The Portuguese national broadcaster RTP confirmed Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria. The representative will be chosen via “Festival da Canção 2026”.
The Portuguese national broadcaster RTP officially announced that Portugal will participate in Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria. Portugal becomes the 29th country to express interest in joining Eurovision 2026, following Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the host country, Austria.
How Will Portugal Choose Its Entry for Eurovision 2026?
The Portuguese national broadcaster RTP confirmed that the format of “Festival da Canção 2026” would remain unchanged, consisting of two semi-finals and one grand final, where the winner will be selected to represent Portugal in Vienna. In each semi-final, eight songs will compete, and five will advance to the final. Four qualifiers will be chosen by a combined jury and public vote, while the fifth qualifier will be decided solely by the public.
With the publication of the rules, the submission window for songs to “Festival da Canção” has opened and will remain available until October 31st, 2025. A total of 16 songs will take part in the competition: eight invited by the broadcaster, six submitted through the open call, one selected by the songwriter of “Deslocado” (in English: “Displaced”), which represented Portugal in last year’s Eurovision, and the last through an innovative method named “Prova de Assecdo”. It has been revealed that the two semi-finals will take place in February, while the grand final is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
All You Need to Know About “Prova de Assecdo”
In a groundbreaking step, the Portuguese national broadcaster partnered with two music schools, one in Lisbon and one in Porto. Each school nominated five artists to compete for the opportunity to represent Portugal in Eurovision. From the list of 10 nominees, a panel of judges selected five to advance: 1poucodesol, Dinis Mota, Diogo Catanho, Polar Opposites, and Tilde. Citizens of Portugal are entitled to vote once per day until September 30th. The winner of “Prova de Assecdo” will secure a place in the national pre-selection but must also present a new original song for the competition.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
“Deslocado” (translated as: “Displaced”) is the song that will be performed by NAPA band, representing Portugal in Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. Portugal finished 21st with 50 points, ranked 19th in jury vote and 21st in public vote.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Portugal’s 57th 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”.
