RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, has revealed the composers that will take part in Festival da Canção 2024.
The 20 competing composers in Festival da Canção 2024 were revealed this afternoon. The competing composers are:
- Bispo
- Buba Espinho
- Cristina Clara
- FILIPA (public submission)
- Huca
- Iolanda
- João Borsch
- João Couto (public submission)
- LEFT. (public submission)
- Leo Middea
- Maria João
- MELA (public submission)
- Mila Dores
- Nena
- NOBLE
- No Maka
- Perpétua
- Rita Onofre (public submission)
- Rita Rocha (public submission)
- Silk Nobre
Of the 20 composers, 14 were invited directly by RTP and six composers were selected from public submissions. A total of 809 songs were submitted for the open call, which is a record for Festival da Canção. The composers may sing their entries themselves or choose another artist to sing it.
Festival da Canção 2024 will celebrate 60 years since Portugal first participated in Eurovision. Originally called “Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa”, the festival went through several name and format changes before settling on the name Festival da Canção in 1979.
Portugal will compete at Eurovision for the first time on Swedish soil since 1992. RTP was relegated from the contest in 2000 and chosen not to compete in the 2013 and 2016 competitions, which all took place in Sweden.
Mimicat represented Portugal in Liverpool with “Ai coração”. She finished 23rd in the final with 59 points.
Image Source: EBU / Chloe Hashemi | Source: RTP
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
Portugal debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 represented by António Calvário. The country finished last scoring nul points. Prior to 2017, the best result of Portugal was 6th place which came in 1996 when Lúcia Moniz performed in Oslo. She scored 92 points, receiving 12 points from both Norway and Cyprus. Since their debut, Portugal have missed a total of five contests. In 2017, Portugal produced a spectacular win when Salvador Sobral took home the crystal microphone with his song “Amar pelos dois.” The 2018 contest was held in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon for the first time.
