Officially confirming its participation in Eurovision 2025, Portugal has started its search for its next representative, who will travel to Switzerland! Read more
With the first semi-final taking place yesterday, RTP, the public broadcaster of Portugal, revealed the viewing numbers of last night’s show! Read more
The family show of the Eurovision 2024 First Semi-Final in Malmö at the Malmö Arena! We are just a couple of hours before the First Semifinal kicks in but, before we get to know the first results the artists competing in the First Semifinal will perform once again for the Family Show. The Family Show is more financially convenient, identical to the live one for families and takes place earlier on the same day of the Semifinal. EurovisionFun will be watching all the shows live both at the on-site press centre in Malmöä and at the online press centre and will be commenting on the full performances of the 15 participating countries and the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. This year we will watch the automatic qualifiers perform their entire songs as part of the Semifinal
This article gets updated in real time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!
So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all the details, preparing you for what you will see in the Semi-Final today May 7th, at 21:00 CEST.
The show opens with the iconic Cyprus representative Eleni Foureira singing her 2018 Eurovision song, Fuego! She is performing an oriental-inspired version of Fuego. After Eleni, Eric Saade comes to the stage to sing Popular in an explosive performance. Last but not least, Chanel rocks the stage. The 2022 Spanish representative sings SloMo with a different dance performance than what we saw in Turin two years ago. An amazing way to start this year’s Eurovision Season!
The host of the show is Petra Mede who is familiar to Eurofans as she has hosted the contest twice before in 2013 and 2016. She is joined by actress Malin Åkerman. The female duo are dressed in pink and orange neon suits that are suitable for the LED background.
Petra welcomes us back in Sweden and she made a joke about her voting for Finland last year. They also thank last year’s organizers for hosting an incredible show back in 2023. Malin praises Petra for hosting for a third time the contest and Petra said that she never tried to host with a woman and she was thrilled about this experience.
The hosts are explaining the voting process in English AND French this year. We’ve missed so much Petra speaking French!! Malmo are we ready? Let the Eurovision Song Contest begin!
Silia becomes the youngest artist to open a Eurovision Song Contest. With 17 years Silia opened the First Semi-final! She’s joined by 4 male dancers all in white t-shirts which they removed by the end of the song. The LED’s are mostly in neon turquoise colours. Silia has improved her vocals from her previous attempts. She danced in the whole performance. The dancebreak looks better than the second rehearsal, the camera shots are improved by a lot!! In the last 20 seconds, the colours of the LED turn red.
Following Teya Dora brings a Serbian ballad. Teya Dora is standing and sitting on a rock during the performance. The performance is introspective and very emotional. The LED screens show thunders and a flower by the end of the song and the atmosphere is dark throughout the performance. Will this be enough for Teya Dora to get to the Grand Final?
Lithuania is next with Luktelk! His performance has most of the elements from their national final one. The LED’s are based in red and blue colours. Silvester enjoys his performance and is very energetic. A sure qualifier!
Bambie Thug has grown in the weeks. The change from her national final to Malmö is incredible. Bambie really knows how to pull a live performance with their voice and their face expressions. They are accompanied by a shirtless dancer who seems that he is their lover in the performance. The dancer dresses off Bambie revealing a very thin suit. On the bridge of the song, the candles rise upwards, and the lighting turns red. At the end of the song they scream and the performance is finished with a LED phrase “Crown The Witch”. The crowd was clapping for a long time. Ireland is back in the game!
Break
Petra Mede interacts with the audience. She is tested on her Eurovision knowledge from previous songs but fails.
Olly is the first of the Big 5 plus Sweden to sing live in one of the Semifinals. He is performing in a Box that has a shower. He is accompanied by 4 male dancers in boxer shorts. The whole performance is very physical and sensual. The choreography increases this sexual tension. In the last chorus, he leaves the box with his dancers and he’s performing in the front part of the stage. Olly’s vocals were not the best.
The folk duo is next to perform. In the first chorus the shots are from above with the LED floor being in grey and blue colours making a hurricane. Aliona comes to the stage for her rap part and she is vocally perfect. After that, we can see Jerry in the LED wall being as mother Teresa. The images on the LED screens and the light work elevates this song. At the end of the performance, Jerry and alyona are lying on the floor and the LED is full of women. A very moving performance that could give Ukraine another victory!
Luna honors the name of her song with a floor that resembles a chessboard and two towers onstage. Luna is surrounded by two dancers dressed in black and white as chess pieces. Then, a red figure appears forming the shadow of the singer. At the final point of the song, the two towers come together and change color to red, while we also have fireworks. Overall it is not a very impressive performance. It seems to me that Poland risks not qualifying this year.
The fan and bookers favourite is next on the stage. We start with smoke and a setup resembling a rock concert. There are fireworks, and the lights are in various colors with alternations. At the last chorus we can see many smoke and many fireworks also. In general, the dancers and the choreography is an upgraded version of the national final. The crowd went crazy with Croatia’s performance you can listen them joining the chorus.
Eurovision legend Hera Björk, started her performance with her standing at the top of some stairs. The LED backdrop is in golden colours and it suits her iconic dress of the same color. Vocally Hera never disappoints. At the middle of her performance, the colours are transformed in red colours. Up until the second chorus, she is alone on stage, and then her backing singers joined her. The platform rises, and we see fireworks as well. It seems that she enjoyed the performance by 100%!
Break
Malin Åkerman shares her love for Swedish cinema as well as Eurovision music. A segment that mixes classic Swedish movies such as “The Seventh Deal” and “Fanny Alexander” with Eurovision songs entries.
The performance starts in an apartment with a fire in a barrel. In the chorus, the whole living room catches on fire, and Isaak stands in the middle. In the end, we see the backing vocalists on stage, while the fires go out. Isaak’s vocals are impeccable but he risks going unnoticed by the audience in the final.
After Germany, next on stage is Raiven. She is dressed in a transparent bodysuit, at the beginning of the performance she is laid on the floor by herself, and then in the chorus, she is accompanied by her dancers wearing light beige underwear. The choreography is good but the whole work is not as impactful. At the end of the song, the LED floor is in blue colours like they are floating in the sea.
Windows95man takes his UMK concept including the jean egg for Malmö. Windows95Man emerges from the egg. The dancers have a 1990-2000s style, and the shots are framed to create an illusion of nudity. In the end, he wears denim shorts with fireworks. A novelty act that could go either way. You either love it or hate it. Windows95man and Henri Piispanen vocals did not sound as good as in UMK.
The Malmö version of In The Middle is a much polished one from Natalia’s national final. Natalia’s vocals are really good but the stage feels empty during most of the performance which plays against her. There are images of flowers, a tree, bubbles and butterflies. When Natalia plays the violin the angel wings are displayed.
Twins Marcus & Martinus represent the host country. The performance does not change the concept from Melodifestivalen but expands it. It feels like the inside of a club with flashing lights and dancers. A very professional presentation that will surely do well in the Final.
Next act on the stage is the male duo from Azerbaijan, the LED wall displays an unknown character in silver waving his hands and performing some movements. In the middle of the performance, two huge hand props were revealed on the stage. Overall, the performance is not very memorable. Azerbaijan may not qualify for a second year.
Electric Fields is the next onstage. The camera shots are good but there is nothing particularly impressive. “On the LED screens, we see scenes from the video. Then three dancers-vocalists appear, and in the second chorus, the didgeridoo appears, and the title of the song is written on the wall. In fact the second half of the performance is more eye-catching and colourful. Will this be enough for Australia to qualify?
Portugal is bringing art to the stage! A classy performance with an impressive, minimalistic choreography. The vocals of Iolanda are on point and the camera frames and shots are perfect. One of the floating cubes is lower the whole performance based on the other three. The performance is based on white colours as we already saw at Festival da Canao.
Luxembourg had not competed in Eurovision since the 90s and is closing the First Semifinal with a French/English pop song, which is unusual based on the previous representatives. Tali is good vocaly but the camera shots are weak. The performance is based on purple and golden colours as well as images of tigers roaring. She has changed her braids from the first rehearsal. There is fog on the stage and shots towards the audience. In the last chorus, we also have fireworks, and the word ‘Fighter’ appears on the LED screens.
A recap of all the entries follows.
Petra Mede present us in a really special interval act the double Irish winner Johnny Logan! Johnny sings Loreen’s Euphoria with a live orchestra. A beautiful performance!
We are now watching a video with the turquoise carpet. Petra jokes that according to social media, “it was the best turquoise carpet ever”.
A recap of all the entries follows.
We go from lighthearted humor to a sad moment. In addition to reminding the audience that Nicole and Hugo were the first performers to dance and sing together for Eurovision, Malin also briefly remembers that Nicole who passed away the previous year. A compilation of Eurovision dance acts as a tribute to the Belgium representatives in 1973 follows.
Second Interval act for the semi-final one is Benjamin Ingrosso in an amazing medley of three songs.
The hosts highlight the several nations and languages that have participated in the show right before the results are announced, and another video compilation is presented.
Cyprus
Lithuania
Ireland
Ukraine
Croatia
Finland
Portugal
Luxembourg
Serbia
Poland
Slovenia
Australia
Iceland
Moldova
Azerbaijan
The green room is behind the stage and the LED wall opens so we can see the contestants behind it. Martin Osterdahl executive producer of Eurovision Song Contest 2024, declares that he is happy to see that we now have a valid result!
Here we have a big change, as the 15 competing acts stand on stage, without their delegations, waiting for the result. The camera shows them one by one, as the presenters announce the qualifiers. After the first 5 qualifiers are announced, Alesha interviews them backstage and then we learn the 5 remaining qualifiers.
The ten countries that (virtually) qualified for the finals for rehearsal purposes only were the following:
Closing the televised show, we will get to watch a recap of the ten finalist songs.
You can watch our live reaction from the Family Show of the First Semi-Final on our YouTube channel:
Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a thing of what will happen in Malmö:
Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the latest news regarding the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which is held in Malmö!
The fifth day of technical rehearsals for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö is now over, and the preparations are heating up. Following their first technical rehearsals, the 15 countries competing in the first semi-final took the stage of Malmö Arena for their second round of rehearsals.
The second rehearsals allowed the delegations to iron out any issues from the first round of rehearsals and gave the artists a greater sense of security and comfort on the Eurovision main stage.
We know very little about what this year’s artists have prepared for the Eurovision stage because accredited journalists are not permitted to watch both the first and second rehearsals. The EBU has just posted a recap of today’s rehearsals on YouTube via the official Eurovision channel. More precisely, we’ll get to see the exclusive TV footage of today’s rehearsals.
The countries that had their second rehearsals today were the following:
You can watch the recap of today’s rehearsals below:
Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what is happening in Malmö:
Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news about the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!
Just like last year, some time before the first rehearsals of the countries, the show called “A Little Bit More” aired on the official Eurovision YouTube channel.
So, for all this time before the rehearsals, Eurovision TV will upload different performances of the artists, like different versions of their songs, or covers of songs from other artists.
https://youtu.be/A1iiLI1XM4Q
You can also watch the Eurovisionfun team reacting and commenting to the Polish and Portuguese entries in Eurovision 2024:
Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!
The Final of Festival da Canção 2024 was broadcast by RTP, the national broadcast of Portugal, last Saturday. It is yet known that Iolanda with “Grito” will represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden.
The Grand Final of Festival da Canção 2024 was watched by an average of 486.000 spectators, which corresponds to 12% of all the viewers. The maximum viewing figures was 18,3% and was reached at 02.46. However, in comparison with last year, the tv ratings represented a decrease of 0.9%, which means around 74.000 less spectators.
Portugal will perform in the second half of the first semi-final on May 7.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5wDGhcDSpQ
You can also watch EurovisionFun’s reaction video on “Grito“, below:
Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!
Source: ESC PORTUGAL
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 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!
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!
After two semi-finals, it’s time for Portugal to select its representative for Eurovision 2024, through the Grand Final of Festival da Canção 2024, which is set to take place this Saturday!
A few minutes ago, RTP, the public broadcaster of Portugal, revealed the running order of the Grand Final of the Festival:
We remind you that the Grand Final will take place on March 9, when Portugal’s representative for Eurovision 2024 will be selected!
Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Portuguese participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!
Source: escportugal.pt
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.
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?
