Lights went on in Lisbon! Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2022 returned on Saturday for the first of two semi-finals.
This semi-final will saw ten acts battle it out for only five tickets to the Grand Final. The line-up includes our poll winner Maro, The Voice Portugal coach Aurea and experimental duo Fado Bicha. However, in the end, only the former two were among the qualifiers.
Festival da Canção 2022: Semi-final One
Qualifiers
- Os Quatro e Meia “Amanhã”
- Diana Castro “Ginger Ale”
- FF “Como é bom esperar alguém”
- Aurea “Why”
- MARO “saudade, saudade”
Running Order
-
- Os Quatro e Meia “Amanhã”
- TheMisterDriver “Calisun”
- Diana Castro “Ginger Ale”
- FF “Como é bom esperar alguém”
- Norton “Hope”
- Aurea “Why”
- Kumpania Algazarra “A Minha Praia”
- MARO “saudade, saudade”
- Valas & Os Astronautas “Odisseia”
- Fado Bicha “Povo Pequenino
We don’t have long to wait until the second semi. It will take place on Monday, with the final scheduled for next Saturday.
What do you think of Festival da Canção semi-final one line-up? Is there a winner in the mix? Let us know down below.
Many good songs thisyear, but Maro and FF are my two absolute favorites. Hope either of them wins!
I really don’t get the love for Maro. Couldn’t understand a word she was singing, no vocal range whatsoever and absolutely 0 stage presence. That being said, couldn’t care less for Aurea and that Harry Styles wannabe, sorry, I meant FF. Boring melodrama alert. Fado Bicha were disappointing saddly and Quinze Para as Oito were ok. Diana Castro, aside from the wording of Ginger Ale and MultiTasking (o clássico sotaque beto a falar inglês) was a real nice surprise. Not a full blown one considering it was from one of the best contemporary portuguese acts, Joana Espadinha. All in all,… Read more »
I totally agree. Really disappointing how amateurish Fado Bicha were. I had high expectations. And I really don’t understand all the buzz around Maro: absolutely boring and forgettable perfomance and music. Aurea composed a meh song but she is unbelievably good.
Yep, she as the voice, the star quality and the stage presence. Meh song indeed.
vocal range? music is not circus, please.
There’s enough room for all vocal types and ranges. But Maro’s song works only in studio version, same as Lana Del Rey’s entire discography for example. It doesn’t translate in live performances. No power, no momentum, no spark. It’s just there.
Saudade saudade (Maro) is the ultimate example of the word exquisite in music. She could be on an empty stage, just singing for us with her guitar, and we’d be truly happy.
so happy about all the qualifiers, they definitely deserved it. shocked at how poor live versions of povo pequenino & calisun were. felt like people were sleeping on ‘ginger ale’ but it’s amazing. maro needed better staging but still my winner, aurea a close second
It is really good to see that FdC has grown in a solid event. No real surprises on the finalist except for Fado Bicha not making it through and the inclusion of Diana Castro, which for me was a good surprise. But, guys, I don’t get the following Maro is getting. It’s a nice tune, but too much of a lounge music song. For it to be competitive it should include at least 4 other singers making the thing she did in the video. As I see it Áurea is by far the most competitive of this lot.
Maro has my favorite song in the semi (and maybe in the competition), but with that presentation she won’t win, so she’ll need to come up with something very different next Saturday. On the other hand, I’m completely indifferent to Áurea’s song, but she sold it perfectly. All things considered, if last night was the final, for my surprise I would pick Os Quatro e Meia. Their vocals were as good as Áurea’s and I prefer the song. But let’s see what happens. There’s still Syro, Pongo & Tristany and maybe one week will be enough for Maro to shake… Read more »
I’m thinking the yellow blazer might’ve been a reference to Ukraine, so hopefully she’ll change it to the final.
As for Maro, I was expexting more to be honest. I love Saudade Saudade so much but that performance needed something more I feel or she could have sell it better on her own even tho she was alone on stage. I don’t know. Maybe it was the high expectations I had. I still love the song
I think fans are sleeping on Amanha. I’m not Portuguese but I think it has a very strong appeal for locals and it could really surprise. It’s this kind of entry.
Portuguese person here. ‘Amanhã’ is the third most streamed song from FDC on Spotify, so I wouldn’t say we are sleeping on it. Considering The Black Mamba won out of nowhere last year, I wouldn’t rule out a possible ‘Amanhã’ upset. The staging was also quite good, so anything is possible really.
I agree. It was more for international fans that sometimes don’t pay attention to some kind of songs and then they see these songs doing very well with the actual voting because of locals you know. It happened this year in Norway this year with Northkid for example.
The Black Mamba comparasion was very right. It even happened later in the Esc when fandom had been sleeping the whole season.
I’m very looking forward to the whole FdC and see how things will go.
Aurea and Maro are the best !!! Very good !!
Why?
This song has it all, voice, stage, presence.
Did you notice the wooden horse with the colors of Ukraine?
why? because this war is stealing the childhood of thousands of children in Ukraine.
why? Can you take me back to the start, where I was happy.
Top 5 in Eurovision
It needs work. She was amazing but the staging was not good, her dress is totally wrong. She looks like a bride, it’s to virginal while it should be toned down. It was over produced: her eyelashes didn’t allow to see her amazing eyes and those fake tears, to much for me. Also could skip the wooden horse with reference to Ukraine. Not that I don’t support Ukraine but it’s not what the music is about. She doesn’t even talk about a wooden horse… but I’m sure for the final there will be improvement
Dear Maro, if you read this, take some of your choir people with you on stage, let them sing live as well and interact with each other. Your song has so much potential, but you need to do some staging, please.
Oh no. Fado Bicha is out. Why?
Simple. Because they were bad live.
Mauybe because Portugal prefer boring songs, what’s the deal with that boring song “saudade” ????
You have no musical feelings
so sad about his. His voice was absolutely perfect, i liked the staging, and the song is amazing. still feel a little shocked and speechless. :-((
I have not yet had the opportunity to watch this semi’s performance. Pretty surprised that Fado Bicha are out, but I’ll leave my judgement till I’ve watched them. Let me just take time to appreciate the fact that quote “Portugal has become the definition of bold”. We have come a long way….
Maro’s song is beautiful 🙂
Yaaaaaay 🙂
Saudade Saudade qualified!!!!!
If it didn’t I would have died
Nothing more I can say, says it in a better way!
This is really a great year for Festival da Canção. I thought Maro, Aurea, FF and Os Quatro e Meia were the clear standouts. From a native portuguese speaker perspective i really think FF and Aurea will make it very hard for Maro to win. Both are really strong vocalist and they really deliver emotion in the most compelling way. Maro has the best song though but the staging and the way she delivers is lacking a little bit. Tough competition.
I feel though that’s the spirit of Sobral in her. And because this is Portugal, I feel like that’s what the country is about. Who can bare the torch of the spirit of Sobral?
She does convey some poweful emotion as an introvert and thats essential portuguese sorrow. Its really hard to move people without to much melodrama and avoid boring them to death. So yeah she reminds a little bit of Salvador. She needs just a few adjustments with the stage, change the camera angles and she could take it all.
Fado Bicha were a disappointment: bad vocals and a distracting staging for what is in essence a great song. I get why they didn’t go through even though I still think they were on the top 5 tonight.
Also, with a better staging, MARO could win Eurovision.
I can not believe Fado Bicha is out…How in the ….is supposed to be 5 songs above them?…
Their song us not that great, in my humble opinion. And that is why 5 others qualified over them.
I think the vocals were the real problem and not so much the song.
This was the single, best national final show this season. There was nothing I even remotely disliked…which made ranking this really hard.
I did it though and four of my five favourites made it through. I would’ve taken Odisseia over Why but I can understand that Aurea’s vocals were strong enough that you can overlook the song somewhat.
Oh…and either FF or Maro would be my ESC winner so far if they went onto win this.
Saudade, saudade is the winning material of both FdC and Eurovision, but the WHOLE STAGING needs to be CHANGED. emergency call.
This is a melancholic song. It needs some cosy staging, some cool place where to sit and definitely not to stand with a microphone stand and clapping around with a cartoonish background on top of that. Terrible. It needs to be intimate, foggy, blurred like a nighttime sadness.
The huge gap between the song quality and bad staging quality gives me hard Eye Cue vibes.
I don’t even know if this change would be allowed after the semis, but I would love to see the women who sing with Maro in the acoustic video surrounding her on the stage and singing the recorded part of the chorus live. She felt very exposed with this staging. Let’s hope a lot can change in one week, because the song and her voice are wonderful.
yes, it is one of the options to bring those women on stage and sit around there. or even better, i would prefer the half of the song MARO alone, and the other half those other vocalists would come and sit around her. that would work the best, and damn, it could be so powerful.
i honestly would have so many ideas and it’s killing me i can’t do anything, it is my most favourite song of the season….
Salvador Sobral had VERY LITTLE staging and won…if he can do it…Maro can…and I strongly believe she has the spirit of Sobral in her.
If they don’t do something with the staging this will flop. Salvador had a story, almost a vagabond singing, his clothes were right with the message they wanted to pass. For Maro is different, the song is different, there was no cohesive story. It needs to improve
”saudade, saudade” was absolutely stunning. Chills and goosebumps throughout the entire performance. It’s simplistic, yet effective. I think it could potentially place very well in Turin. A great choice!
Also, off-topic, but did everyone see S10’s performance on Matthijs Gaat Door? Watch it on youtube ASAP. S10 has a REALLY good chance at winning this year!
Loved S10’s performance and I hope they go in a similar direction with staging. Though I guess it’s easier to use those laser beams in a TV studio than in an arena.
It’s not that hard. Just look at Duncan’s performance at the start of the first semi in Rotterdam.
True. But didn’t they use augmented reality also? I don’t know if this will be possible in Turin.
How Fado didn’t qualify? Oh my goddess. That’s… umm… how? Haha
Fado Bicha didn’t qualify? How? Why? What kind or robbery was that?
they were absolutely great tonight.
Then I guess absolutely great excludes vocal capability, the final part is not something I would call great (not even good). I’d like to see them in the final. But it’s the result.
Maro, now’s your chance. Win it!
I want a wildcard for Fado Bicha.
Here is this year NF robbery . Fado Bicha not even qualified
Maybe only by a margin, who knows.
I miss Fado Bicha extremely in the selection. Makes me a bit sad.
Don’t ask me why, but Fado Bicha is out in FdC… Áurea, Diana Castro, FF, Maro and Os Quatro e Meia qualified.
because it was more visual than properly singing. The final part of the performance was painful to my ears. I was hoping them to qualify but no decent jury could save them
Do you think it was the jury that hurt them? I was wondering if it was “too queer” to the Portuguese audience.
and Do you think the audience cares to vote for FdC, mainly the fans. None of my family and closest friends in Portugal would vote even if it would be for free. The rules are clear and we all know how it works 50-50 and not all can go through. If others mobilise more people to vote they pass ahead. But no one can say that the fado bicha act and vocal capacity was flawless.
I’m not sure if it was the jury or public, but Joana Espadinha i in the music industry (she’s the song writer of ginger ale), so it could be down to that.
LOL, nothing alike! But yeah, she’s not going to Eurovision, don’t worry.
I would be surprised if she wasn’t the 5th tonight.
Suzy’s song lived on after not qualifying in Copenhagen… she even turned up in Lisbon 2018 as a special guest. Long live Suzy.
paixãoooo!!
Just noticed no one mentioned MrDriver. I think I was expecting less so it was a good performance for me. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the final.
That gay kiss on RTP. 🙂
Maro, Os Quatro e Meia, FF, Fado Bicha and Aurea. Anything less is unacceptable but wouldn’t be surprised if jury or televote push Diana Castro through given her popularity on The Voice and Joana Espadinha’s connections in the music scene. Seriously disappointed by Maro’s staging. Clearly she has talent to spare but needs a great artistic director to make that magical song an experience on stage—it felt like an audition for the voice with that styling and lack of staging than “a moment”.
Called it!! I had a sinking feeling that Diana would push someone out. So sad for Fado Bicha—they would’ve been a worthy finalist. Semi 2 of FdC doesn’t have 8-9 songs better than Povo Pequenino.
I disagree with you, Jake.
Aurea FTW! What an interpretation!
Good evening Portugal. I have just joined you now for some lovely harp music.
I think Saudade is a more intimate song but Fado Bicha won the night for me. It reminded me of Shortbus which is one of my favourite movie soundtracks
spot on
Maro has my absolute favourite song, that I’ve had on repeat especially on the most stressful moments during the week, but I expected so much more from her staging :/ maybe she should have the choir, or contemporary dancers. The leds were really amazing though!
I was hoping for a haunting background with her sit, maybe a full moon behind… , something darker that would evolve towards light. I think she’ll make it but not the best tonight.
Saudade is not a dark feeling. Portuguese are happy in that kind of nostalgia. Nothing and no one is completely lost when when this important “something” or “someone” says goodbye to us.
So much musical variation. It is just phanomanal what Portugal is serving.
I also liked the Ska song and band very much…
They improved the song as expected for the genre.
I loved Fado Bicha’s perfomance. That song screams in message.
It was eye catching.! 😀
For me it’s easy to pick 5: Áurea, Fado Bicha, FF, Maro and Os Quatro e Meia. The problem is that there’s no margin of error and this makes me nervous.
Fado Bicha, this will for sure qualify too. I love it too.
Loved Fado Bicha! <3
This kind of Jazz is my thing. The voice/voices were a bit too much in the background.
I love saudade very much. The onky thing I fear is, that Europe might not share my opinion.
I’m afraid with this timid staging even Portugal might not share our opinion. 🙁 She looked so abandoned on the stage. Missed more close cuts. And would love if she had a live choir with her there.
Yes, I missed 5 singers around her, and they could have interacted with each other
I’m also under the impression they used the recording during the chorus and it ended up covering her voice. If she and some backing vocals could sing it live, it would be perfect.
Well…it IS a sad song…so maybe people will feel lonely with her.
She’s a fantastic performer. I still don’t think she should win with this so-so song, but if there’s someone who can do it in Portugal it’s Áurea.
FF and Os Quatro e Meia so far, the rest sucks.
It is getting better and better. Where will this rise to?
Staging has improved a lot! I’m surprised!
He killed it. As long he gets that final spot we left open in the other post, I’m totally fine with that.
I totally agree