Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023
| Eurovision Song Contest 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Portugal | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Festival da Canção 2023 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 25 February 2023 4 March 2023 Final: 11 March 2023 | |||
| Selected entrant | Mimicat | |||
| Selected song | "Ai coração" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (9th, 74 points) | |||
| Final result | 23rd, 59 points | |||
| Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Ai coração" performed by Mimicat. The Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) organised the national final Festival da Canção 2023 in order to select the Portuguese entry for the 2023 contest. After two semi-finals and a final which took place in February–March 2023, "Ai coração" emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from seven regional juries and a public televote.
Portugal was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 5, "Ai coração" was announced as one of the top 10 entries and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May. In the final, Portugal performed in position 2 and placed 23rd out of the 26 countries with 59 points (43 from the jury vote and 16 from the public vote).
Background
Prior to the 2023 contest, Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 times since its first entry in 1964.[1] Portugal had won the contest on one occasion: in 2017 with the song "Amar pelos dois" performed by Salvador Sobral. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Portugal had featured in only seven finals. Portugal's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on four occasions, most recently in 2018 with the song "O jardim" performed by Cláudia Pascoal. Portugal has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1964 and 1997. In 2022, Portugal placed ninth with the song "Saudade, saudade" performed by Maro.
The Portuguese national broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), broadcasts the event within Portugal and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTP confirmed Portugal's participation in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 September 2022.[2] The broadcaster has traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with exceptions in 1988 and 2005 when the Portuguese entries were internally selected. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced the organization of Festival da Canção 2023 in order to select the 2023 Portuguese entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Festival da Canção 2023
The 2023 edition of Festival da Canção featured two semi-finals and a final, and saw 20 acts compete.[3] All three shows took place at RTP's Studio 1 in Lisbon.[4]
Semi-finals
The first semi-final took place on 25 February 2023. "Encruzilhada" performed by Churky, "Nasci Maria" performed by Cláudia Pascoal, "Viver" performed by SAL, "Ai coração" performed by Mimicat, and "Contraste mudo" performed by You Can't Win, Charlie Brown qualified directly to the final. "Sapatos de cimento" performed by Esse Povo also qualified directly to the final due to a technical issue affecting their televoting line. "Endless World" performed by Neon Soho also qualified for the final through the second round of voting. "Too Much Sauce" performed by Moyah, "Sonhos de liberdade" performed by Bolha and "Modo voo" performed by April Ivy were eliminated from the contest.[5][6]
The second semi-final took place on 4 March 2023. "A festa" performed by Edmundo Inácio, "Goodnight" performed by Bárbara Tinoco, "Fim do mundo" performed by Inês Apenas, "Povo" performed by Ivandro, and "Tormento" performed by Voodoo Marmalade qualified directly to the final. "World Needs Therapy" performed by Dapunksportif also qualified for the final through the second round of voting. "O impossível" performed by the Happy Mess, "Enquanto é tempo" performed by Teresinha Landeiro, "Bandeiras" performed by Bandua, and "Funâmbula" performed by Lara Li were eliminated from the contest.[5]
Final
The final took place on 11 March 2023. The winner was selected based on the 50/50 combination of votes from seven regional juries and from a public televote.[5]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Juries | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cláudia Pascoal | "Nasci Maria" | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3 |
| 2 | Churky | "Encruzilhada" | 0 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | Esse Povo | "Sapatos de cimento" | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 4 | Bárbara Tinoco | "Goodnight" | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| 5 | You Can't Win, Charlie Brown | "Contraste mudo" | 7 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 6 | Voodoo Marmalade | "Tormento" | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 | Inês Apenas | "Fim do mundo" | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| 8 | Mimicat | "Ai coração" | 12 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 9 | Dapunksportif | "World Needs Therapy" | 0 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| 10 | Neon Soho | "Endless World" | 5 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| 11 | Ivandro | "Povo" | 6 | 3 | 9 | 5 |
| 12 | Edmundo Inácio | "A festa" | 12 | 10 | 22 | 2 |
| 13 | SAL | "Viver" | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
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 10 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 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Portugal has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[7]
Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Portugal was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Latvia and before the entry from Ireland.[8]
At the end of the show, Portugal was announced as a qualifier for the final.
Voting
Points awarded to Portugal
Points awarded by Portugal
Detailed voting results
| Draw | Country | Televote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Norway |
8 | 3 |
| 02 |  Malta |
13 | |
| 03 |  Serbia |
11 | |
| 04 |  Latvia |
7 | 4 |
| 05 | Portugal |
||
| 06 |  Ireland |
9 | 2 |
| 07 |  Croatia |
12 | |
| 08 |  Switzerland |
6 | 5 |
| 09 |  Israel |
4 | 7 |
| 10 |  Moldova |
1 | 12 |
| 11 |  Sweden |
3 | 8 |
| 12 |  Azerbaijan |
14 | |
| 13 |  Czech Republic |
5 | 6 |
| 14 |  Netherlands |
10 | 1 |
| 15 |  Finland |
2 | 10 |
The following members comprised the Portuguese jury:[11]
- Gustavo Almeida
- Nuno Mota
- Ana Carina Almeida
- Milhanas
- Patrícia Antunes
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Austria |
16 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 20 | ||
| 02 | Portugal |
|||||||||
| 03 | Switzerland |
6 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 11 | |
| 04 |  Poland |
25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 17 | ||
| 05 | Serbia |
4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 23 | |
| 06 |  France |
13 | 18 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 15 | 9 | 2 | |
| 07 |  Cyprus |
11 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 24 | 17 | 12 | ||
| 08 |  Spain |
3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 3 |
| 09 | Sweden |
8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 |  Albania |
18 | 24 | 24 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 25 | ||
| 11 |  Italy |
15 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 6 | |
| 12 |  Estonia |
5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 21 | |
| 13 | Finland |
24 | 22 | 20 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 10 | |
| 14 | Czech Republic |
2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 14 | |
| 15 |  Australia |
1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 18 | |
| 16 |  Belgium |
7 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| 17 |  Armenia |
17 | 15 | 13 | 23 | 10 | 18 | 24 | ||
| 18 | Moldova |
23 | 19 | 22 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 8 | |
| 19 |  Ukraine |
21 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 1 | 12 | |
| 20 | Norway |
14 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 21 |  Germany |
19 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 23 | 24 | 13 | ||
| 22 |  Lithuania |
12 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 19 | ||
| 23 | Israel |
20 | 23 | 18 | 24 | 16 | 23 | 6 | 5 | |
| 24 |  Slovenia |
10 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 16 | ||
| 25 | Croatia |
9 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 15 | |
| 26 |  United Kingdom |
22 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 13 | 22 | 22 | ||
References
- ^ "Portugal Country Profile". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- ^ a b Granger, Anthony (2 September 2022). "Portugal: Eurovision 2023 Participation Confirmed & Song Submissions Open". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ "FC2023: Final do 'Festival da Canção 2023' agendada para 11 de março". escportugal.pt (in Portuguese). 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ "Festival da Canção 2023: canções já estão disponíveis". Festival da Canção (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Festival da Canção – Votações" (PDF) (in Portuguese). RTP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ Avelino, Gerry (26 February 2023). "🇵🇹 Portugal: Seven Acts Qualify from Festival da Canção 2023 Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ Groot, Evert (31 January 2023). "Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union.
- ^ "ESC2023: Conheça a constituição do júri de Portugal no Festival Eurovisão 2023". ESC Portugal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 23 May 2023.