Boa noite a todos! The second semifinal of Portugal’s traditional Festival da Canção has concluded tonight. NBC, Surma, Madrepaz and Mariana Bragada are the final four acts to qualify for the grand final.
Tonight’s show
This year’s Festival has so much talent and high quality songs that it looks like RTP want to host the contest again in 2020. The FdC 2019 line-up includes a mixture of songs showcasing Portugal’s unique style in the contest, namely, ethnic music, ballads of paixão and saudade.
The show, which took place in RTP’s studios in Lisbon, was in the same format as the first semi-final. Again, all songs were entirely sung in Portuguese. which is something that Portugal never compromises on. This semi-final was hosted by Jose Carlos Malato and Jorge Gabriel. In the green room was Inês Lopes Gonçalves.
The four finalists were determined via a combined jury vote and public televote, worth 50% each.
The jury consisted of the same seven members as last week:
- Julio Isidro – president of the jury
- Isaura – Portugal’s songwriter and singer in Eurovision 2018
- Pedro Penim
- Selma Uamusse
- Rita Redshoes
- lvaro Costa
- Maria João
Results
The semi-final was won by NBC with his song “Igual a ti”. He also won the televote and placed second in the jury vote.
Second overall was Surma and “Pugna”. She picked up the top score from the jury, while she was fifth in the televote.
The third qualifier was the folk group Madrepaz. Their song “Mundo a mudar” was outside the jury’s top four, but was second with the televote, putting it third overall.
The last grand final place went to Mariana Bragada with “Mar doce”. She was the third favourite of the jury and fourth favourite of the televote. This put her in fourth place overall.
Sadly Dan Riverman only just missed out. He tired with Mariana with a total of 15 points, while she won the tiebreak.
Festival da Canção 2019 – semi-final 2 results
| Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Points |
| NBC | “Igual a ti” | 10 | 12 | 22 | 1 |
| Surma | “Pugna” | 12 | 6 | 18 | 2 |
| Madrepa | “Mundo a mudar” | 6 | 10 | 16 | 3 |
| Mariana Bragada | “Mar doce” | 8 | 7 | 15 | 4 |
| Dan Riverman | “Lava” | 7 | 8 | 15 | 5 |
| João Couto | “O jantar” | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| Mila Dores | “Debaixo do luar” | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| Lara Liquiz | “O lugar” | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
There you have it! Next Saturday, March 2, the four finalists from tonight’s semi will join last week’s four qualifiers in the grand final of Festival da Canção 2019. We’ll Ana Cláudia, Calema, Conan Osíris, Madrepaz, Mariana Bragada, Matay, NBC and Surma battle it out for the ticket to Tel Aviv.
One of them will have the honour of raising the Portuguese flag in Israel and try to bring back Eurovision again to Portugal.
Do you agree with the results? Have your favourites qualified? Are you shocked by any result? What do you expect from next week? Tell us in the comment section below!
Finalistas do Festival da Canção 2019 Linhas de telefone já estão abertas!
https://www.facebook.com/festivaldacancao/videos/vb.261561737056/255474998698034/?type=2&theater
Surma is so different and special WOW, nothing like that in Eurovision! A shame the PT public did not support her though.
NBC will fight for the victory with Conan. I am afraid that the jury will give him 12 and the public 10, which means it’s up to the jury to decide who wins! If they give 10 to Conan, then he wins!
I want Surma to be back next year.
No, in the final it’s the public choice that decide if there is a tie. If Conan comes 2nd with the jury he wins because televote will give him the 12 pts for sure.
Metam os olhos neste grande cantor NBC com duas decadas de carreira, este homem é o que possui a voz poderosa de todos os artistas e vejam a letra a melhor que representa Portugal, vejam a mensagem sobre racismo, xenofobia e refugiados tudo o que se passa neste momento em portugal sem tirar nem por… COMO DIZ A LETRA, SOU IGUAL A TI, SOMOS TODOS IGUAIS. Put your eyes on this great singer NBC with two decades of career, this man is the one who possesses the powerful voice of all artists and see the letter the best that represents… Read more »
Pois mas a prestação ao vivo deixou algo a desejar, a musica vendeu algo que ele não conseguiu transmitir ao vivo.
Apesar do fato que ele usou ser espetacular, não podes cantar uma música destas com um fato cor-de-rosa brilhante como se fosses cantar uma música “disco”.
NBC was to much overacting for me…
Excellent analysis. Just don’t agree with Conan… I don’t think he will win and won’t even close, very very unfortunately…
Actually I likend this semi bettter because the performamnces were overall much better. But my absolute fav was Surma. Very unexpectedly this actually worked on stage and the televote did not trash it… very happy with the result, except for Dan that I would really like até the final.
As in the first SF with Felipe Keil, Laura Laquiz was a bit dissapointing. Both were amongst my favs, but their lives performances kill their chances. The positive note is that my other 4 favs (Conan Osiris, Calema, Surma and NBC) made it. I think the best choices would be Conan or Surma, but as I wasn’t able to stay focus during the 3 minutes of “Pugna” I’m leaning towards Conan Osiris. Let’s see what the juries do because I’m getting a feeling that Conan is going to be 2nd or 3rd with them. And Matay will end up going… Read more »
Surma smashed it. Madrepaz vocals were flawless. Mariana didn’t do much for me but was ok. NBC is my disappointment, he sang well but I didn’t enjoy the presentation: the spinning camera and the drama gestures, a bit too much. (oh, and the outfit was terrible).
How come the jury appreciates Pugna bot not Telemóveis?
I think RTP wanted her to be in the final and they knew that the televote would be borderline. 8 points from the jury and she would have ben out.
Unfortunatly i smell a Janeiro 2.0 when it will come to the regional juries next week.
The key is in the vocals.
Pugna is reallypredictable? morden dance performances always come with soundtrack like this, without the dancers, the song can’t stand on it’s own. But Conan’s song is strong enough to stand on by itself.
because of the lyrics of telemoveis. the jury didnt get it.
the juries gave 12 points to that whale noises compilation i-
Horror movie soundtrack…
Perfect for a horror game. I’m getting ready for a jumpscare.
I get that Pugna is cool and different, but I don’t see it doing well at Eurovision. The Portuguese people weren’t feeling it either.
NBC has the strongest song here, just need to control himself a little.
Surma is not really original you can find this kind performance in any contemporary theater.
And they only gave Madrepa 6 points, it’s like they are allergic to interesting things.
Conan’s song is still way better than any of the songs in the selection this year . The juries are really double standard, they must think experimental music has to be pretentious and boring to be good.
I like Telemoveis, but it’s a hell of an overhyped song.
la venda and hatari are overhyped. Conan isn’t. In fact he has been getting too much hate from portuguese people.
it’s the most overhyped song in the whole ESC season. Great song tho.
Surma getting the top spot from the jury was quite the surprise highlight of the night. I’m sad to see João Couto and Dan Riverman not making the cut but this semifinal was quite an open field compared to the first.
Surma qualified?!? YESSS
One more time I agree with the qualified acts. Portugal is treating me well so far! I’m very glad that the televote saved Madrepaz and even if I wanted to NBC to top also the jury vote, I’m OK that Surma did it, so she could qualify too. Conan will have to bring his A-game, because even he wins the televote, there are many quality acts fighting for the juries votes. It’s important to remember that besides the different jury system, the final will be in an arena and not in a TV studio. Interaction with the audience may play… Read more »
I don’t understand how Lara Laquiz came last….
Her choreography was on point. Sadly, her live vocals weren’t.
She was my favourite before the contest. She was still really good so yeah, I don’t understand it either.
Her vocal performance was a disaster and the jury is ruthless for that.
What a line-up this year!! *NBC and Calema:two strong radio-pop songs; *Ana Claudia:interesting eletronic-rock sound(good musical structure and voice) *Mariana Bragada:a very sweet and relaxing tribal song *Madrepaz:very “folky” with 70’s charm and very well sung (amazing harmonies and stage presence) *Matay:beautiful and emotional ballad with an amazing voice. *Surma:experimental and avant-garde music stunningly performed and staged *Conan osiris:a “crazy” mix of gypsy, fado,african sounds and dancehall performed by a real charismatic and unique performer. Seriously, Melodifestivalen and nordic selections can give us high production,Destination Eurovision very good pop songs, San Remo the classiness and Operacion triunfo the drama (ahaha… Read more »
Well said!
Surma is my overall favourite, so I’m very glad that she passed to the final…
Sorry but there are some mistakes in this article:Surma didn’t came second in the televote (unfortunately!!) she was fifth 🙁 in fact it was Madrepaz who came second with the public (not third)
😉
so happy about surma wooooooo i didn’t think most people would get her
One of my favourites came last but that’s ok because Surma was fantastic. My pick to win this selection.
I watched this one. The results correctly reflected the performances, I feel. “Igual a ti” is a powerful song and definitely deserves its place in the final. “Pugna” was encaptivating throughout – a real stand-out. I also really enjoyed Mariana’s performance, and I’m happy that she will be in the final. Well done Portugal. A strong year for the Festival da Canção.
I’ve been saying it since the songs were released……i love Madrapaz!!!…..its a beautiful entry and im delighted that it qualified and did SO well with the public…..sometimes less is more and this makes me happy!!………im wishing it all the best in the final, even though it might hope for a mid-table result at best…….im downloading it anyway!!