The 49th edition of Festival da Canção was held tonight in Lisbon in order to select the next representative for Portugal in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Six songs, three male and three female artists fought for the euroticket and the Portuguese public via televoting chose Leonor Andrade to fly their flag in Vienna.

The 12 songs that were announced on 19 February 2015 were reduced to 6 after the 2 semifinals which were held the previous days.  From each semi final, two songs qualified via televoting and one more through an expert jury. During the Final tonight the selection method was a little different of the semi finals and this evening the winner was chosen by 100% televoting, from the three songs that quallified to the super final. Two of these songs were selected by televoting and one via the special jury of musicians.

The songs: 

• Leonor Andrade – Há um mar que nos separa

The best way to describe this is a modern pop/rock song. For me the song was stronger in the verses than in the chorus but that can easily be changed with arrangement, I certainly think so. Slightly weak at times on some of the higher registers but overall a song with potential that might not have been realised fully on that performance alone due to the fact that the music is live and not from playback. It is a bit repetitive in the second part. Average vocals. An interesting entry all the same. A big applause in the studio for it.

• Yola Dinis – Outra vez primavera

This was really nice. An excellently crafted song that was performed to perfection. The all important key change from Yola with an amazing build of orchestration in the song. Yola really got connected with the song and delivered perfectly to the viewers. It’s sure to be a song that would translate well. Yola is very expressive. She only needs to make sure she has some moments of contact with the camera and the audience at home because she didn’t watch the camera most of the time. Overall a good song.

• Gonçalo Tavares – Tu tens uma mágica

This was like an episode out of that 80’s classic tv show ‘Fame’ complete with a dancing cast of thousands that frankly the song/performance didn’t need. It has a great piano middle of the road feel to it but the staging was all wrong as was the styling of Goncalo. Him placed beside a real piano would have given this song a lot more gravitas but the glitz overshadowed a good song. A bad performance here.

• Teresa Radamanto – Um fado em Viena

Teresa sang the sublime ‘So o mar ficou’ in the national final in 1998. She still seems young and beautiful and the most important still sounds good and this is the best by a country mile so far. This is really great and flows very well. I can imagine every emotive Portuguese person weeping with emotion on hearing that. The stongest entry in the national final and a song that can bring Portugal back in the final.

• Simone de Oliveira – À espera das canções

A true legend here. An older lady that can really keep you watching her. Age of course is nothing but a number and she still has got it all and looks still great. And she first sang for her country 50 years ago, a really come back. Her song has a touch of the saudade of Fade about it, but it’s a haunting song that keeps your attention. A dark horse here. Simone said before the contest that is she wins, she won’t accept the ticket to go to Vienna. We will have another resignation, like Germany?

• José Freitas – Mal menor (Ninguém me guia à razão) 

José is a chunky chappy. He’s got a slow number for us. He gets his money’s worth out of the house backing singers and it seems like a bad song in the festival of Sanremo. It would do if it were not for the semi-naked dancers who point and pout around the stage. A very bad song with an average voice. A bad choice for Vienna for sure!  

The show:

The show started in 22.25 CET from a TV studio in Lisbon. Presenters of the final as in the semifinals were Júlio Isidro and Catalina Furtado. The show started with the two hosts explaining to us the rules of this evenings final and we saw immediately the numbers people had to call to vote their favourite song. Very soon the first competing song was performed.

 Before each entrant there was a small video introducing us the performer of each song. The show had a fairly poor production standard and for me I think that this was one of the worst national finals we have seen this year. 

The music of the songs are live performed by a small band in the corner of the studio, and all the songs have the same backing vocalists.

After each song Julio Isidro took interviews from the singers from the green room and TV viewers had the chance to see again the telephone numbers they had to call to vote. After we saw the six songs, a small recap with the six songs. 

As an interval act in tonight’s final there was a special tribute to Zé da Ponte, known composer in friends of Eurovision and the Festival da Canção (1986: Não sejas mau para mim, 1991: Lusitana paixão and 2005: Amar) who died at the age of 60, just 2 months ago. 

Before the results all the participants sang in duets previous entries of Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The results: 

The two songs that quallified via televoting to the Super Final are:

• Leonor Andrade – Há um Mar que nos Separa (Miguel Gameir) 
• Teresa Radamanto – Um Fado em Viena (Fernando Abrantes / Jorge Mangorrinha) 

The song that quallified via jury to the Super Final is:

• Gonçalo Tavares – Tu Tens uma Mágica (Gonçalo Tavares / José Cid) 

 The winner after the public’s vote is: Leonor Andrade.

So the song that will represent Portugal in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest is Há um Mar que nos Separa.

Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest:

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Portugal had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-seven times since its first entry in 1964. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been sixth place, which the nation achieved in 1996 with the songO meu coração não tem cor performed by Lúcia Moniz. 

As of this year Portugal has been competing in the contest the longest time without having achieved victory. Since semi-finals were introduced into the contest in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final seven times. After failing to qualify to the final in 2012, the country briefly withdrew from the contest in 2013. However they returned in 2014 with Suzy performing the song Quero ser tua, which also failed to qualify the nation the final.

The Portuguese broadcaster for the 2015 Contest and who have organiseed this selection process for its entry is Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). 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. 

You can watch below the song that will represent Portugal in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest: