Portugal: RTP unveils the Festival da Canção 2021 competing entries

The Portuguese national broadcaster, RTP, has unveiled the 20 competing songs of Festival da Canção 2021, the show through which the country will select their Eurovision 2021 representative.
After the reveal of the 20 composers behind this year’s candidate songs and the semi final split , RTP went on today revealing the competing acts along with the songs to be performed on stage. The shortlisted 20 entries were chosen from a total of 693 submissions which marks a new recored for the iconic festival.
The 20 acts and songs we will see on stage during this year’s Festival da Canção are :
Festival da Cançao 2021 Semifinal 1 – February 20
Nadine – “Cheguei Aqui” (Anne Victorino d’Almeida)
Fábia Maia – “Dia Lindo” (Fábia Maia)
Sara Afonso –“ Contramão” (Filipe Melo)
Valéria – “Na Mais Profunda Saudade” (Helder Moutinho)
IAN – “Mundo”(IAN)
Irma – “Livros” (Irma)
Karetus & Romeu Bairos – “Saudade” (Karetus)
Miguel Marôco – “Girassol” (Miguel Marôco)
Mema – “Claro Como Água” (Stereossauro)
The Black Mamba – “Love Is On My Side” (Tatanka)
Festival da Cançao 2021 Semifinal 2 – February 27
Carolina Deslandes – “Por Um Triz” (Carolina Deslandes)
Da Chick – “I Got Music” (Da Chick)
Joana Alegre – “Joana Do Mar” (Joana Alegre)
Graciela – “A Vida Sem Acontecer” (João Vieira)
NEEV – “Dancing In The Stars” (Neev)
Eu.Clides – “Volte-Face” (Pedro da Linha)
Pedro Gonçalves – “Não Vou Ficar” (Pedro Gonçalves)
Tainá – “Jasmim” (Tainá)
Ariana – “Mundo Melhor” (Virgul)
Ana Tereza – “Com Um Abraço” (Viviane)
Out of 20 composers behind the songs, the 10 will perform on stage their entries themselves.
The 2021 edition of Festival da Cançao
The Portuguese broadcaster maintains the model adopted in the last editions and the selection will consist of three shows ( two semi-finals and a grand final) scheduled to be broadcast live on 20 and 27 February and the final on March 6.
Unlike the previous editions, instead of 16 acts, in 2021 the competition will have the participation of 20 composers: 18 have been invited directly RTP and 2 selected out of a public submission. This means that five acts will qualify from each semi final rising the number of finalists to 10. The invited composers will be free to chose the artist/s for their respective songs.The winner that will represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 will be determined by public (50%) and jury voting (50%).
The show will be presented to us by the following hosts:
1st Semi final: Jorge Gabriel and Sónia Araujo
2nd Semi final: José Carlos Malato and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira
Grand final: Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim
In addtion the reactions and the atmosphere in the green room will be conveyed to us by Inês Lopes Gonçalves.
The Eurovision Story so far
Portugal debuted in the competition in 1964 , represented by António Calvário, who finished last without any points. Since their debut in 1964 Portugal has been absent from five editions, the latest was in 2016, counting 51 appearance in the competition. Before in withdrawal in 2016, the best result for Portugal was a 6th placing in 1996 with Lúcia Moniz performing “O meu coração não tem cor” in Oslo.
In 2017 the nation scored its first victory, as Salvador Sorbal won the trophy Kyiv with his entry ‘Amar Pelos Dois’ . Following Salvador’s victory the country hosted the 63rd edition of the contest in Lisbon. In 2019 Conan Osiris ,winner of Festival da Cançao 2019 represented the country in Tel Aviv with his entry Telemoveis. Despite the outstanding alternative performance in the first semi final, Conan failed to qualify to the Grand final.
Last year Elisa won the national final with “Medo de sentir” but eventually never had the chance to perform on the Eurovision stage as the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 outbreak.