Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country	Portugal
National selection
Selection process	Festival da Canção 2022
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 5 March 2022 7 March 2022 Final: 12 March 2022
Selected entrant	Maro
Selected song	"Saudade, saudade"
Selected songwriter(s)	Maro John Blanda
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022

Portugal is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Saudade, saudade" performed by Maro. The national broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) selected the Portuguese entry to the contest through the national selection Festival da Canção, which consisted of two semi-finals and a final that were held in March 2022.

Background[]

Prior to the 2022 contest, Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-two times since its first entry in 1964.^[1] Since semi-finals were introduced into the contest in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times. Portugal held the record for the most appearances in the contest without a win until 2017 when they won in Kyiv, Ukraine with Salvador Sobral's entry "Amar pelos dois". In 2021, Portugal was represented by the Black Mamba with the song "Love Is on My Side". The country managed to qualify to the final, ultimately ending in twelfth place with 153 points.

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) broadcasts the contest in Portugal and organises the selection process for its entry. Portugal has most commonly selected their entry through the national final Festival da Canção except between 2003 and 2005 when the broadcaster used internal selections and the talent competition Operação triunfo to select their entry. In September 2021, RTP confirmed its participation in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest and confirmed its usual selection method for the event.^[2]

Before Eurovision[]

Festival da Canção 2022[]

Festival da Canção 2022 was the 56th edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that traditionally selects Portugal's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format[]

The competition consisted of two semi-finals and a final. On 8 September 2021, upon confirming its participation at Eurovision, RTP opened its selection process for the twenty competing entries in Festival da Canção, articulated as follows:

• sixteen musical authors were invited to each compose a song, indicating a performer for it, and to send a provisional version thereof by 31 October 2021;
• free submissions were opened to Portuguese citizens or residents of Portugal to submit their songs by 21 October 2021; four of these would be selected by a professional jury within 10 days after the deadline;
• all selected entrants are required to present RTP with a final version of their entry by 30 November 2021.^[2]

For the sixth consecutive year, the broadcaster abolished the language restrictions, so that artists may submit songs in any language(s), even without Portuguese.^[2] On 25 October 2021, RTP declared to have received more than 600 applications.^[3] The selected composers were revealed on 4 November 2021, while the competing artists and songs were revealed on 21 January 2022.^[4][5]

Semi-finals[]

Each semi-final had ten entries compete, of which five advanced to the final from each show. The results were determined by a 50/50 combination of two votes: one from a jury made up of music professionals and one from a public televoting; each of these assigned 12 points to the highest placed contestant, 10 to the second, 8 to the third, and then 7 to 1 to the remaining (a system also in place at the Eurovision Song Contest itself). The sum of the two rankings determined the qualifying acts, with the jury score taking precedence in the event of a tie in the fifth place.^[2] The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Dulce Pontes, Dino D'Santiago, Surma, Teresa Salgueiro, Pedro Granger, Miguel Cadete, and Tatanka.^[6]

Rita Redshoes, previous Eurovision entrants for Portugal The Black Mamba and 2022 Spanish representative Chanel performed as guests.^[7]

Final[]

The final took place on 12 March 2022, at RTP's Studio 1 in Lisbon, and was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. The ten finalists were judged by means of a televoting and a jury composed of representatives from the seven statistical regions of Portugal (Lisbon, North, Central, Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira and the Azores). Their rankings, drafted and combined using the same system adopted for the semi-finals, determined the Portuguese representative for Eurovision; the televoting score would have taken precedence in the event of a tie in the first place.^[2]

Ratings[]

At Eurovision[]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2022, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Portugal has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[14]

Notes[]

References[]