The Portuguese national broadcaster RTP has published the 16 songs competing in “Festival Da Canção 2026”. The winner will earn the right to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria.
The 16 songs competing in the traditional “Festival da Canção 2026” has been reveiled today. The long-running festival, which has undergone several name changes over the decades, has served as Portugal’s platform for selecting its Eurovision representative since the country joined the contest in 1964. However, this year it remains uncertain whether the winner will represent Portugal at Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria. As previously reported, 13 contestants have declared that they will not take part in Eurovision if Israel remains in the competition.
Listen to the Songs:
First Semi-Final – Saturday, February 21st:
- Agridoce – “Onde Quero Estar“
- Evaya – “Sprint“
- Marquise – “Chuva“
- Mario Marta– “Pertencer“
- Dinis Mota – “Jurei“
- Bateu Matou – “Nos Teus Olhos“
- Andre Amaro – “Dá-Me a Tua Mão“
- Nunca Mates o Madarim – “Fumo“
Click on the song title to listen!
Second Semi-Final – Saturday, February 28th:
- Bandidos do Cante – “Rosa“
- João Ribeiro – “Canção do Querer“
- Inês Sousa – “Um Filme ao Contrário“
- Sandrina – “Disposto a tudo“
- Jacaréu and Ana Margarida – “O-pi-ni-ão“
- Francisco Fontes – “Copiloto“
- Gonçalo Gomes – “Doce Ilusão“
- Silvana Peres – “Não tem fim“
Click on the song title to listen!
Five songs from each semi-final will qualify to the grand final which will take place on March 7th. A combined jury and public vote will choose four qualifiers, while the fifth qualifier will be decided solely by the public.
Who Will Represent Portugal?
660 songs were submitted this year for Portugal’s “Festival da Canção”, of which 16 reached the live competition stage. The band Bandidos do Canta is the only act that confirmed it will not boycott Eurovision, and will perform in the second semi-final against Sandrino, who has not yet expressed a position. André Amaro also remains silent on the issue and will compete in the first semi-final. Organizers explained that due to scheduling conflicts, Bandidos do Canta and Cristina Branco were automatically assigned to the second semi-final. As mentioned, 13 contestants have publicly stated they will not go to Eurovision if Israel participates and they win the national competition.
Artists joining the protest movement:
- Agridoce
- Bateu Matou
- Dinis Mota
- Evaya
- Francisco Fontes
- Gonçalo Gomes
- Inês Sousa
- Jacaréu and Ana Margarida
- João Ribeiro
- Marquise
- Mario Marta
- Nunca Mates o Madarim
- Silvana Peres
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
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.
Possible Implications – Could the Revolt Change Portugal’s Eurovision Selection Process?
The chances that one of the revolting participants will win “Festival da Canção 2026” are quite high (81.25%). But Bandidos do Canta’s commitment to representing the country certainly gives a hint of optimism.
In response to the turmoil, the Portuguese national broadcaster RTP stated last week that despite the artists’ revolt, the country will still send a representative to the upcoming contest in Vienna and clarified:
“Regardless of the decision taken by the artists who signed the declaration, whose content we understand, RTP will once again organize Festival da Canção and confirms its participation in Eurovision 2026, together with the overwhelming majority of EBU member countries”.
Although RTP sounds determined that the representative will be chosen through Festival da Canção, the issue raises many questions about the selection process – what will the broadcaster do if one of the boycotting artists wins the festival? Will it choose one of the four artists who did not sign the declaration? Might it replace the boycotting artists with other participants? Or will it instead select another artist entirely via an internal selection? For now, all that remains is to wait and see.
Dates of “Festival da Canção 2026”:
- First Semi-Final – Saturday, February 21st, 2026.
- Second Semi-Final – Saturday, February 28th, 2026.
- Grand Final – Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
“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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