In an interview with Portuguese magazine TVGuia, the imaginitively-named Fernando Fernandes, aka FF, hinted at the idea that he will sing the song he composed for this year’s edition of Festival da Canção.
“Participating in the Festival [da Canção] is an almost essential challenge for any Portuguese singer […] The truth is that, over the years, I was invited to perform some composers’ music and I always felt that it was not yet the right time.
It was an unexpected invitation to be the composer of the song and also a vote of confidence that makes me happy. We have a young range of participants and this edition will be special. For me, the start of the year could not be better.
As a composer, it is a huge honour to be part of the history of the Festival. As a performer, and I still can’t say [whether I am or not], this will be another phase, but I think it is always the dream of any musician to be part of a format that marks the history of our country’s music.”
(Fernando Fernandes, Revista TV Guia)
As is the case each year, the names of the competing composers at Festival da Canção are released several months before the competing artists and songs are. The composers can choose whether or not to perform their songs, but this information is revealed by RTP closer to the show.
FF’s career spans many years and identities. In the 90s, he competed in long-running Italian kids’ talent show Bravo Bravissimo aged 11, before going on to have a fairly successful solo career in the mid-Noughties, with his debut album Eu aqui going gold in Portugal in 2006.
His most well-known hits include O meu verão não acabou (“My Summer Is Not Over”) and A música nasce para te poder levar (“Music Is Made So I Can Take You”), the video for which was shot between Piccadilly Circus and Camden Market in London.
In 2014, he had a brief career spell under the name “SaFFra”.
While his music has mostly been chart-friendly pop, comparable to the likes of Westlife, he has recently stepped into the world of Portuguese heritage music with his 2019 album Fado à la Carte.
The full list of 2022’s composers released by RTP on 4 November 2021 is:
Invited by RTP
Agir
Aurea
Blacci
Cubita
DJ Marfox
Fábia Rebordão
Fado Bicha
FF
Joana Espadinha
Kumpania Algazarra
MARO
Norton
Os Azeitonas
PZ
Syro
Valas
Winners of online submissions process
Pedro Marques
Pepperoni Passion
The Mister Driver
Tiago Nogueira (of Os Quatro e Meia)
The show itself will take place 5th and 12th March, and is expected to be the last national final to conclude in 2022.
Would you be excited to see FF perform live at Festival da Canção? Let us know in the comments and on social media.
