Portugal: Interview with Jonas | From Eurovision 2008 to Festival da Canção 2022! (Video)

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After the announcement of his candidacy for this year’s portuguese national final, Festival da Canção 2022, Jonas speaks exclusively to EurovisionFun‘s Apostolos Bogiannos and Paschalis Barmpoutis.

Jonas is one of the candidates of the portuguese national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 and will try to represent his country with the song “Pontas Soltas”.

I’m releasing an album. I’m starting now. I did musical theater, but my main thing is being a fado singer. It feels like I’m beginning again after all these years. It’s an opportunity for people to know about my music.
Pontas soltas is a protuguese expression about something unsolved. It’s about a relationship that ended in the wrong leaving many issues to be solved. It’s a recurring theme in fado music. This kind of music has mysticism. The song was written especially for FdC and I was invited by RTP to participate.

Apart from being a singer, Jonas is also a choreographer. This is something that can help him with his staging in the national final:

I can’t say much about my staging. It’s a surprise. It’s very connected with fado and with dance. I’m very nervous to be compared to other artists. I’m trying not to see anything on the Internet. I like everything to be united and not seen separately.

Despite being anxious by the procedure, Jonas has already some favorites among the festival’s songs. He prefers the songs by Pongo & Tristany and Milhanas.

FdC changed a lot after the victory of Salvador Sobral. Salvador Sobral was an unusual phenomenon in ESC. Noone expected a very simple and fragile song with just him alone on stage would win. It’s good to see all these different styles and songs. It’s much richer now with huge names of the portuguese music, it gives me more will to participate in FdC.

His favorite portuguese entry is “Desfolhada” by Simone de Oliveira (1969) and of course “Senhora do mar” by Vânia Fernandes (2008), where he participated as a back vocalist. Among other Eurovision entries he likes Netta‘s song (Israel 2018).

Being a back vocalist in the portuguese entry in 2008, Jonas spoke about his experience in the contest and about their pleasant coexistence with the greek delegation.

Just before the end of the interview, Jonas sang a part of his song a capella for the readers of eurovisionfun.

Watch the whole interview with Jonas in the video that follows:

 

Eurovision 2022: Here are the results of the allocation draw!

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The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place in Palazzo Madama in Turin. Find out below in which of the 2 Semi-Finals your country will perform and vote in. The annual event was hosted by Carolina di Domenico and Mario Acampa.

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Exchange are key milestones on the path to the Eurovision Song Contest each year.

During the ceremony, Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, passed on the Host City Insignia to Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin. The insignia key chain, weighing over 30 kilograms with the new addition of Rotterdam’s insignia, was handed over to Turin. The Italian city is now officially the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Draw Procedure

The 36 countries competing in the semifinals were divided into six pots, based on the points they have exchanged in recent years. This is done in order to avoid, as much as possible, the alliances and bloc voting that appear every year in the voting.

Allocation Pots

Big 5

With the host Italy, directly in the final, along with the rest of the Big 5 (UK, France, Germany, Spain), the first part of the draw determined the semifinal that the direct finalists will vote.

Will vote in the 1st Semi-Final:

  • France
  • Italy

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Spain
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom

Their performance in the dress rehearsal will be shown in the semifinals where the six aforementioned countries were drawn to broadcast and vote. This was done at Eurovision 2016 for the first time, for reasons of equal visibility of the countries that are directly in the final and the countries that compete in the semifinals. Essentially, viewers watch each entry twice during the shows.

Allocation Draw

The draw of the countries for the two semifinals had two parts. In the first part, the 36 countries that participate in the semifinals, were drawn in which of the two will compete. 18 countries will compete in both the first and the second semifinal.

In the second part each country found out if it will appear in the first or in the second half of the semifinal that will compete. The exact order of appearance will be determined by the EBU and the producers of the show at a later time.

First Semi-Final (10 May):

1st Half

  • Albania
  • Switzerland
  • Latvia
  • Slovenia
  • Moldova
  • Bulgaria
  • Ukraine
  • Lithuania
  • Netherlands

2nd Half

  • Norway
  • Russia
  • Portugal
  • Denmark
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • Iceland
  • Greece

Second Semi-Final (12 May):

1st Half

  • Australia
  • Georgia
  • Cyprus
  • Serbia
  • Finland
  • Azerbaijan
  • San Marino
  • Israel
  • Malta

2nd Half

  • Montenegro
  • Romania
  • Czech Republic
  • Poland
  • Belgium
  • North Macedonia
  • Sweden
  • Estonia
  • Ireland

Turin will host the 66th Eurovision Song Contest from May 10th to 14th at the Pala Alpitour. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organizers, is “The Sound of Beauty”.

You can see the draw again through the following link:

 

 

 

Portugal: Listen to the songs of the Festival da Canção 2022!

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As it had already become known through the festival’s Instagram account, the Portuguese public television, RTP, proceeded to reveal the nominees and the songs for the Festival da Canção 2022, the Portuguese national final for Eurovision.

Following the unveiling of the twenty composers of FdC 2022, RTP today announced the 20 nominees to compete in this year’s festival.

The participants

The 20 participants of Festival da Canção are as follows (click on the title of the song to listen to it):

1st Semifinal (March 5, 2022)

  1. Aurea – “Why?”
  2. Fado Bicha – “Povo Pequenino”
  3. FF – “Bom Esperar Alguém”
  4. Joana– “Ginger Ale”
  5. Kumpania Algazarra – “A Minha Praia”
  6. Maró – “saudade, saudade”
  7. Norton – “Hope”
  8. TheMisterDriver – “Cali Sun”
  9. Valas & Os Astronautas – “Odisseia”
  10. Os Quatro E Meia – “Amanhã”

2nd Semifinal (March 7, 2022)

  1. Milhanas – “Corpo de Mulher”
  2. Blacci – “Mar No Fim”
  3. Cubita – “Uma Mensagem Tua”
  4. pongo & Tristany – “Dégrá.dê”
  5. Jonas – “Pontas Soltas”
  6. Os Azeitonas – “Solta A Voz E Canta”
  7. Inês Homem de Melo – “Fome De Viagem”
  8. Pepperoni Passion – “Código”
  9. Vampiro Submarino – “Ao Lado de Mim”
  10. SYRO –  “Ainda Nos Temos”

Information about the Festival da Canção 2022

Out of the 20 songs, ten will compete in each semifinal, while in the Final we will have 10 songs, 5 from each semifinal. The result will consist of an equal percentage (50%) of the jury and television audience, with the committee having the first say in case of a tie in qualifying for the fifth participation of each semifinal.

Just like the last two editions, all the NF‘s show will be held on the RTP Studios in Lisbon. The presenter in the green room will be Inês Lopes Gonçalves while the main presenters of FdC 2022 will be the following:

SEMI 1: Jorge Gabriel & Sónia Araújo
SEMI 2: José Carlos Malato & Tânia Ribas de Oliveira
FINAL: Filomena Cautela & Vasco Palmeirim

The FdC semifinals will take place on March 5 and 7, while the grand Final, where we will meet the representative of Portugal in Eurovision 2022, on March 12.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2022.

Source: RTP

 

Eurovision 2022: Pots and Participants of Semifinals Allocation Draw revealed!

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The semi-finals draw will take place on Tuesday 25 January at 12:00 CET, from the Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja in Turin. At the same time there will be a ceremony of handing over the keys of the contest or as it is widely known, the Host City Insignia from the previous hosts Rotterdam to the Italian organizers.

The allocation draw will determine whether the countries will participate in the First Semifinal (Tuesday, May 10) or the Second Semifinal (Thursday, May 12). Also, again based on the draw it will be determined if they appear in the first or second half of the semifinal. We remind you that the exact order of appearance is announced later by the organizers and after it has first been approved by the EBU.

The draw will be presented by TV presenters Carolina di Domenico and Gabriele Corsi. Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo will be present.

Friends of the contest will be able to watch the draw on Eurovision’s YouTube channel or on Rai’s streaming service.

Semi-final draw: How does it work?

Italy, as the host country, together with the other 4 members of the so-called “Big 5” (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) do not compete in the Semifinals, but vote in one of them… so before the competing countries in Semifinals, it will be determined at random which of the Semifinals the Big 5 will be allowed to vote for.

The next part of the draw will determine in which Semifinal and in which half of the respective Semifinal the remaining 36 participating countries will appear.

The 36 countries of the semifinals are selected from 6 different pots:

Pot 1

  • Albania
  • Croatia
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia

Pot 2

  • Denmark
  • Australia
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Norway
  • Sweden

Pot 3

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • Israel
  • Russia
  • Ukraine

Pot 4

  • Cyprus
  • Greece
  • Malta
  • Bulgaria
  • Portugal
  • San Marino

Pot 5

  • Estonia
  • Lithuania
  • Latvia
  • Moldova
  • Poland
  • Romania

Pot 6

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Czech Republic
  • Ireland
  • Netherlands

Drawing countries from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

Portugal: Festival Da Canção 2022 songs to be released on the 21st of January!

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A few minutes ago, the official Instagram account of Festival Da Canção announced that the songs that will compete this year for the representation of Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, will be released this Friday, January the 21st!

The 20 composers that will take part in this year’s  Festival Da Canção are the following:
  • 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 (Os Quatro e Meia)
  • Valas

We remind you that ten songs will compete in each of the two semi finals, out of a total of 20. In the Final show we will have 5 qualifiers of each semi final, leading to a total of 10 competing songs. The winning act will get the chance to represent Portugal in Turin!

The detailed schedule of Festival Da Canção 2022 is described below:

  • First Semi on the 5th of March
  • Second Semi on the 7th of March
  • The Grand Final on the 12th of March

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Festival Da Canção and the Portuguese participation at Eurovision 2022!

Eurovision 2022: Semi Final Allocation Draw to take place on January 25!

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One of the most important dates of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest was revealed a few hours ago, as the draw for the Eurovision 2022 semi-finals will take place on January 25th.

As revealed by the Montenegrin state radio, RTCG, in the context of the announcement of Vladana Vučinić as the representative of the Balkan country in Turin, the draw of the semi-finals will take place in exactly three weeks from today.

During the ceremony, the emblem of the event will be handed over from the city of Rotterdam to the Mayor of Turin. The draw will take place either at the Mole Antonelliana, the tallest building in Turin, or at the Palazzo Madama, which housed the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom.

The draw

The first part of the draw will determine the semi-final that will be broadcasted and voted by each of the five countries that are directly in the final (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom).

The second part of the draw will determine in which semi-final and in which half the other 36 participating countries will compete. As in recent years, the exact order of appearance will be determined by the producers of the event at a later time.

The 36 countries will be distributed in five or six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the official television partner Digame. This separation is done in order to avoid the gathering of many neighboring countries in a semifinal that would significantly affect the final result.

We remind you that Eurovision 2022 will be held on May 10, 12 and 14 at the PalaOlimpico in the capital of Piedmont. Thus, Turin will become the third city in Italy where the Eurovision Song Contest will be held. The previous two were Naples in 1965 and Rome in 1991.

We remind you that the 66th Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, on 10, 12 and 14 May 2022, with 41 participating countries.Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news related to the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

Eurovision 2022: 41 countries joining the 66th contest in Turin!

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Public broadcasters from 41 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest when it returns to our screens next May.

Fans of the Contest will welcome back ARMTV from Armenia and RTCG from Montenegro, both taking to the stage for the first time since Tel Aviv in 2019.

It’s also a special year for Norwegian broadcaster NRK as they will be celebrating the selection of their 60th Eurovision entry during the Melodi Grand Prix grand final on Saturday 19 February.

We will also witness the 300th ‘Big Five’ performance – that’s a song from one of either France, Germany, Italy, Spain or United Kingdom.

Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, shared his thoughts on the line-up:

‘We are so excited that we once again have over 40 broadcasters competing to win the iconic Eurovision trophy in Turin next May.

The team from Rai are working hard on preparations to welcome all the delegations to a new Host City and ensuring the Eurovision Song Contest will provide the excitement and state-of-the-art spectacle expected by nearly 200 million viewers.’

On the announcement of the 41 participants, Simona Martorelli and Claudio Fasulo from Italian broadcaster Rai added:

‘After 31 years, Italy is proud to host the Eurovision Song Contest again! As Executive Producers, we are incredibly excited to set up this amazing event and welcome delegations from 41 nations to Turin next year.

Above all, we strongly believe the Eurovision Song Contest will allow us to showcase and share the beauty of Italy with a global audience via the elements that unite us all: music and harmony.’

The Italian city of Turin won the race to become the Host City of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest, setting Saturday 14 May as the date of the Grand Final, which will be held in PalaOlimpico along with two Semi-Finals on 10 and 12 May.

Source: Eurovision.tv

Portugal: Salvador Sobral’s New Album and Long-waited Apology.

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It was May of 2017 when Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest for Portugal. The jazz artist managed to collect 758 points, achieving the record the highest score ever, until this point.  Now Sobral has released his brand new album with the title “BPM” (Beats per minute) and gave a heartfelt interview on his musical journey.

The singer confessed that during the Eurovision period he was in really bad health conditions and needed an immediate heart transplant. Throughout his time in Ukraine, he was constantly under close observation by doctors and was on a waiting list for a possible donor. “During rehearsals, my sister was on stage while I stayed in the dressing room”.

Sharing more about his ESC experience he says he was never expecting to participate or even win the contest. He decided to sing “amar pelos dois” to support his sister, ended up winning Festival Eurovisão da Canção and representing Portugal in Eurovision. As a memory of his winning moment, Sobral reflects: “I just thought to myself: Now you must not have a heart attack, that would be humiliating. It’s crazy: I didn’t think about dying, but that it would be a humiliation to die when I just won something.”

After winning, he gave some interviews saying that ESC was his “personal prostitution”. Then he made a few uncomfortable comments for participants of the 2018 edition of the show, including the winner of the 2018 “Toy”. In his latest interview with Reinhard Köchl, Salvador said that he shouldn’t have said those things. “I shouldn’t have done it. I wanted to be funny and come across a little rebellious.” His idea of Eurovision is changed now, he understands the importance of it and the people-connecting idea of it. He closes his interview by saying that he is very grateful for participating and winning the contest.

You can listen to Salvador’s new album BPM and share your opinions with us!

source: Augsburger Allgemeinen

Portugal: NEEV explains why he takes part in FdC 2021 with an English song!

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Eurovision Buddies continue their interviews with the candidates for this year’s national finals. It was the turn of NEEV, who hopes to represent Portugal, with the song Dancing In The Stars. Read more

Portugal: Pedro Gonçalves will bring the 80s to the stage of FdC 2021!

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Pedro Gonçalves participates in FdC 2021 with the song “Não Vou Ficar”, a mid tempo ballad, with which he hopes to represent Portugal in Eurovision 2021. Read more