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Eurovision 2024: Six countries wanted to withdraw 25 minutes before the Grand Final!

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Two weeks after the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024, it became known from the Norwegian newspaper VG that six countries participating in the Saturday’s show wanted to withdraw up to twenty-five minutes before the start of the final.

The 11th of May was crucial for the contest, as reported by the newspaper, the EBU and SVT found themselves in a major critical meeting as six countries wanted to withdraw until they decided to participate.

The six countries that wanted to withdraw were the winning Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Greece and the United Kingdom.

Specifically, Magnus Børmark, a member of the Norwegian band Gåte, stated that:

We were considering withdrawing until the last moment. Many of us reacted to the fact that Israel had the opportunity to use Eurovision as its own political tool.

The reason the six countries wanted to withdraw was the participation of Israel and the exclusion of Joost Klein. VG writes that Israel’s participation, the extensive security measures, and the behavior of the Israeli delegation during the week were reasons for the protests,” adds Børmark:

Our common point was that we did not want to participate in Eurovision to be used and stigmatized in a war propaganda machine in Israel. We participated to create a space where we can unite in music – in a political situation where everyone chooses sides and hates each other.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Eurovision Song Contest 2025!

Source: VG

Portugal: Mimicat to announce Portugal’s 12 points!

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Mimicat has been revealed as the Portuguese spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, has revealed that Mimicat will announce the points of the Portuguese jury during the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024.

Mimika represented Portugal at Eurovision 2023 and finished 23rd in the final with “Ai Coração”. This will be the fourth year in a row that the Portuguese spokesperson will be the previous year’s Portuguese entrant.

The spokespersons that have already unveiled are:

  • Azerbaijan – Aisel
  • Belgium – Livia Dushkoff
  • Georgia  – Sopho Khalvashi
  • Switzerland – Jennifer Bosshard
  • Spain – Soraya
  • Luxembourg – Désirée Nosbusch
  • Slovenia – Lorella Flego
  • Greece – Helena Paparizou
  • Italy – Mario Acampa
  • Germany – Ina Müller
  • Denmark – Stéphanie Surrugue
  • Malta – Matt Blxck
  • The Netherlands – Nikkie de Jagger
  • Ukraine  – Jamala
  • United Kingdom – Joanna Lumley
  • Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
  • Estonia – Birgit
  • Portugal – Mimicat

Source: Festival da Canção

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Eurovision 2024: Which rehearsal had the most views on the second day?

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The rehearsals continued dynamically, with yesterday’s day hosting another eight countries at the Malmö Arena! Be sure to also read our article from yesterday regarding the views of the seven countries that completed their rehearsals on Saturday.

However, as we know on TikTok, all the first rehearsals are uploaded. Apart from their performances, we’ll also get a sneak peek backstage before they take the stage for the first time in a video of about one minute.

One of the many features of TikTok is the ability to add songs to each user’s video creation. However, the TikTok algorithm is usually able to detect the song used in the video, assign it to the correct track, and then include it in the total number of videos where that sound has been used. Based on this capability, the most popular songs before rehearsals were from the Netherlands and Italy. Will they receive the same promotion as before?

In less than 24 hours (April 29, 2024, time  CET), since the first clip from the rehearsals was uploaded, we have a indicative sample of which rehearsal was favored by the audience (here it should be noted that the videos were uploaded one after the other with a one and a half hour interval and there was a significant delay in their publication).

The rehearsals that had the most views are:

  1. Azerbaijan: FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Özünlə Apar – 185,5 thousand views
  2. Australia: Electric Fields – One Milkali (One Blood) – 142,3 thousand views
  3. Luxembourg: TALI – Fighter – 140 thousand views
  4. Iceland: Hera Bjork – Scared of Heights –  126,3 thousand views
  5. Portugal: iolanda – Grito – 112,8 thousand views
  6. Moldova: Natalia Barbu – In The Middle – 109 thousand views
  7. Finland: Windows95man – No Rules – 108,2 thousand views
  8. Slovenia: Raiven – Veronika – 107 thousand views

With this small sample, we can infer that:

  • None of the eight countries managed to come close to the countries’views that rehearsed the day before. Therefore, we can assume that the second half of the first semifinal doesn’t have the same impact as the first half.
  • The last four countries are very close to each other so it is very likely that some of them can recover in views in the following days.
  • Azerbaijan had the most views, beacause no one knew any information about the stage and also due to the country’s diaspora.

The top six countries with the most views from the two days are as follows:

  1. Poland: LUNA – The Tower – 1,1 thousand views
  2. Ukraine: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – Teressa & Maria – 763 thousand views
  3. Serbia: Teya Dora – Ramonda – 749 thousand views
  4. Croatia: Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim – 624 thousand views
  5. Ireland: Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue – 278 thousand views
  6. Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – Liar – 243 thousand views

TikTok has played a significant role in the success of Eurovision songs in recent years. For example, Duncan Laurence’s winning entry “Arcade” became a global hit a year after winning the competition when it was used in over a million videos on TikTok. One of the earliest TikTok successes from Eurovision was Getter Jaani’s “Rockefeller Street”, which went viral on the platform in 2018 and has since been used in over two million videos. Let’s not forget that Armenia’s entry in 2022 by Rosa Linn with “Snap” gained over a billion views on the platform. Finally, Norway’s entry last year gained significant worldwide publicity months before the competition week, where it secured fifth place.

For detailed information about the rehearsals, you can check out our related articles:

The second rehearsal for the first semi-final countries will be held on the 1st of May, when we will know how things will appear on screen for the representatives.

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Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

 

Portugal: With Iolanda and “Grito” at Eurovision 2024!

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The last national final of this year was successfully completed! The Festival da Canção 2024, as the country’s public television procedure is called, consists of two semi-finals and a final. A few minutes ago, the grand final was completed with the twelve contestants claimed a ticket to Malmö.

The presenters of the evening were Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. Inês Lopes Gonçalves was the presenter in the Green Room.

The twelve songs that claimed the ticket to Malmö were:

Shortly afterwards Mimicat appeared to perform “Ai Coração” the song that won the Festival da Canção 2023 and represented Portugal at Eurovision 2023 where it came in 22nd place.

The Results:

The winner of this year’s Festival da Canção was determined 50% by the jury committees in each region of Portugal and 50% by the TV audience.

The voting of the jury was determined as follows:

The results of the jury

The result after the vote of the TV audience was as follows:

The results of the TV audience and the overall results

After the end of the public vote, the big winner was Iolanda, with the song, “Grito” .

 

Portugal will perform in the Second Half of the First Semi-Final.

What do you think of Portugal’s participation this year? Tell us in the comments.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest news about Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

PREVIEW: Iolanda to win Festival da Canção 2024

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It’s tonight! Tonight, the 60th final of Festival da Canção takes place, where the twelve qualified semi-finalists compete to represent Portugal at Eurovision. Since the reform of the contest in 2017, most editions maintained the competition and suspense until the end, except for 2019 when Conan Osiris was the favorite from the beginning and started its Grand Final just waiting for his confirmation as winner. Every other year, there were always two or three songs competing closely for victory.

However, 2024 appears to be an exception year. Since Iolanda’s song was released in January, and especially after her performance in the first semifinal, “Grito” is the 100% favorite song to win today’s edition of Festival da Canção. Regarding YouTube, her performance in the first semifinal has more than 300.000 views, around three times more than any other semifinal performance. Additionally, Iolanda’s song has around 115.000 views on Spotify, a much higher number than any of the other songs. On betting sites, the difference is even more overwhelming. On the 1XBET website, Iolanda has 71% of preferences, separated by a long distance from the second favorite, João Borsch, who only has 7% of favoritism.

Finally, analyzing the votes carried out by the four main Portuguese fanblogs related to Eurovision, they all gave first place to Iolanda, with three of them confirming João Borsch in second place.

Analyzing all this, it seems clear: if everything goes as planned, Iolanda will win the 60th edition of Festival da Canção, with a song that will certainly please juries and audiences tonight. This way, Iolanda should receive 12 points from the jury and the public, as happened with Mimicat, Maro and Conan Osiris, back in 2023, 2022 and 2019, respectively. 

If Iolanda represents the country at Eurovision, Portugal will put on a performance that certainly contrasts in the first semifinal with the numerous uptempo and less intimate songs that are already there. Will this be an advantage that will lead Portugal to stand out in qualifying for the grand Eurovision Final? Or could this be a reason for Portugal not being able to compete on equal terms with the other songs and resulting in a Portuguese non-qualification, the first since 2019?

The last chapter of Festival da Canção 2024 takes place tonight and we cannot wait!

 

 

Portugal: Tonight the final of Festival da Canção 2024!

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The national finals of this year’s season are in their final stretch, with just one Saturday left until the completion of all shows. Thus, another national selection process for determining a country’s representative in Eurovision 2024 concludes today, with Festival da Canção 2024, which will determine the artist representing Portugal in Malmo.

Format

Festival da Canção 2024 consists of three shows, two semi-finals, and the grand final on March 9th, from which Portugal’s representative in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will emerge.

According to the festival’s regulations, ten artists participated in each of the two semi-finals, with six advancing to the final. This means that twelve artists will compete in the grand final of the Portuguese national selection on March 9th.

According to the Festival’s rules, ten artists participated in each of the two semi-finals, with six qualifying for the final. This means that twelve artists will compete on 9 March in the grand final of the Portuguese national selection.

The Portuguese public and the jury will jointly decide (50/50) on the grand winner of the Portuguese music festival who will represent the Iberians in Malmö.

Final

The twelve artists competing tonight in the grand final of the Portuguese music festival are:

  1. Silk Nobre – “Change”
  2. Rita Onofre – “Criatura”  
  3. Noble – “Memory” 
  4. Buba Espinho – “O Farol” 
  5. Nena – “Teorias da Conspiração” 
  6. Iolanda – “Grito” 
  7. No Maka ft Ana Maria – “Aceitar” 
  8. Cristina Clara – “Primavera” 
  9. Rita Rocha – “Pontos Finais”
  10. Léo Middea – “Doce Mistério”
  11. Perpétua – “Bem Longe Daqui” 
  12. João Borsch – “Pelas Costuras” 

Inês Lopes Gonçalves will be the presenter in the green room, while Filomena Cautela & Vasco Palmeirim will be the main hosts of Festival da Canção 2024 in the Grand Final for the sixth year in a row.

The final of Festival da Canção 2024 starts at 22:00 CET and you can watch it through the website of the Portuguese public television by clicking HERE.

Last year’s winner of Festival da Canção and Portugal’s representative at Eurovision 2023 was Mimicat with the song “Ai coração,” which secured the 23rd place in the Grand Final, continuing the country’s streak of qualifications for the third consecutive year.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Portugal: 424.000 viewers watched the Second Semi-Final of Festival da Canção 2024!

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The viewing figures for the second semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2024, the show that is going to determine Portugal’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, have been released.

Festival da Canção 2024 commenced on Saturday night with an average of 424,000 viewers watching, representing 10,3%% of the total audience. The maximum number of viewers was at 21:24 704,000 which corresponds to 14,3%. However, compared to last year, the total viewership was down by 0,8%, i.e. by 80.000 fewer viewers.

The six artists who qualified for the Festival da Canção 2024 final were:

Τhe 12 artists that will compete in the final of Festival da Canção 2024 are:

  1. Rita Rocha – “Pontos Finais”
  2. Nena – “Teorias da Conspiração” 
  3. Perpétua – “Bem Longe Daqui” 
  4. Iolanda – “Grito” 
  5. João Borsch – “Pelas Costuras” 
  6. Noble – “Memory” 
  7. Buba Espinho – “O Farol” 
  8. No Maka ft Ana Maria – “Aceitar” 
  9. Léo Middea – “Doce Mistério”
  10. Silk Nobre – “Change”
  11. Cristina Clara – “Primavera” 
  12. Rita Onofre – “Criatura”  

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates around the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: ESC Portugal

PREVIEW: Festival da Canção 2014, Chapter 2

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A week after the first semi-final, Festival da Canção is back. 6 songs have already been selected for the final. Today, ten more artists will perform their songs, five of which will go through to next Saturday’s Grand Final through a 50/50 vote by the public and jury, and later at the end of the night a sixth song will be chosen after voting exclusively by the public .

Festival da Canção has been one of the main topics of conversation in Portugal, especially due to the national and international hype that has been created around Iolanda’s performance last Saturday with her song “Grito”. It led massively in views among the YouTube performances of the ‘Festival da Canção’, as well as generating international reactions throughout Europe, leading to several Fan Blogs talking about the performance.

However, as they say in Portugal, “as contas fazem-se no fim”, which is like saying ‘the math is done only at the end’…. And therefore, the second part of this game is about to begin.

  1. Buba Espinho – “O Farol”
  2. Cristina Clara – “Primavera”
  3. Leo Middea – “Doce Mistério”
  4. Filipa – “You Can’t Hide”
  5. João Couto – “Quarto Para Um”
  6. Huca – “Pé de Choro”
  7. No Maka feat Ana Maria – “Aceitar”
  8. Maria João – “Dia”
  9. Rita Onofre – “Criatura”
  10. Silk Nobre – “Change”

Among the 10 songs presented above, there are two that start the show tonight with the spotlight on them: “You Can’t Hide” by Filipa and “Dia” by Maria João. Why? Filipa was initially the fan favorite of fans at this year’s Festival da Canção and presents by far the most pop song of the contest, the one that comes closest to the musical style currently presented in a contest like Eurovision. The artist, who lives in South Africa, won an international covers competition promoted by Ryan Seacrest (historic host of the American Idol competition) in 2013, with her interpretation of “Story Of My Life” by One Direction. The competition brought him recognition in his native South Africa and since then he has collaborated with renowned composers and producers in the United States. Clearly, this level of musical production is reflected in this theme that Filipa presents today, the best produced song of all the 20 songs in this year’s competition.

Maria João is a highlight for other reasons, she is one of the most acclaimed Portuguese singers abroad. Her career has been marked by participation in the most renowned music festivals in the world and she is also the only Portuguese artist to have been nominated for the European Jazz Prize along with Jamie Cullum and Bobo Stenson. What she brings us this year to Festival da Canção is yet another example of her uniqueness. What she brings us is something completely out of the box, even innovative, that no fan has ever seen anything like this at Eurovision. Yes, it’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly a song that won’t leave anyone indifferent.

In relation to the other artists, and going through the order of performance, Buba Espinho crosses musical genres like no one else and travels from Cante to Fado with the same mastery with which he dominates national pop music and the most urban and current sounds. Cristina Clara is a singer and…doctor, who released her debut album “Lua Adversa” in 2021 and which mainly explores the affinities between urban music from Lisbon and Brazilian choro.

Léo Middea is an outstanding artist of the new generation of Brazilian Popular Music and his second album “A Dança do Mundo” (2016) received positive reviews and was in several selections of the best albums of the year. His latest album “Gente”, which reached 1 million streams one month after its release.

Finally, João Couto is one of the artists chosen through free submission and fully embraces his pop influences; Huca, a Mozambican singer who is known for his social, political and revolutionary compositions will present today a song that fully reflects his African origins. No Maka is a duo of former DJs who were responsible for producing the song “Faz Gostoso” by Madonna, which reached number one on the Billboard, and Rita Onofre released her first album last year and has since toured some important Portuguese stages. .

 

Historically, since the renewal of Festival da Canção in 2017, the winner of this national team comes from the first semi-final (Cláudia Pascoal is the only exception, in 2018). However, today ten artists fight to contradict history in a semi-final that is expected to be quite balanced and somewhat unpredictable in terms of the final result. Filipa is the favorite of the night, according to the betting odds, but we all know that the Festival da Canção is full of surprises whenever it comes to final results.

What about you? What’s your favorite song from tonight?

 





Portugal: Tonight the second semi-final of Festival da Canção 2024!

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The national finals of this year’s season are in their final stretch, with just two Saturdays left until the completion of all shows. Thus, another national selection process for determining a country’s representative in Eurovision 2024 continues today, with Festival da Canção 2024, which will determine the artist representing Portugal in Malmo.

Format

Festival da Canção 2024 consists of three shows, two semi-finals, and the grand final on March 9th, from which Portugal’s representative in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will emerge.

According to the festival’s regulations, ten artists will participate in each of the two semi-finals, with six advancing to the final. This means that twelve artists will compete in the grand final of the Portuguese national selection on March 9th.

The six artists who will advance to the final of the Festival will be determined through two rounds of voting. In the first round, the Portuguese audience and the jury will jointly decide (50/50) on the five out of six artists who will receive the ticket to the final.

The sixth and final ticket from each semi-final will be determined through a second round of voting, with the decision being made exclusively by Portuguese viewers.

The jury of the semi-finals of Festival da Canção 2024 consists of:

  • Gisela João (singer)
  • Benjamim (musician)
  • Lia Pereira (journalist)
  • Miguel Esteves Cardoso (lyricist)
  • Lura (singer)
  • Pedro Oliveira (musician)
  • Mimicat (Portugal’s representative at Eurovision 2023)

Finalists

The six artists who qualified for the grand final from last Saturday’s first semi-final are:

Second Semi-final

The ten artists competing tonight in the first semi-final of the Portuguese music celebration are:

  1. Buba Espinho – “O Farol” 
  2. Cristina Clara – “Primavera” 
  3. Léo Middea – “Doce Mistério”
  4. Filipa – “You Can’t Hide” 
  5. João Couto – “Quarto Para Um” 
  6. Huca – “Pé De Choro” 
  7. No Maka ft Ana Maria – “Aceitar” 
  8. Maria João – “Dia”
  9. Rita Onofre – “Criatura” 
  10. Silk Nobre – “Change” 

Inês Lopes Gonçalves will be the presenter in the green room, while Filomena Cautela & Vasco Palmeirim will be the main hosts of Festival da Canção 2024 in the Grand Final for the sixth year in a row.

The second semi-final of Festival da Canção 2024 starts at 22:05 CET and you can watch it through the website of the Portuguese public television by clicking HERE.

Last year’s winner of Festival da Canção and Portugal’s representative at Eurovision 2023 was Mimicat with the song “Ai coração,” which secured the 23rd place in the Grand Final, continuing the country’s streak of qualifications for the third consecutive year.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Portugal: The results of the first semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2024!

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Portugal has begun the search for its representative and entry for Eurovision 2024. The Festival da Canção 2024 as the process followed by the country’s public television is called, consists of two semi-finals and a final. A few minutes ago, the first semi-final was completed, with six contestants advancing to the next stage of the final.

Presenters of the evening were Tânia Ribas de Oliveira, José Carlos Malato and Inês Lopes Gonçalves. 

The jury consisted of seven music professionals:

  • Gisela João – singer
  • Benjamim – musician
  • Lia Pereira – journalist
  • Miguel Esteves Cardoso – lyricist
  • Lura – singer
  • Pedro Oliveira – musician
  • Mimicat – Representing Portugal Eurovision 2023

The ten songs that claimed the six tickets to the grand final were:

Results:
The six finalists were determined 50% by the jury and 50% by the television audience. The exact ranking of the artists by both the jury and the audience was not announced at the end of the evening. The detailed results will be published after the end of the festival.

The six artists who qualified for the Festival da Canção 2024 final are:

See you next Saturday March 2 for the second semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2024.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

source: RTP