RTP officially announced that 660 songs were submitted for “Festival da Canção 2026”, which will determine its entry for Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria.
Portugal’s national broadcaster revealed that a total of 660 songs were submitted for the local Eurovision selection show, “Festival da Canção 2026”. This process will select Portugal’s entry for Eurovision 2026, set to take place in Vienna, Austria.
The national broadcaster officially declared that 660 songs were submitted for “Festival da Canção 2026”, which will decide Portugal’s representative on the grand stage in Vienna. As we know, the submission window was open from September 25th to October 31st. This year, Portugal saw a moderate increase in entries compared to last year, although the number is still smaller than the extraordinary amount of submissions in 2024.
Submissions’ numbers in recent years:
- Festival da Canção 2023 – 667 songs.
- Festival da Canção 2024 – 809 songs.
- Festival da Canção 2025 – 633 songs.
- Festival da Canção 2026 – 660 songs.
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. A combined jury and public vote will choose four qualifiers, while the fifth qualifier will be decided solely by the public.
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 was also revealed that the two semi-finals will take place in February 21st and 28th, 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 were entitled to vote once per day until September 30th. The winner of Prova de Assecdo will be announced in the upcoming months. The selected artist will secure a place in the “Festival da Canção 2026”, but must present a new song to compete at the national selection.
“Deslocado” (in English: “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”.
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A writer and content creator in the field of Eurovision, a commentator with extensive expertise in the modern era of the contest. Adiel’s vast knowledge and familiarity with Eurovision are reflected in every article, ensuring professional and up-to-date content. He closely follows song releases and various Eurovision pre-events. Adiel has a fondness for cultures and new languages, which he discovered through his love of Eurovision. In his writing, he places great emphasis on professional commentary and a diversity of opinions.
