On February 22, all eyes will turn to Lisbon for the first semi-final of Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2020. Only one of the 16 songs competing will have the honour of representing the Iberian nation at Eurovision 2020.

In January, broadcaster RTP released the songs and now they have announced the panel of juries for both semi-finals. Among the members of this year’s jury is Eurovision 2019 act Conan Osíris and Eurovision 1993 singer Anabela.

Earlier this week, the running order for both semi-finals was also revealed. Meera will have the honour of opening the first semi-final while the group Throes + The Shine will go last.

Dubio ft. +351 will be the first ones on semi-final two and Jimmy P will be the last song to be heard before heading to Elvas for the grand final on March 7.

Festival da Canção 2020: Semi-Final jury panel

This year, Portugal is mixing things up. The individual scores of the jury and televote won’t be revealed in the live show. The four qualifiers will be announced in random order. The detailed results will be made public after the final.

Conan Osíris won Festival da Canção 2019 with his experimental song “Telemóveis”. Despite being a fan favourite, the song did not qualify for the final of Eurovision. Even though the result in Tel Aviv did not meet expectations Conan’s career rose to new heights.

Eurovision 1993 top ten singer Anabela is also in the panel. From albums to performances in musicals all over Portugal, the songstress took part in Festival da Canção 2018, making it to the final in Guimarães.

The jury will also include Festival da Canção 2018 composers Capicua and Miguel Ângelo, Festival da Canção 2015 and 2017 composer Héber Marques and music industry specialists Rui Miguel Abreu and Isilda Sanches.

Festival da Canção 2020: Semi-finals running order

Semi-Final One: February 22

  1. MEERA “Copo de Gin”
  2. Filipe Sambado “Gerbera Amarela do Sul”
  3. Ian Mucznik “O Dia de Amanhã”
  4. Bárbara Tinoco “Passe-Partout”
  5. Blasted Mechanism “Rebellion”
  6. Elisa “Medo de Sentir”
  7. JJaZZ “Agora”
  8. Throes + The Shine “Movimento”

Semi-Final Two: February 29

  1. Dubio ft +351 “Cegueira”
  2. Luiz Caracol & Gus Liberdade “Dói-me o País”
  3. Judas “Cubismo Enviesado”
  4. Kady “Diz Só”
  5. Elisa Rodrigues “Não Voltes Mais”
  6. Cláudio Frank “Quero-te Abraçar”
  7. Tomás Luzia “Mais Real que o Amor”
  8. Jimmy P “Abensonhado”

Festival da Canção 2020 Final: Tickets on sale February 19

Rejoice, Festival da Canção fans! After opening the grand final doors to the public in 2017 (Lisbon), 2018 (Guimarães) and 2019 (Portimão), broadcaster RTP is ready to welcome fans from all over Europe in Elvas.

The tickets will go on sale tomorrow, February 19 via official ticketing partner Ticketline. Prices will range from 5 to 10 euros.

Are you excited for Festival da Canção 2020? Which songs are your favourites? Tell us in the comment section below! 

Read more Portugal Eurovision 2020 news here

16 Comments
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L'oiseau
L'oiseau
4 years ago

Hi Tibor. The whole jury is actually very progressive and very in-tune with contemporary music scene, such as Conan is. Much more so than the previous editions. The exception is maybe Anabela, who comes from a different more traditional genre (she didn’t develop much from her 1993 ESC entry…). So I have high expectations what the jury of the semis is concerned.

Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago

Isn’t Wiwibloggs already biased with featuring the Rebellion video on this news. What’s it have to do with Conan Osiris being a juror ?

Livs
Livs
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicolas

It’s actually a Playlist of all 16 songs from fdc’s YouTube Chanel.

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

I hope this doesn’t hurt Dubio’s chances, but the 2nd semi is not strong, so I remain confident about they making it with ease.

It will be interesting to see the pre-contest frontrunners performing back to back in the 1st semi. But I wouldn’t jump on conclusions with the results of this one, since the whole jury voting system is completely different in the final. Though it can be an indication about who will top the televote.

Tom Ripley
Tom Ripley
4 years ago

Already miss Conan on Eurovision;)

Candy
Candy
4 years ago

For those who love Conan – RTP recently uploaded a concert film of Conan’s show in December 2019. Definitely worth watching.

Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago

Portugal better not following the disgrace of France from choosing a song in english.

ESCFan2009
ESCFan2009
4 years ago

Passe-Partout <3 <3
At least we would have one "French-sounding"-song in Rotterdam then xD

ImJJ
ImJJ
4 years ago

I rlly like Dubio and Blasted

Mark dowd
Mark dowd
4 years ago

This is a REBELLION!/!!

Mena
Mena
4 years ago

Conan is the best ! Conan not qualifying is the biggest mistake in Eurovision history

Egyptian spaghetti
Egyptian spaghetti
4 years ago
Reply to  Mena

Even bigger than non-qualification of Horehronie.

Party
Party
4 years ago

Hurray!
They have finally chosen to not reveal the semi results!
I hate when in national selections like Vidbir they reveal them, it makes the final result less surprising and intense.
Although, the final results can be completely unpredictable, like in Lithuania’s selection. 😉

yeah
yeah
4 years ago
Reply to  Party

Semi’s haven’t even occurred yet, lmao! This is just the line up for the semis.

Party
Party
4 years ago
Reply to  yeah

I know, I’m happy that after the semi they won’t show results 🙂

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago

Medo de Sentir to win pls, also 4th place in portuguese spotify charts, highest out of all entries in the NF

i like this song so much, has this magical vibe, hope Elisa’s live can give it more power, emotion though (i am Always a perfectionist)