Much Sauce" 3 1.73% 2 5 8
2 Bolha "Sonhos de liberdade" 2 6.17% 4 6 7
3 April Ivy "Modo voo" 1 3.61% 3 4 9
4 Churky "Encruzilhada" 5 19.11% 10 15 5
5 Cláudia Pascoal "Nasci Maria" 12 14.29% 8 20 1
6 SAL "Viver" 8 10.21% 7 15 4
7 Mimicat "Ai coração" 7 19.37% 12 19 2
8 You Can't Win, Charlie Brown "Contraste mudo" 10 8.45% 5 15 3
9 Neon Soho "Endless World" 6 9.57% 6 12 6
10 Esse Povo "Sapatos de cimento" 4 7.49%
Semi-final 1 – Second round[16]
Artist Song Televote Place
April Ivy "Modo voo" 16.80% 3
Bolha "Sonhos de liberdade" 17.30% 2
Moyah "Too Much Sauce" 10.32% 4
Neon Soho "Endless World" 55.58% 1
Semi-final 2 – 4 March 2023[16]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Percentage Points
1 Edmundo Inácio "A festa" 10 10.18% 7 17 1
2 The Happy Mess "O impossível" 3 8.81% 6 9 8
3 Teresinha Landeiro "Enquanto é tempo" 7 8.25% 5 12 6
4 Bandua "Bandeiras" 4 6.44% 3 7 9
5 Bárbara Tinoco "Goodnight" 12 5.91% 1 13 4
6 Inês Apenas "Fim do mundo" 6 11.71% 8 14 3
7 Ivandro "Povo" 8 7.32% 4 12 5
8 Dapunksportif "World Needs Therapy" 2 15.38% 10 12 7
9 Lara Li "Funâmbula" 1 6.26% 2 3 10
10 Voodoo Marmalade "Tormento" 5 19.74% 12 17 2
Semi-final 2 – Second round[16]
Artist Song Televote Place
Bandua "Bandeiras" 19.10% 3
Dapunksportif "World Needs Therapy" 26.83% 1
Lara Li "Funâmbula" 19.81% 2
Teresinha Landeiro "Enquanto é tempo" 18.70% 4
The Happy Mess "O impossível" 15.56% 5

Final

The final took place on 11 March 2023 and was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim, who were joined by green room host Inês Lopes Gonçalves and digital content and social media host Wandson Lisboa. Interval acts included a The Beatles medley by Eurovision Song Contest 2017 winner Salvador Sobral, a reprise of "Saudade, saudade" by Maro featuring several finalists of Festival da Canção 2022, and a medley of songs from Liverpudlian artists by David Fonseca. The winner was selected based on the 50/50 combination of votes from seven regional juries and from a public televote.[14]

Final – 11 March 2023[16]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Percentage Points
1 Cláudia Pascoal "Nasci Maria" 48 8 8.21% 4 12 3
2 Churky "Encruzilhada" 5 0 8.26% 5 5 9
3 Esse Povo "Sapatos de cimento" 30 4 2.82% 0 4 11
4 Bárbara Tinoco "Goodnight" 27 3 8.58% 6 9 4
5 You Can't Win, Charlie Brown "Contraste mudo" 45 7 3.74% 0 7 8
6 Voodoo Marmalade "Tormento" 5 0 9.02% 7 7 7
7 Inês Apenas "Fim do mundo" 26 2 4.55% 1 3 13
8 Mimicat "Ai coração" 66 12 19.33% 12 24 1
9 Dapunksportif "World Needs Therapy" 2 0 9.17% 8 8 6
10 Neon Soho "Endless World" 33 5 3.96% 0 5 10
11 Ivandro "Povo" 43 6 5.42% 3 9 5
12 Edmundo Inácio "A festa" 66 12 12.24% 10 22 2
13 SAL "Viver" 10 1 4.70% 2 3 12
Detailed regional jury votes[16][17]
Draw Song North Central Lisbon Area Alentejo Algarve Madeira Azores Total
1 "Nasci Maria" 3 7 10 8 8 6 6 48
2 "Encruzilhada" 2 2 1 5
3 "Sapatos de cimento" 4 2 2 5 5 5 7 30
4 "Goodnight" 2 5 5 7 6 2 27
5 "Contraste mudo" 7 4 7 4 12 10 1 45
6 "Tormento" 1 1 3 5
7 "Fim do mundo" 6 3 6 1 7 3 26
8 "Ai coração" 5 12 12 10 3 12 12 66
9 "World Needs Therapy" 2 2
10 "Endless World" 10 8 3 3 4 5 33
11 "Povo" 12 6 4 6 4 7 4 43
12 "A festa" 8 10 8 12 10 8 10 66
13 "Viver" 1 1 8 10
Members of the jury[17]
  • North: Ana Aroso, João Pedro Coimbra, Graciela
  • Central: Isilda Sanches, Tiago Nogueira, Susie Filipe
  • Lisbon Area: Elisa Rodrigues, Bruno Vasconcelos, Gabriela Barros
  • Alentejo: Cristina Branco, Pedro Madeira, Buba Espinho
  • Algarve: Júlio Resende, Gil Silva, Sara Afonso
  • Madeira: Guilherme Gomes, Diana Duarte, Mara
  • Azores: Maria Bettencourt, Maria do Rosário Pereira, Miguel Damião

Ratings

Viewing figures by show
Show Air date Viewers Share
(%)
Ref.
Semi-final 1 25 February 2023 477,000 11.4% [18]
Semi-final 2 4 March 2023 505,000 12.9% [19]
Final 11 March 2023 560,000 15.4% [20]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Portugal has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[21]

Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Portugal was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Latvia and before the entry from Ireland.[22]

At the end of the show, Portugal was announced as a qualifier for the final.

Voting

Points awarded to Portugal

Points awarded by Portugal

Detailed voting results

Detailed voting results from Portugal (Semi-final 1)[23]
Draw Country Televote
Rank Points
01  Norway 8 3
02  Malta 13
03  Serbia 11
04  Latvia 7 4
05  Portugal
06  Ireland 9 2
07  Croatia 12
08   Switzerland 6 5
09  Israel 4 7
10  Moldova 1 12
11  Sweden 3 8
12  Azerbaijan 14
13  Czech Republic 5 6
14  Netherlands 10 1
15  Finland 2 10

The following members comprised the Portuguese jury:[25]

  • Gustavo Almeida
  • Nuno Mota
  • Ana Carina Almeida
  • Milhanas
  • Patrícia Antunes
Detailed voting results from Portugal (Final)[24]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Rank Points Rank Points
01  Austria 16 12 14 16 8 14 20
02  Portugal
03   Switzerland 6 9 9 12 11 9 2 11
04  Poland 25 25 25 25 25 25 17
05  Serbia 4 5 6 14 7 7 4 23
06  France 13 18 8 13 21 15 9 2
07  Cyprus 11 13 11 17 24 17 12
08  Spain 3 1 1 11 9 2 10 8 3
09  Sweden 8 3 5 1 17 6 5 4 7
10  Albania 18 24 24 15 5 12 25
11  Italy 15 14 10 9 18 13 5 6
12  Estonia 5 7 2 5 3 3 8 21
13  Finland 24 22 20 4 12 11 2 10
14  Czech Republic 2 4 3 8 6 4 7 14
15  Australia 1 2 7 3 1 1 12 18
16  Belgium 7 10 4 2 2 5 6 10 1
17  Armenia 17 15 13 23 10 18 24
18  Moldova 23 19 22 6 15 16 3 8
19  Ukraine 21 11 17 21 14 20 1 12
20  Norway 14 8 12 7 19 10 1 7 4
21  Germany 19 16 23 20 23 24 13
22  Lithuania 12 20 19 18 22 21 19
23  Israel 20 23 18 24 16 23 6 5
24  Slovenia 10 17 16 19 20 19 16
25  Croatia 9 6 15 10 4 8 3 15
26  United Kingdom 22 21 21 22 13 22 22

References

  1. ^ "Portugal Country Profile". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b Granger, Anthony (2 September 2022). "Portugal: Eurovision 2023 Participation Confirmed & Song Submissions Open". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ^ "FC2023: Final do 'Festival da Canção 2023' agendada para 11 de março". escportugal.pt (in Portuguese). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ "FC2023: Final do 'Festival da Canção 2023' agendada para 11 de março". escportugal.pt (in Portuguese). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b "REGULAMENTO" (PDF). RTP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Portugal: 'Festival da Canção' lineup ready to listen to!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Festival da Canção 2023: canções já estão disponíveis". Festival da Canção (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  8. ^ ESCOT, DANIEL BORREGO (8 March 2023). "Festival da Canção 2023: sigue la final en RTVE Play". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Festival da Canção 2023 volta a acolher 20 canções inéditas". RTP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  10. ^ Granger, Anthony (28 October 2022). "Portugal: 667 Songs Submitted For Festival da Canção 2023". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  11. ^ Geral, Por ESC Portugal. "FC2023: Conheça os 20 autores do 'Festival da Canção 2023'". Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  12. ^ Geral, Por ESC Portugal. "FC2023: Canções e intérpretes do 'Festival da Canção 2023' serão conhecidos a 19 de janeiro". Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Festival da Canção 2023: ordem das atuações". rtp.pt (in Portuguese). RTP. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Votações" (PDF). RTP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  15. ^ Avelino, Gerry (26 February 2023). "🇵🇹 Portugal: Seven Acts Qualify from Festival da Canção 2023 Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Festival da Canção – Votações" (PDF) (in Portuguese). RTP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  17. ^ a b "FC2023: Recorde a constituição dos júris regionais da Final do Festival da Canção 2023". escportugal.pt (in Portuguese). 15 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  18. ^ Davies, Megan (26 February 2023). "Portugal: 477,000 Viewers For Festival da Canção 2023 Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  19. ^ "FC2023: Segunda semifinal do 'Festival da Canção 2023' acompanhada por 505 mil espectadores" (in Portuguese). ESCPortugal. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  20. ^ "FC2023: Final do 'Festival da Canção 2023' acompanhada por 560 mil espectadores" (in Portuguese). ESCPortugal. 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  21. ^ Groot, Evert (31 January 2023). "Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  23. ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  24. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union.
  25. ^ "ESC2023: Conheça a constituição do júri de Portugal no Festival Eurovisão 2023". ESC Portugal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 23 May 2023.

External links