Photo: RTP

The competition is heating up in Iberia. Portugal’s broadcaster RTP has now unveiled the 20 songs that will be competing in Festival da Canção 2023.

One of these acts will emerge victorious and earn the right to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool this May.

Festival da Canção 2023: Competing songs

Click on the song titles below to listen to each song, or you can hit play on the full playlist below.

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Festival da Canção 2023: Details

The semi-finals are scheduled to occur on 25 February and 4 March. Semi-final one will be hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato. During semi-final two, we’ll be guided through by Sónia Araújo and Jorge Gabriel. Six songs from each semi-final will qualify — a 50% jury and 50% televote combination will determine the first five, then a second round of 100% televote will choose the final sixth qualifier.

On 11 March, the grand final will take place. This will be hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. The result will be determined by a 50:50 split between a jury and the public vote.

Which song is your favourite upon first listen? Who do you think will go on to win Festival da Canção 2023? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

 
 
 
 
 
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Tom
Tom
1 year ago

A Festa is lovely. This can actually do very well.

Festyboy
Festyboy
1 year ago

Mimicat will slay on the stage! ???

myname
myname
1 year ago

Ai Coração! & A Festa! & Bandeiras! & Nasci Maria! <3

Héctor
Héctor
1 year ago

Sal Viver, Churky, Edmundo Inacio, Barbara Tinoco and You can’t win Charlie Brown are the standouts for me.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago

Quite a few of these songs seem worthy of the “lyric spotlight” treatment that Krut and Jerry Heil were given before Vidbir.

Ieva
Ieva
1 year ago

Strongest NF so far, so difficult to choose a favourite

Rui Diogo
Rui Diogo
1 year ago

Nasci Maria
Cláudia Páscoal

Karen
Karen
1 year ago

Portugal has no business singing in English.

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  Karen

Your name fits you like a glove.

Based
Based
1 year ago
Reply to  GojoSatoru

Lmao

dinamo
dinamo
1 year ago

What a beautiful language. Portuguese people sings with the heart and soul. My favorite is Povo. Beautiful lyrics. I had tears in my eyes. Good luck

Aaljan
Aaljan
1 year ago

Portugal isn’t winning Eurovision this year, all songs are the same shade, zzzzzzzz. Another country wasting money when they really cannot win. Lines through Ukraine, Albania, Beligum, Denmark, now Portugal.

Milan
Milan
1 year ago
Reply to  Aaljan

It’s not always about winning.

BrokenWindows
BrokenWindows
1 year ago
Reply to  Aaljan

Wow you can sleep with music like moyah’s with all that shouting? Or even Mimicat’s one? D@m… you’ve got to tell me your secrets, because its been hard form me to sleep well ahahaha XD

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago

My favorites are Ai Coraçao, Goodnight and A Festa. Ai Coraçao is the best one in my opinion: the message, the tempo and melody are so well done. Also, this is the first time ever with Eurovision that an uptempo song has made me feel empathetic while I don’t understand anything from the lyrics. Well done, Mimicat.

Jake
Jake
1 year ago

April Ivy deciding to sing in Portuguese and Barbara Tinoco coming in English has me surprised. I think if Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift were singing Goodbye, everyone would declare it a worldwide hit. Staging staging staging. RTP needs to invest in FdC staging of these songs like they’ve done at Eurovision the last couple years. They need to create “moments” with these songs so they’re not burried in the odds and then get bad running order in the contest.

Karl
Karl
1 year ago

I don’t like this recent trend of Portugal singing in English. They need to go back to singing only in Portuguese.

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  Karl

No matter the country, contenders should decide for themselves what language they want to sing in.

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  GojoSatoru

To add to it: ..as long as they know how to pronounce words of the chosen language.

For example, someone who sucks at pronouncing English words, should not sing in English or someone who doesn’t know how to pronounce French words should not sing in French.

Ria van de Velde
Ria van de Velde
1 year ago

These songs are my favorites:

Garbo
Garbo
1 year ago

All quality songs, but too jury friendly IMO. Unfortunately, I think none of these songs will survive the new televote-only semi-final system.

Milan
Milan
1 year ago
Reply to  Garbo

In other words, too good for Eurovision.

Jake
Jake
1 year ago
Reply to  Garbo

Both Maro and The Black Mamba who folks said had a chance of being saved by the juri ended up top 5 in public in their semis

Alex
Alex
1 year ago

Fim do Mundo does it for me, everything else is alright in my eyes but doesn’t exactly grip me.

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago

Well, finally finished properly listening to this entire lineup and I’ve got to say, the Portuguese renaissance in ESC is still going very strong, such a breath of fresh air compared to almost every single other national selection, songs that don’t just feel by-the-numbers and specifically written for the contest, only the Sanremo can really compete with the FdC currently as far as I’m concerned. A little tier-list to summarize things: My favorite entry of the entire lineup, the one that stood out to me the most, Bandua’s “Bandeiras”, absolutely massive track that could make for a special entry in… Read more »

Danny K
Danny K
1 year ago
Reply to  Mbappe

Kudos for giving each song your undivided attention. I have a feeling some people listen to a 15 second clip of some and automatically say they don’t like it

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago
Reply to  Danny K

Thanks, FdC is one of the few selections where I really have to check out everything in full as they’ve always got plenty of interesting stuff, this year being even better than usual too.

ESCFanGA
ESCFanGA
1 year ago

I don’t need to listen to any of these songs because I already know they’re all going to be great. Zero chance of a Portuguese NQ this year.

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago

It’s been a while since I got caught by the filter, but sadly it happened again. I hope my comment eventually shows up here below, because I took a lot of time to write it!

In any case, to avoid getting repetitive if the comment gets approved: another year of FdC being FdC. Those who love the Portuguese alternative approach will certainly find a bunch of songs to admire and root for. I already have many songs under my radar.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Sabrina

It’s a great post! Much appreciated for all the background.

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

Is it appearing for you? I can’t see it yet. In any case, thanks. 🙂 I say semi 1 is better than semi 2, but I believe you will find something you like there 2, since your top 3 are all between my highlights.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Sabrina

Haha I was seeing it for a while but couldn’t upvote it, and it just disappeared when I refreshed. Glad I got to see it, I learned a lot.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago

It took me a couple entries to get into this selection, but by the end of the SF1 songs, I was feeling them all in some way. Mimicat, Neon Soho and YCWCB all made me hit the replay button. I find something really comforting in the sound of YCWCB and feel like that’s gonna stick with me.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

(I only listened to SF1. Gonna save SF2 for tomorrow.)

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

I’m thinking “A Festa” is my favorite from SF2, and also enjoying “Bandeiras” and “Goodbye” and “Povo” and honestly most of them.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

*”Goodnight”

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

I just realized it’s comforting because it reminds me of the prettier, quieter early versions of Radiohead’s “Airbag.” Yes, I realized I’ve already invoked Radiohead this season. 🙂

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

Lots of eurofans would probably start crying if they had to listen to an entire Radiohead album.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Mbappe

Depends on the album; “The Bends” has been shockingly well-absorbed by popular music.

Danny K
Danny K
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

I think if YCWCB makes it to Eurovision it’ll be very hard for me to put any other song above it in my rankings

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago

Nobody can complain about FdC being gloomy this year. Even the slowest songs have a hopeful undertone or a bittersweet attitude. It’s also one of the most competitive national finals I’ve ever seen. There isn’t a clear frontrunner, live performances and presentation will count a lot. Here’s my (many) highlights: “Bandeiras” is the closest we have to a “Telemóveis” or “Gerbera Amarela do Sul”, the most intriguing song at a first listen. Cool electronic sound with a medieval vibe (if I got it right, Bandua is the name of a celtic-portuguese god). The lyrics are thought-provoking and the chorus is… Read more »

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago
Reply to  Sabrina

Your comments are always helpful, but particularly so, when it comes to the Portuguese selection. Thank you for the insights, and I’m glad that “Bandeiras” is not only a cool song but seems to be also lyrically interesting. Now I like it all the more. When I will have listened to my front-runners enough, I will give the ones you mention another spin, particularly Claúdia Pascoal and Charlie Brown. “A festa” is also on my radar. so many good songs, what a relief that I’ll have time to delve into them until the Czech selection will be out. It’s a… Read more »

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago
Reply to  Tibor

Thank you for your kindness, Tibor. 🙂 As usual, if you or any other person reading this wants a translation, I’ll do my best to help.

I’m so glad the Portuguese songs came right now, because Eesti Laul’s semi-finals and UMK’s songs finally got me in the mood for another Eurovision season. I’m planning to give repeated listens to FdC’s and Benidorm Fest’s songs this Sunday. But yeah, the Portuguese ones we basically need to listen to in Youtube.

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago
Reply to  Sabrina

I don’t want to put onto your already existing workload this year, Sabrina, you already helped with the lyrics of “Bandeiras”, and I can now state with some confidence that this song won’t be dethroned in my FdC ranking by anything else.

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago
Reply to  Tibor

*pile onto
I swear, I will never understand why the feature to correct your typos and poorly chosen words had to go.

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago
Reply to  Tibor

Right? It was also very helpful to dribble the filter. I’m against editing options that last longer, because people can use them to troll, but the one here had like a one minute window, it was more than enough and quite helpful.

But don’t feel bad of asking for any other translation. Though I guess you already know enough about your favorites, I supose.

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago
Reply to  Sabrina

It was fifteen minutes and that was enough. Ten minutes would also be okay, for longer posts a minute seems ambitious. And I’ll come back to your offer, if anything else pops up. Ivandro is kind of growing on me, I really love his voice, although, as usual, the instrumentation is to acoustic guitar heavy for me to get fully on board. Cláudia’s track is memorable, but gets a little repetitive, although there’s something special about it. I’m still not clicking with Charlie Brown, unfortunately.

Dtorrent
Dtorrent
1 year ago

You Can’t Win Charlie Brown – Contraste Mudo, is a song to rock the jury. It wins the heart of the public who has musical sensitivity and demanding. Not the traditional hurried consumer of mainstream pop. So, I think Mimicat Ai Coração seems like the best bet for a top5 in Liverpool. because it conquers the jury and televote for being so catchy and energetic.

Karl
Karl
1 year ago

Music is not fireworks. Music is feeling.

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago
Reply to  Karl

Sobral’s massive win has reawakened the beast.

Roro31
Roro31
1 year ago

OMG thank you Portugal with this strong selection !

I very love it (i’m waiting the lives make sure !!!) :

. Claudia Pascoal
. Barbara Tinoco
. Edmundo Inacio
. Ines Apenas
. April Ivy
. Bandua
. Mimicat
. Neon Soho
. Ivandro
. Dapunksportif

OBRIGADO PORTUGAL !!

Danny K
Danny K
1 year ago

Thank you!!! Someone finally calling out the ethereal amazingness of Charlie Brown!

Esc addict
Esc addict
1 year ago

In this selection I really liked Edmundo, he got me with his falsettos, Voodoo Marmalade, very cool song (with this one I got Manu Chao vibes for those who know him). And Mimicat, I think with her song Portugal could get a very very good result, I envoyed it a lot, good luck dear portuguese friends!

Kosey
Kosey
1 year ago

I often struggle with Portugal’s selection because I find there can sometimes be an over-ponderous feeling to many of the entries. This is not a bad selection, I found the songs in Semi 1 to be better than those in Semi 2. I’m not sure who the front runners are, but there are some good options to do well in the contest. There are also some songs that miss the mark or are not competitive in a Eurovision context so I think Portugal has to choose wisely. My favourites on first listen were April Ivy, Churky, Claudia Pascoal, You Can’t… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Kosey

DAPUNKSPORTIF is my least favourite. I know they have good intentions, but it’s like when Donald Trump said “there are decent people on both sides” when there were protests at a white supremacy march.

Kosey
Kosey
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Yes, the lyrics are not my favourite part but the instrumentation is very good. I’ll try to pretend they are singing in Portuguese.

Milan
Milan
1 year ago
Reply to  Kosey

The instrumentation is very good, it’s already been awarded with an Oscar for best song when it was used in “Live and Let Die”.

Kosey
Kosey
1 year ago
Reply to  Milan

I like the chord progression and the changes in emphasis throughout the song. Let’s not go down the route of criticizing artists for their influences otherwise we will have no new music to enjoy ever again.

Milan
Milan
1 year ago
Reply to  Kosey

You have a point to the extent that today it’s harder than ever to write something new, but the other 19 artists have managed it. Eurovision song contest, regardless of sometimes dubious quality of its entries, is at least a field where I’m free from recycled music. In this case the similarity between the phrases is so striking that I cannot dismiss it as a mere “influence”. (As you can see, I’m not the only one who has brought this up in this comment section.)

Nikita Zhukov
Nikita Zhukov
1 year ago

Portugal brings absolute elegance to Eurovision
I’ve fallen in love with their entries over the last few years
Can’t go wrong adding Portuguese beauty and soul in the line-up
They deserve to win again some time soon
They’ve waited for too long

Esc addict
Esc addict
1 year ago
Reply to  Nikita Zhukov

6 years is very but very little in Eurovision temporality, but why not I wouldn’t be against a new portuguese victory.

Nikita Zhukov
Nikita Zhukov
1 year ago
Reply to  Esc addict

I meant that they waited too long for their 1st win and we shouldn’t keep then waiting for their 2nd one even tho it’s only been 6 years
Should’ve phrased it better, my bad lol

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago
Reply to  Esc addict

They’ve only had one top 5 result ever, that is ridiculously unfair for a country that would have deserved to win it at least 5 times…

Esc addict
Esc addict
1 year ago
Reply to  Mbappe

In 54 participations Portugal was in 44 finals and got 11 top 10 finish, it’s still better than some others. Unfortunately I can make a list of countries that should have won more or deserved more top 5 and I can make a pretty smaller list of countries getting really good results consistently and and years after I’m still wondering why….this unpredictability is the main specificity of Eurovision and that makes it more exciting.

Jghtl
1 year ago

Almost every song sounds the same
I only like 2 of these, A festa and Povo

Nicomro
Nicomro
1 year ago

Churky, Mimicat, Lara Li, Ivandro and Edmundo are my top 5. With a clear preferance for the studio version of Mimicat and Edmundo.
Cant wait for the live show !!
What a great great greeaaaat FdC. One of my favorite NF since 2017 😀

duxx
duxx
1 year ago

This i just what i like!
A selection full of superb songs
Portugal never disappoints

Milan
Milan
1 year ago
Reply to  duxx

Never! It’s the only national selection I can listen to without cringing once.

Europotato
Europotato
1 year ago

Some very great entries this year!

Europotato
Europotato
1 year ago
Reply to  Europotato

Mimicat 100 percent top 5 material!
Barajará tinoco brilliant song !
But honestly most of these are extremely well produced songs I enjoyed this a lot.

Mr X
Mr X
1 year ago
Reply to  Europotato

So far the best preselection this year so far but I prefer that Portugal should sing in its language.

My favourites

Mimicat
Claudia
SAL
Voodoo Marmalade
Edmundo
und very specially Lara Li – what a discovery !

Muito obrigado

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago

Festival da Cançao brings reliably one of my favourite selections every year. This time it’s no different. And I actually like that some of these songs make you earn your reward. On first listen a couple of them stood immediately out to me. To my surprise, Teresinha Landeiro was one of them and I can already tell she will be one of those singers that step on stage looking fantastic and sounding just like the recording. This song relies more on the piano than on the guitar, so it doesn’t have the folk feel that can get sometimes a little… Read more »

Alaska
Alaska
1 year ago
Reply to  Tibor

Bandua is my second favourite after Lara Li (unpopular choice here, I guess). As a Portuguese, it’s just too hard not to fall for the nostalgia of an 80s diva who almost fell into oblivion and is now having a well deserved comeback. Curious to hear your opinion on “Funâmbula”. 🙂

Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago
Reply to  Alaska

I like “Funambûla”. It has this wistful quality that is complemented very nicely by the audibly aged voice. The instrumentation is thoughtful, I like the cello, the guitar is more prominent than in Teresinha Landeiro’s song, and together with the rattle in the percussion that pushes it further in a traditional folk corner, so it’s probably nothing I would put on repeat. But it’s good.
Meanwhile I have Bandua on repeat, that is just an incredible piece of music.

Alaska
Alaska
1 year ago
Reply to  Tibor

Thank you! <3

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago

Fim do Mundo might be my favourite. For now, anyway.

Nils
Nils
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Same here

Miguel
Miguel
1 year ago

I dont have a clear favourite this year. Its all about the live presentation.
But its nice to see more upbeat songs than usual in FdC. My top 5, in alphabetic order:

April Ivy
Barbara Tinoco
Claudia Pascoal
Edmundo
Neon Soho

Danny K
Danny K
1 year ago

Mimicat or Bandua would be a top 10 finish at Eurovision.
Festival de cancao is always so much more enjoyable than all the basic pop NFs

Danny K
Danny K
1 year ago
Reply to  Danny K

I’ll also say that Contraste Mundo is also easily top 3 for me

Sol Stevia
Sol Stevia
1 year ago

As always I don’t love anything here. For me Portugal is a country at ESC I respect and they almost always send something pleasant to the ears and filled meaning but never one of my personal favorites.

Yannis
Yannis
1 year ago
Reply to  Sol Stevia

choices

Sol Stevia
Sol Stevia
1 year ago
Reply to  Yannis

It’s not a choice, it’s an opinion…

BrokenWindows
BrokenWindows
1 year ago
Reply to  Sol Stevia

Honestly, i prefer comments like yours that say that they simply dont enjoy the songs. Very different from someone saying that “all the songs are the same” or “the songs make me sleep”. In those cases, I see two scenarios: 1. they didn’t ear the songs and are just commenting for the attention; 2: they heard the songs and by getting that conclusion i must assume that its something wrong with the their brain structures responsable for perception and process of information. You cannot tell me that Moyah’s song make you sleep with all that shouting, for real. And they… Read more »

Anita
Anita
1 year ago

All I need is Festival da Canção ????????

Anita
Anita
1 year ago
Reply to  Anita

The hearts from emojies became ???

I have no questions, just joy

Phillip
Phillip
1 year ago

I might be honest: I’ve been following FC since 2017, and the last two years were pretty amazing. Ok, I think there is no doubt that 2023 is kinda weaker when compared to those last two. Even though that, I recognize the effort. It will be hard for Portugal to have a great result in Eurovision as they had in 2021 and 2022. Still, the songs from Mimicat, Edmundo Inácio and Neon Soho seems very good indeed!! Also, great tracks from Bárbara Tinoco, April Ivy or SAL. I like Cláudia Pascoal and Teresinha as well. The best of luck to… Read more »

just an esc fan
just an esc fan
1 year ago

As a person who loves FdC, i have to say i’m a little bit disappointed this year. There’s not any entry I instantly loved like it happened in previous years.

The ones that stand out, in my opinion, are the songs of Neon Soho, Claudia Pascoal, Ivandro and Edmundo Inacio.

Korotán Korí
Korotán Korí
1 year ago

Are BOLHA Slovenians? Their name means ‘flea’ in Slovenian lol

Based
Based
1 year ago
Reply to  Korotán Korí

I don’t think so, Bolha means bubble in Portuguese.

Faezdel
Faezdel
1 year ago
Reply to  Based

Bolla, same meaning in Italian.

Misha
1 year ago

First of all, gotta day that most of the songs in Portuguese (if not ALL OF THEM) got lyrics on another level. Not simple pop songs about love. It is usually hard for me to connect with Portuguese entries, I used to find them boring (I think the only Portuguese entry that I like 100% is 2021’s “Love is On My Side”). I find most of this year’s songs of FdC not totally catching in their instrumentation, so I feel like theiy’re not strong enough by their own, BUT with a GOOD staging, Portugal can do it well this year.… Read more »

Tom
Tom
1 year ago

Mimicat or Neon Soho sounds good

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
1 year ago

It’s Portugal being Portugal again; lots of high quality songs which are definitely not written with “standard Eurovision” in mind, and many of them wouldn’t be competitive at all in Liverpool. I think I need to give them several listens, but the ones that immediately catch my attention are Bárbara Tinoco, Edmundo Inácio, Mimicat and Neon Soho.

Voilà monsieur
Voilà monsieur
1 year ago

I know I’ll get stick for this but most of the songs here and in previous FdC editions are merely background music imo. There’s nothing remotely rememberable about any of these songs, they just don’t stand out!

That being said, if I had to pick one, Bandua would be my favourite

Europotato
Europotato
1 year ago

I beg to differ. There’s some very great entries in this. Music you can chill out to when driving. All fantastic quality.

Panna
Panna
1 year ago

Very nice songs, as usual

Sebastián
Sebastián
1 year ago

The best one is Neon Soho: fresh and authentic.

In overall, this year Portugal’s line up is more funeral as usual

Tom
Tom
1 year ago

Nasci Maria is the best by far

Aaa
Aaa
1 year ago

Mimicat or edmundo inacio should go to liverpool imo