Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. In addition to participating in the contest, the Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal also hosted the event on 8, 10 and 12 May 2018, at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, after winning the competition in with the song "Amar pelos dois" performed by Salvador Sobral.
The Portuguese entry for the 2018 contest was selected through a national final, the Festival da Canção. It consisted of two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February 2018, at RTP's studios in Lisbon, and a final on 4 March 2018, at the Pavilhão Multiusos in Guimarães.
Background
Prior to the 2018 Contest, Portugal had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-nine times since its first entry in 1964. Since semi-finals were introduced into the contest in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times. Portugal held the record for the most appearances in the contest without a win until 2017 when they won in Kiev, Ukraine, with Salvador Sobral's entry, "Amar pelos dois".The Portuguese broadcaster for the 2018 Contest, who broadcasts the event in Portugal and organises the selection process for its entry, will be Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Portugal has most commonly selected their entry through the national final Festival da Canção except between 2003 and 2005 where the broadcaster used internal selections and the talent competition Operação triunfo to select their entry. The broadcaster will organize the 2018 edition of Festival da Canção in order to select the Portuguese entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.
Before Eurovision
''Festival da Canção 2018''
Festival da Canção 2018 was the 52nd edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that selects Portugal's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.Three live shows were broadcast during a two-week period: two semi-finals on 18 and 25 February and the final on 4 March 2018. The semi-finals took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon, while the final was held at Pavilhão Multiusos in Guimarães.
The competition featured twenty-six songs written by professional and amateur composers, who were also responsible for choosing the performer for their entry. Each semi-final featured thirteen songs from which seven advanced to the final. Results during the semi-finals were determined by a room jury panel and public voting. In the final, the winner was determined by the votes from regional jury panels and public voting. For the second consecutive year, the competition had no language restrictions.
On 27 September 2017, RTP revealed the names of the twenty-six participating composers: twenty-two directly invited by RTP, one selected by the previous winner Salvador Sobral, one selected by Antena 1's radio show MasterClass, and two selected from an open call.
On 25 October 2017, RTP held a draw to allocate the participating entries into each of the semi-finals.
Competing entries
The competing artists and song titles were revealed on 18 January 2018. Among the competing artists are former Eurovision Song Contest entrants José Cid, who represented Portugal in 1980 and in 1998, and Anabela, who represented Portugal in 1993.| Artist | Song | Composer & lyricist | Selection |
| Susana Travassos | "A mensageira" | Aline Frazão | Invited by RTP |
| Lili | "O vôo das cegonhas" | Armando Teixeira, Lili | Invited by RTP |
| Joana Espadinha | "Zero a zero" | Benjamim | Invited by RTP |
| Sequin | "All Over Again" | Bruno Cardoso | Invited by RTP |
| Tamin | "Sobre nós" | Capicua, Luís Montenegro, João Rodrigues, Sérgio Alves | Invited by RTP |
| Daniela Onis | "Para lá do rio" | Daniela Onis | "MasterClass" winner |
| Peu Madureira | "Só por ela" | Diogo Clemente | Invited by RTP |
| Diogo Piçarra | "Canção do fim" | Diogo Piçarra | Invited by RTP |
| David Pessoa | "Amor veloz" | Francisco Rebelo, Márcio Silva | Invited by RTP |
| Anabela | "Para te dar abrigo" | Fernando Tordo, Tiago Torres da Silva | Invited by RTP |
| Cláudia Pascoal | "O jardim" | Isaura | Invited by RTP |
| Janeiro | "" | Janeiro | Invited by Salvador Sobral |
| Rita Ruivo | "Anda daí" | João Afonso, José Moz Carrapa | Invited by RTP |
| Rui David | "Sem medo" | Jorge Palma | Invited by RTP |
| José Cid | "O som da guitarra é a alma de um povo" | José Cid | Invited by RTP |
| JP Simões | "Alvoroço" | JP Simões | Invited by RTP |
| Catarina Miranda | "Para sorrir eu não preciso de nada" | Júlio Resende, Camila Ferraro | Invited by RTP |
| Beatriz Pessoa | "Eu te amo" | Mallu Magalhães | Invited by RTP |
| Dora Fidalgo | "Arco-íris" | Miguel Ângelo | Invited by RTP |
| Joana Barra Vaz | "Anda estragar-me os planos" | Francisca Cortesão, Afonso Cabral | Invited by RTP |
| Bruno Vasconcelos | "Austrália" | Nuno Rafael, Samuel Úria | Invited by RTP |
| Minni & Rhayra | "Patati patata" | Paulo Flores | Invited by RTP |
| Maria Amaral | "A mesma canção" | Paulo Praça, Nuno Miguel Guedes | Invited by RTP |
| Peter Serrado | "Sunset" | Peter Serrado | Open call winner |
| Rita Dias | "Com gosto amigo" | Rita Dias, Filipe Almeida | Open call winner |
| Maria Inês Paris | "Bandeira azul" | Tito Paris, Pierre Aderne | Invited by RTP |
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon on 18 February 2018, hosted by Jorge Gabriel and José Carlos Malato. In the first semi-final thirteen entries participated, and of these thirteen, seven advanced to the final. The qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from jury members made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. On the day after the results were announced, an error was detected in the announced votes and the mistake was corrected.Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon on 25 February 2018, and was hosted by Sónia Araújo and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira. As in the first semifinal, thirteen entries competed for seven places in the final, and the qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from an expert jury made up of music professionals and from the public televote.Final
The final took place at Pavilhão Multiusos in Guimarães, on 4 March 2018, and was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Pedro Fernandes. The winner, Cláudia Pascoal with the song "O jardim", was determined by a 50/50 combination of points awarded by regional juries and from the public televote. According to the competition rules, in the event of a tie for the first place, the winner was the entrant ranked highest by the public televote.Incidents
After the second semi-final, Diogo Piçarra's entry, which got top marks from both jury and televote, was accused of plagiarism on social media. As a result of the controversy, on 27 February 2018, Piçarra announced his decision to withdraw from the competition. RTP released a statement stating that they "respect and understand" Piçarra's decision and announcing that Susana Travassos' entry would replace Piçarra's entry in the final following the rules of the competition.At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As the host country, Portugal automatically qualified to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, Portugal was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals.Final
performed 8th in the Final. In a complete reversal of fortune from 2017, Portugal wound up finishing 26th and last in the final, with 39 points. This is only the third time the host country has finished last in a grand final, following the Netherlands' joint last place with Luxembourg in 1958 and Austria's joint 0-point finish with Germany in 2015. That means that this is the first time ever a host country becomes last without another country joined with the same number of points. However, it still is one of the highest-scoring songs to still finish last.Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Portuguese jury:- Armando Jorge Ferreira Leite Morais Teixeira – Chairperson – composer, singer, producer
- Daniela Rute Rodrigues – composer, singer
- Anabela Braz Pires – singer, actress, represented Portugal in the 1993 Contest
- Luis Manuel Oliveira Nunes – composer, producer
- Pedro Lopes Madureira Silva Miguel – singer
Points awarded by Portugal