It’s Lisbon calling: This Saturday, Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2022 will begin with semi-final one. The long standing national selection for Eurovision kicks off on March 5.
We’re still in a pandemic, so RTP headquarters will be the home of the first ten performers. But only five will advance do the grand final on March 12.
Ahead of the show, we want to know: Which one is your favourite? Which five songs do you think should advance to the final?
Listen below to the ten semi-finalists, then make your choice.
Scroll down to vote in our poll
Festival da Canção 2022 – Semi-final one songs
1. Os Quatro e Meia – “Amanhã”
2. TheMisterDriver – “Calisun”
3. Diana Castro – “Ginger Ale”
4. FF – “Como é bom esperar alguém”
5. Norton – “Hope”
6. Aurea – “Why”
7. Kumpania Algazarra – “A Minha Praia”
8. Maro – “saudade, saudade”
9. Valas & Os Astronautas – “Odisseia”
10. Fado Bicha – “Povo Pequenino”
Poll: Who should qualify from semi-final one of Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2022?
You can vote for as many of your favourites as you like. But you can only vote once – so choose wisely!
Festival da Canção 2022 – Rules
The 50/50 voting system is back, but with different forms for the semi-finals and the grand final. A single jury and the public televote will decide which songs will advance to the final. In case of a tie, the professional jury will decide which ones advance.
In the grand final, the decision will be split by televote and seven regional juries. This time around, if we have a tie, the televote will prevail.
The first semi-final will be presented by Jorge Gabriel and Sónia Araújo. The following week, the second semi will be presented by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato. The grand final will be hosted by Eurovision 2018 host Filomena Cautela as well as Vasco Palmeirim. Inês Lopes Gonçalves will be the green room host.
The semi-finals of Festival da Canção 2022 will take place on March 5 and 7. The final is set for March 12.
Which songs from semi-final one of Festival da Canção 2022 are you most excited about? Let us know in the comment section below.
saudade, saudade.
I’m voting for.
MARO MARO MARO MARO MARO
saudadde Saudadde
Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh:):):):):):):):)
Áurea *-*
I voted for Fado Bicha, Maro, Norton, FF, Os Quatro e Meia however almost all of them deserve a spot in the final and I would love to see any of them in Turin, with Fado Bicha and OQEM being my faves in this semi. Boy, and then there is semi 2 which is even harder to choose from.. Also I would prefer Aurea’s song to be in portuguese too, that is the only reason I didn’t include it as one of my top contenders, but still it is a good song. I wish this year’s song for Eurovision will… Read more »
From this semi, Maro and Fado Bicha for sure. But i love almost all the entries.
This is so hard for me to choose. FdC this year has so much quality! Obviously my winner is Saudade, saudade, it’s such a beautiful song and I love Maro’s voice! And bilingual songs have also done very well in Eurovision. After that, it’s quite difficult. I don’t understand why no one likes Ginger Ale or A Minha Praia, they’re very fun and charismatic. Yes, I get that they’re not as ambitious as the other acts, but they’re still a few of my favorites. I love Amanha too. It sounds very Portuguese to me. I think Povo Pequenino is going… Read more »
I too feel the same way about Saudadde
I think I agree with you in all except Povo pequenino
It’s kinda sorta I don’t like it
Saudade saudade is the best one!
Ich liebe diese Musik und diesen Gesang?
‘saudade, saudade’ is so beautiful. I think it’s a possible Eurovision winner if the staging is as captivating as the song.
FDC went from one of my least favorite nfs to among the best. since portugal won the quality has grown immensely. there are so many potential qualifiers in portugal this year
“Odisseia” is by far the best song of the lot, my personal favorite – a great electronic and jazz fusion song that reminds me of the bands Röyksopp and Ugress. Can’t believe it is last in this poll. Yes it might not be the best choice for Eurovision, but it is a great song still!
Fado Bicha is the best one from both Semi’s, by a mile! Winner.
Fado Bicha. my personal winner.
I just know Maro’s Saudade, saudade is gonna win the whole festival. what an amazing and super heartfelt song.
Saudade saudade (Maro)… The most Portuguese of the FdC songs, although half are in English. There is nothing stronger in the Portuguese soul than saudade, here so well explained to the world.
Saudade Saudade has been growing on me so much. Live performance can make it even more special I feel.
I love Fado Bicha and Os quatro e meia as well
Very tough semifinal
I love Saudade, Saudade by Maro! Between all the songs, it made me feel something different and I love when a song does that! I’m afraid that she’s going to be “another Neev”, just like last year, when he was the public’s favorite and not between the judges.
I also like Mar no Fim by Blacci, but unfortunately, it’s so underrated along with Pontas Soltas by Jonas. But I expect the most known artists (Áurea and Syro) to have the highest scores.
I’m really loving the lo fi, laid back vibe Maro is bringing. “Saudade saudade” is simple yet so interesting and hypnotizing. It was the one that grabbed me since the very first moment and I wanted to listen to it in a loop. I’m glad people is appreciating it as much as me. Hope it qualifies.
Man, this is hard. This semi-final alone has a bunch of strong candidates. Os Quatro a Meia and Fado Bicho are my favorites, but I can’t say there are any songs I outright dislike. “Why” and “Calisun” are kinda basic compared to what we’ve come to expect from Portugal, but they’re still really solid and could do very well with the right staging. As ever, Portugal brings the goods, and I’ll be excited with whatever they send.
Povo Pequenino is what we need!!
I’ve been waiting a couple of weeks for an article about Festival da Canção just to share this beauty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_T7irLRaQI&ab_channel=MARO The video and “Saudade, Saudade” went viral in Portugal.
Besides Maro (my personal favorite to win along with Pongo & Tristany), I’ll also root for Fado Bicha. Áurea and Os Quatro e Meia are popular, respected and very good live, so they will qualify. I guess those 4 acts will move on, but it’s hard to say who would accompany them.
When the songs were released, I was fearing Maro could be overlooked, but this video surely put her on the map. Áurea and Syro are in theory the frontrunners, but Portugal had dark horses winning in the last couple of years, so…
FF’s song indeed screams FdC. The thing is there are a lot of convincing jury darlings on this semi, so I wonder if he will get enough support to face a less ambitious song like “A Minha Praia” or “CaliSun” if they get a televote push.
I can’t give you a proper answer, but I’m under the impression Maro is more famous between their music industry than with the public, based on what I read back when the songs were released and some articles I found about her. She was living in the US and studying music there, which may explain why she isn’t a big name yet. Curiously, her numbers in Spotify are actually better than Áurea’s, Syro’s and Os Quatro e Meia’s. But it’s also true that this may happen because of her listeners in English speaking countries. I feel the same about Áurea… Read more »
That version of ‘Saudade, Saudade’ is so beautiful, thanks for sharing. Goosebumps.
You’re welcome. 🙂 I felt goosebumps too. I already loved the studio version, but her voice sounds even better without production.
She went to the same college that Salvador Sobral went to…
Wasn’t the same that Luísa went to? I may be confusing things, but I think he studied in Spain and she was the one that went to Berklee. In any case, a similar trajectory.
“Amanhã”, “Why?”, “A Minha Praia” and “Saudade, Saudade” are my favorites of this semifinal.
This is my favorite Fado Bicha – “Povo Pequenino”
Saudade, Saudade!!!
Nothing more than I can say, says it in a better way.
A fraud, I thought it would a nice portuguese song and boom ENGLISH..
When there’s nothing more to say… Half the chorus in Portuguese, half the song in Portuguese… It’s by far the song with the most Lusitanian soul, with saudade being such an important feeling.