Watch: tonight at 22:00 CET as the First Semi-Final of Portugal’s national selection “Festival da Canção 2025″ takes place, where six songs will secure their spot in the final. A viewing link is provided.
Tonight at 22:00 (Central European Time), Portugal’s Eurovision selection “Festival da Canção 2025” kicks off with its first semi-final. The event will feature ten contestants, out of which six will secure their spots in the grand final. The finalists will be chosen in two rounds: five participants will advance based on a combination of jury votes (50%) and audience votes (50%), while the sixth finalist will be determined solely by audience votes in a second round.
The semi-final will be hosted by Jorge Gabriel and José Carlos Malato and will take place at the studios of Portugal’s national broadcaster RTP in Lisbon. The jury will include Portugal’s representative in Eurovision 2024, Iolanda, former participants of Festival da Canção Kadi and Miguel Ribeiro, and former composers for Festival da Canção Tiago Nacarto and Fábia Rebordão.
The broadcast starts at 22:00 CET – Click here to watch!
The First Semi-Final Artists And Songs In Tonight’s Running Order:
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- Xico Gaiato – “Ai Senhor“
- Rita Sampaio – “Voltas“
- Du Nothin – “Sobre Nós“
- Marco Rodrigues – “A Minha Casa“
- Margarida Campelo – “Eu Sei Que O Amor“
- Josh – “Tristeza“
- Capital da Bulgária – “Lisboa“
- Bluay – “Ninguém“
- Jéssica Pina – “Calafrio“
- Peculiar – “Adamastor“
Click on the song title to listen!
Notable Participants
Among Tonight’s list, several well-known names can be identified:
Singer Jéssica Pina was one of the backing vocalists for the Belgian entry at Eurovision 2004!
Marco Rodrigues participated in Festival da Canção in 2008 with his song “Em água e sal“. He finished in a respectable third place.
Competition Format
In each semi-final, ten songs will compete, with six songs from each heat advancing to the final, as is done every year. It appears that 12 songs will compete in the grand final for the right to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2025. The winner of the final will be determined, according to the rules each year, by a combination of public voting (50%) and jury voting (50%), similar to the Eurovision competition itself.
Portuguese National Final Dates:
First Semi-Final – Saturday, February 22, at RTP studios in Lisbon.
Second Semi-Final – Saturday, March 1, at RTP studios in Lisbon.
The Grand Final – Saturday, March 8, at RTP studios in Lisbon.
Portugal at Eurovision 2024
“Grito” is the name of the song performed by the singer Iolanda, who was chosen to represent Portugal after winning the Portuguese national finals. Portugal advanced to the final after placing eighth in the first semi-final with 58 points, and in the grand final, it finished in tenth place with 152 points.
This marks the fourth consecutive time that Portugal has reached the final, a feat it had not achieved before. Additionally, this is the third time since 2021 that Portugal has ended up on the left side of the scoreboard, twice among the top ten. These are respectable achievements for a country that was until recently considered one of the least successful in the competition.
Source: Eurovisionworld.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Portugal’s 56th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Portugal joined the competition in 1964 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2017 when singer Salvador Sobral won first place with the song “Amar pelos dois.”
