Portuguese broadcaster RTP have revealed that one of the songs taking part in Festival da Canção, Maldito Tempo, had been disqualified from the contest. The song had been released before and was therefore not eligible to enter the competition.
RTP states that Diana’s song broke two rules of the contest, rule six and rule thirteen. Both rules state that a song must be original and may never have been released nor performed before Festival da Canção. On her official Facebook page, Diana Piedade has stated she has been told about her disqualification by RTP. Furthermore, she seems to imply that she did not know about the previous release of her song Maldito Tempo, but the composer obviously did. She states:
I feel deeply fooled, because it’s part of my principles to fulfill the responsibilities I accept and to show respect without any breaking of the rules and regulation from the programmes I decide to take part in.
So far, RTP have not revealed the full results of Festival da Canção 2015. They also have not confirmed when the decision upon Diana’s disqualification was taken. The composer, Carlos Massa, has not yet responded to the case. Diana got eliminated in the semifinals.
Festival da Canção 2015 was won by Leonor Andrade and her song Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa. She will represent Portugal in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
