Portugal’s esteemed national selection, Festival da Canção, begins on Saturday 25 February with its first semi-final. This first show contains Eurovision alum Cláudia Pascoal, and fan favourite You Can’t Win Charlie Brown among others, so it’s bound to be a fantastic edition of the Portuguese contest.
Before we get deep into the festival, we’d love to know what you think about the competing songs!
You can review the participating songs in the videos below and then vote in our poll after.
Festival da Canção 2023 semi-final 1 competing songs
April Ivy – “Modo Voo”
BOLHA – “Sonhos de Liberdade”
Churky – “Encruzilhada”
Cláudia Pascoal – “Nasci Maria”
Esse Povo – “Sapatas de Cimento”
Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
MoYah – “Too Much Sauce”
Neon Soho – “Endless World”
SAL – “Viver”
You Can’t Win Charlie Brown – “Contraste Mudo”
Poll: Who should qualify from semi-final 1 of Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2023?
You can vote for a maximum of six songs, as that is how many will make it through the semi-final. Plus, you’ll only be able to vote once, so make sure to choose wisely before submitting your votes.
Festival da Canção 2023 show details
The semi-finals are scheduled to occur on 25 February and 4 March. Semi-final one will be hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato. During semi-final two, we’ll be guided through by Sónia Araújo and Jorge Gabriel.
Six songs from each semi-final will qualify — a 50% jury and 50% televote combination will determine the first five, then a second round of 100% televote will choose the final sixth qualifier.
On 11 March, the grand final will take place. This will be hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. The result will be determined by a 50:50 split between a jury and the public vote.
Which song is your favourite from semi-final 1? Do you think any of these acts will go on to win Festival da Canção 2023? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Get rid of all the songs in English!!! Portugal, don’t go the eastern European route!!
My personal winner is by far You Can’t Win Charlie Brown, by far. But I am aware it doesn’t have a chance and would fail at ESC… Strategically Mimicat would be the obvious best choice, but certainly not a favorite of mine, as it doesn’t sound very harmonic to me and not authentic. Claudia Pascoal is also a good choice, but as many say it is a repetitive, which makes it a poorer song. She is investing a lot in visual and staging, so very curious how the act will roll out and the reaction of the jury, who are… Read more »
Mimicat and claudia pascoal are both good. I had high hopes for barbara tinoco but overall i would vote….claudia pascoal
Voted for Mimicat, my absolute favourite of FdC 2023 and overall in my TOP 3 of National Finals. ‘Ai Coração’ is such an amazing song. Really hope it even grows more and more as it goes live 😀 Goooo Mimicat! Portugal, choose wise please 🙂 Also, Neon Soho are great as well. ‘Sapatos de Cimento’ by Esse Povo will be great live, I bet. In terms of an wildcard, I vote for April Ivy’s ‘Modo Voo’… Finally, I like Claudia Pascoal’s song, and she will be great live. But ‘Nasci Maria’ is too repetitive… :/ And she already got her… Read more »
Mimicat for the win! Amazing entry, beautiful Porruguese language, flavour of Portuguese culture and music. If it wins, that will be one of the strongest entries this year in a whole contest.. and Portugal would have strong chances to reach Top 10 for a second year in a row.
I would be really happy if Portugal goes for Mimicat, but I don’t expect them too. Portuguese juries tend to pay especially a lot of attention to the lyrics. I personally really like Mimicat’s lyrics. Still, they usually prefer more layered lyrics with many metaphors and about heavy subjects. Ai Coracao is lovely, but lighthearted and without that much subcontext to dwell on. I expect them to go for Claudia, Edmundo, Bandua or Ivandro more. But, I might be surprised if Mimicat really knocks it out of the park in her performance. Live vocals are also exceptionally important in FdC.
Last year, Ginger Ale was lighthearted and Diana finished 2nd in the jury. There may be deeper messages in the songs of Edmundo and Cláudia but the instrumental of Ai Coração is very rich and Mimicat is a good performer live. She is even in front of Ivandro in Spotify, who is one of our most streamed artists here in Portugal. She’s giving 100% of herself to make everyone who supports her proud (dance & singing lessons, etc…). Popularity wise, Ivandro and Bárbara are the front runners. But Mimicat brings a very portuguese sound. I think Ai Coração and A… Read more »
Sal, Churky and You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown
I can see mimicat winning the whole contest
Definitely Mimicat from this semifinal! As for the flop one, Claudia Pascoal (who got 0 points in 2018) who could vote for that again? She’s got the same type of song, which îs B O R I N G!
You may not like Claudia. But saying that it is the same kind of song couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only because the composers are different persons (Isaura composed the 2018 song) but they are radically different
Cláudia Pascoal and Mimicat are probably the ones to watch on this semi and I’m very curious to check their performances, since I love both songs.
Based on the studio versions, my other qualifiers would be You Can’t Win Charlie Brown, Neon Soho and SAL, but all of them fall more into the indie side of things and I believe the other 3 spots in the final are still open for anyone to grab.
Mimicat has the potential to finish in my personal top 5 this year, so I’m rooting for her the most
Mimicat has a great song. Should win easily.
Mimicat all the way
“Contraste Mudo,” “Endless World,” and “Ai Coracao” are the songs I’ve fallen hard for.
When a Portuguese song comes on my NF playlist, it feels like it’s coming out of a completely different world.
Claudia Pascoal has one of the worst songs here, so i am surprised that eurofans only placed her second and not first
I have Mimi Cat and Churky on repeat since they are out !
I love love loooove them. Chruky’s entry is just so lovely, the lyrics, the Melody… I expect a lot from both of their lives
No Portuese winner of eurovision this year.
With such awful entries, Portugal have all the chances
For me Mimicat, Cláudia Pascoal and Néon Soho
In my opinion, semfinal 2 is waaaaaay stronger than semifinal 1. Semifinal 1 is carried by Mimicat.
Also, Nasci Maria would’ve been a way better song if it didn’t repeat “Nasci Maria” a million times (=hyperbole).
Lobe both semis
Portugal is serving us quality this year – this is my favourite nf (as in I like the most songs). From this sf I guess I would pick SAL, Esse Povo and Claudia, but it’s hard to choose.
Finally, a NF I’m actually hyped for. Three big favorites in this SF, the Charlie Brown band, Mimicat and BOLHA, so they should all at least qualify to the final.
Also, please don’t let Claudia Pascoal win again, she’s already been to ESC with a better entry IMO, there are numerous much more interesting options this year and her track is way too repetitive, at least half of it is just repeating the same thing over and over again, you can’t do this to me, Portugal…
Such generic pop songs will never be high in portugal
My winner of this semi, and FdC in general, is Claudia Pascoal. I’m mesmerized by how different from O Jardim, yet equally compelling Nasci Maria is. The hook is super-memorable, the instrumentation is cool, the message is very strong, without being preachy.
My second favorite here is Mimicat. I am all here for its burlesque structure and punchy hook. I’m hoping for a very fun staging.
My third favorite here is Churky. I really like the singalong element, and the message of the song.
Overall, it’s a very enjoyable semi.
Go Claudia! An upgrade from her last song!
Downgrade
Musically, my favourite in this semi would be Neon Soho, if they get through I’m all set, but I like quite a few of the other songs as well, although my clear favourite is in the second semi.
Interestingly, it’s one of the songs that have the least appeal for me in this selection, yet I find it ranked high on most lists. I’d be interested to hear it from a perspective of someone who finds it good.
I’d say, first of all, this stands out in this selection for having a decidedly international sound – and I really appreciate Portugal giving us something else than their usual folk inspired tunes over the last few years, in my opinion, they’re doing it really well. Their stuff in English never sounds derivative or cheap like that in other selections. Second of all, I’m quite fond of this alternative, cool electro pop sound, it has inklings of Róisín Murphy or – perhaps that’s the more accurate comparison, because the lead singer’s vocal tone is more similar to hers – Alison… Read more »
Thanks, Tibor! I understand. I am leaning towards some other songs here, but you explained this song’s strengths very well. What’s great about FdC is that there’s diversity, and I think that almost everyone can find at least one or two songs that speaks to them. I also like the inclusion of English language songs in the last couple of years, as they tend to be a product of genuine artistic expression much like their Portuguese language counterparts. The Portuguese language still dominates the selection, as it should, but there’s always 3-5 songs in English that offer diversity and possibility… Read more »
Sometimes an “international sound” is not something possitive. First, what’s supposed to be international sound? Maybe something generic that could be sung by someone from Sweden, Korea, South Africa or Mexico, so generic that you wouldn’t notice any difference, no matter what the origin of the singer is. I prefer something less “international” and with more clear and stronger identity.
So you think there’s only one type of strong identity in music and that’s national identity? That’s not how I see it, the beauty of music and any kind of cultural expression is, that it’s transgressive. I don’t need to know where a song comes from, before I decide if I like it. Moreover, folk music can also be derivative, that’s not mutually exclusive.
Churky
I am actually vibing quite a lot with Portugal this year. I absolutely love both Churky and You Can’t Win Charlie Brown and I really hope these both go through. I also quite enjoy SAL as well. I think Portugal has done a great job this year.
My winner in this semi final is You Can’t Win Charlie Brown.But, the stronger songs all seems to be in SF2 for me.
I am with you!
My pronostic (in not particular order) :
1. Mimicat
2. Claudia Pascoal
3. April Ivy
4. Neon Soho
5. You Can’t Win Charlie Brown
Wildcard :
6. Churky
my 5 favourites are:
Wildcard: