What do you do when you’re sick of being eliminated during the Eurovision semi-finals? You go back to the drawing board, drop the language rule, turn up the heat and prepare to slay! And today RTP continued its bid to get back in the game by staging a press conference in the Coliseum of Lisbon with new information regarding Festival da Canção — its Eurovision 2017 selection show.
Wiwiblogger Bernardo was on-hand for the event — check out our Instagram for images and video — and will be publishing interviews with many of the acts in the days ahead. But for now let’s review what went down…
RTP’s sub-director Gonçalo Madai reaffirmed the broadcaster’s commitment to the festival and re-iterated many of the details we already knew. This year’s contest will include two semi-finals, which will take place on February 19 and 26, consisting of eight acts each. Four acts will advance to the grand final, which will take place on March 5. As you’d expect, the results will be determined by a mix of televotes and regional juries.
Sorry to disappoint all you eager beavers: You will not be able to listen to the songs until the semi-finals. They want all of you listeners to be fresh for the night.
Júlio Isidro — a well-known Portuguese television presenter and entertainer — will chair the jury, which consists of Ramom Galarza, Tozé Brito, Gabriela Schaaf, Dora, Nuno Markl, Inês Lopes Goncalves, João Calisto and Inês Menezes.
Although some song titles had previously been leaked and revealed by the artists, today RTP officially revealed all of the titles, which you can see below. Despite this year’s language rule change, which allows acts to sing in any language and not just Portuguese, only three song titles are in English: ‘My Paradise’, ‘Without You’ and ‘Don’t Walk Away’.
Semifinal 1 – February 19
Márcia – ‘Agora’
Golden Slumbers – ‘Para Perto’
Fernando Daniel – ‘Poema A Dois’
Deolinda Kinzimba – ‘O Que Vi Nos Meus Sonhos’
Rui Drumond – ‘O Teu Melhor’
Lisa Garden – ‘Without You’
Salvador Sobral – ‘Amar Pelos Dois’
Viva La Diva – ‘Nova Glória’
Semifinal 2 – February 26
David Gomes – ‘My Paradise’
Lena D’agua – ‘Nunca Me Fui Embora’
Beatriz Felício – ‘Ao Teu Olhar’
Pedro Gonçalves – ‘Don’t Walk Away’
Helena Kendall – ‘Andamos No Céu’
Celina Da Piedade – ‘Primavera’
Jorge Benvinda – ‘Gente Bestial’
Inês Sousa – TBA
Keen to honour Portugal’s musical heritage, the semi-final interval acts will include a medley of popular songs from the festival — but it will not feature any winning songs. Those will be reserved for the interval act during the final.
Do any of the acts in Portugal have you seeing red and green? Who excites you the most and who do you think has the strongest chance to win? Let us know in the comments box below!
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Lena D’Agua is fantastic, she’s like a Portuguese Kate Bush, can’t wait to see what she brings to the table.
Pedro Goncalves… I’m remembering something about that name… is he from The Voice Portugal? He looks so different that I wonder if they are the same person?! I know there’s also an Olympic canoeist with a similar name (from Brazil) hence much confusion. :S
I’m sure Wiwibloggs will do a profile on him anyhow. (Or on them. Haha.)
I have high hopes on Portugal.
Also, good to see so many Portuguese songs there.
You are hyping this up way too much. I can guarantee that you’ll be disapointed in the end.
On a side note, I heard some acts were planning to go English if they won here in Portuguese, is this true?
Pedro Gonçalves looks a lot like Justin Bieber…sort of. 😛
If anyone has a spare ticket for Festival da Cancao this year, do let me know. 🙂
Hopefully, none of the English songs make it through the finals.
Fernando Daniel, Pedro Gonçalves and Deolinda Kizimba seem to be the most promising acts
Can’t wait for Fernando’s song <3
Thank you Wiwibloggs!!