In the last hour, Portuguese broadcaster RTP announced its participation at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö, with the winner of the 58th edition of Festival da Canção to be selected as their representative.

 

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The upcoming edition of Festival da Canção will be a historic one, as it will mark the 60th anniversary of the long-running national music contest and Eurovision selection show. Starting in 1964, the show has been a vehicle for some of the biggest stars the country has ever produced, such as Fernando Tordo, José Cid, Dulce Pontes and Lúcia Moniz. It was cancelled for two years in the 2010s due to budget cuts at RTP caused by the ongoing economic crisis in the country (incidentally, the last two times Sweden hosted Eurovision), hence 2024’s run will be the 58th.

According to the published rules, 20 songs will compete in February and March 2024 across two semi-finals and a grand final. RTP will invite 14 writers and six entries will be selected from a public submissions round, which will be open from today until 15th October.

Earlier this year, Marisa Lopes Mena, aka Mimicat, won Festival da Canção and was selected to represent her country in Liverpool. She finished 23rd in the Final with 59 points for the song “Ai Coração”. After poor results throughout the early 21st Century, the format has been responsible for a resurgence in form for Portugal, who’ve finished in the top half of the Grand Final twice out of the last four occasions since hosting back in 2018.

Who do you hope to see competing at FDC early next year? Remember to follow ESCBubble on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, and to subscribe to our YouTube channel, for more exclusive Eurovision content!