In the last hour, Portuguese broadcaster RTP has published the names of the 20 composers for the next edition of long-running national final Festival da Canção.
They are:
Agir, Aurea, Blacci, Cubita, DJ Marfox, Fábia Rebordão, Fado Bicha, FF, Joana Espadinha, Kumpania Algazarra, Maro, Norton, Os Azeitonas, Pedro Marques, Pepperoni Passion, PZ, Syro, The Mister Driver, Tiago Nogueira (of Os Quatro e Meia), and Valas.
Astute Eurofans and Portuguese music experts may recognise a few of those names, including renowned singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mariana Secca (aka Maro), soul and blues performer Áurea Isabel Ramos de Sousa, and Fado Bicha, a Lisbon-based duo renowned for rewriting traditional Portuguese fado songs into anti-discrimination anthems.
Also among the names are various FDC alumni, including FF and Syro.
Sixteen of the artists were invited by RTP, in collaboration with radio station Antena 1, in order to preserve what the broadcaster calls “diversity of musical genres“, and the other four were selected through a public submissions process run by the broadcaster.
It has not been revealed how each artist was selected. It has also not yet been revealed which composers will also perform their songs and which will use another artist.
Festival da Canção is one of the longest-running and most highly-respected Eurovision national finals, compiling 53 editions since 1964, and placing some of Portugal’s most famous singers, such as António Calvário, Madalena Iglésias and José Cid, on its list of alumni.
The current multi-performer, multi-composer format was introduced in 2007 following several poor results from Portugal at Eurovision in prior years, and more recently, FDC has ditched its “Portuguese only” rule. Its most recent edition in 2021 saw the first ever winning song not in Portuguese, The Black Mamba’s prog jazz hit Love Is On My Side. They came 12th in Rotterdam with 153 points, placing 7th in the jury vote.
Whose song are you most excited to see performed at this year’s FDC? Let us know in the comments and on social media!
