Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest

Portugal
Member station	RTP
National selection events	Festival da Canção 1964–1969 1971–1999 2001 2003–2004 2006–2012 2014–2015 2017–
Participation summary
Appearances	49 (41 finals)
First appearance	1964
Best result	1st: 2017
Worst result	Last: 1964, 1974, 1997 Nul points: 1964, 1997 18th (SF): 2011
External links
RTP page
Portugal's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 49 times since its debut in the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests, in 1970, 2000, 2002, 2013 and 2016. Portugal held the record for the most appearances in the contest without a win until 2017 when they won in Kiev, Ukraine, with Salvador Sobral's entry, "Amar pelos dois". The contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP).

Portugal's debut entry was António Calvário with "Oração". It was not a successful debut for the country, with Calvário coming last in the contest. Since then, Portugal has come last on two further occasions, in 1974, when Paulo de Carvalho sang "E depois do adeus", and in 1997, when Célia Lawson performed "Antes do adeus". Despite its last-place finish in the contest, "E depois do adeus" had at that time gained national notability for being one of the two musical signals to begin the Carnation Revolution against the Estado Novo regime. Prior to their sixth-place finish for Lúcia Moniz, with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" in 1996, Portugal's best result in the contest was two seventh-place finishes, for Carlos Mendes in 1972 and José Cid in 1980. Despite having some really weak results, the 90s were the most successful decade for the country, reaching the top 10 four times. Portugal had admission to take part in the 2000 and 2002 contest but refused. Its place was taken by Latvia both times, which ended up winning the contest in the latter year.

Since semi-finals were introduced in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times, including from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, Vânia Fernandes finished 13th with the song "Senhora do Mar," Portugal's best outcome since 1996. The country continued to be present in the final until 2010. In 2017, Portugal reached the finals with Salvador Sobral's entry, "Amar pelos dois", ending a 6-year non-appearance in the finals (Portugal did not participate in the song contest in 2013 and 2016; and did not qualify for the finals in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015). To conclude a return to the final, they also won the contest for the first time ever, earning 758 points.

Absences

Portugal has been absent from five contests since their first participation. The country's first absence was in 1970, where Portugal, along with four other countries, boycotted the contest due to the result of the previous year, when four countries were announced the winner.^[1]

Portugal missed the 2000 contest due to their poor average results over the past five years. Despite being eligible to enter the 2002 contest, RTP declined to enter, and was replaced by eventual winner Latvia.^[2]

The fourth absence was in 2013, when Portugal didn't participate for financial reasons.^[3]

The fifth absence was in 2016.^[4] RTP mentioned that this break was needed, so that the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest had its contents renewed.^[5]

Festival da Canção

Festival da Canção (sometimes referred to as "Festival RTP da Canção") is the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by RTP, and is normally held in February/March of the year of the contest. It is one of the longest-running Eurovision selection methods. Previously a number of regional juries selected the winner, however recently the winner has been selected through televoting. In 2009, 2010 and 2017, a 50-50 system between district juries and televote (like in the ESC) has been used.

In the years when Portugal does not participate in the contest, the Festival da Canção was not held, except in two occasions: in 1970, when Portugal boycotted the contest, and in 2000.

Contestants

Table key

1. The song also contains phrases in English, French and Spanish.

NOTE: If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.

Voting history

As of 2017, Portugal's voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Spain 195 2  Italy 191 3  Germany 177 4  United Kingdom 176 5  France 137 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  France 180 2  Spain 178 3   Switzerland 109 4  Netherlands 91 5  Germany 78

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Sweden 203 2  Spain 195 3  Italy 191 4  Germany 177 5  United Kingdom 176 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Spain 249 2  France 242 3   Switzerland 175 4  Belgium 120 5  Germany 118

Hostings

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Press Award

Artistic Award

Composer Award

Commentators and spokespersons

Comedy

In the late 1990s the English actor and comedian Steve Coogan created the character "Tony Ferrino" for his television comedy series. "Tony Ferrino" is supposedly a Portuguese singer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest; he is a stereotype based on singers and entertainers often seen on European television programmes in the 1970s and 1980s. The BBC produced a one-off programme The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon in 1997.

Photogallery

• 
  Simone de Oliveira at Naples (1965)
• 
  José Cid at The Hague (1980)
• 
  Sofia Vitória at Istanbul (2004)
• 
  Sabrina at Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Vânia Fernandes at Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Flor-de-Lis at Moscow (2009)
• 
  Filipa Azevedo at Oslo (2010)
• 
  Suzy at Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Leonor Andrade at Vienna (2015)
• 
  Salvador Sobral at Kyiv (2017)

See also

• Portugal in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Portugal in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Portugal in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Portugal in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.

References

External links

• Points to and from Portugal eurovisioncovers.co.uk