Last year, Elisa won Festival da Canção with “Medo de Sentir”. However, due to the cancellation, she was never able to bring her entry to Eurovision. Despite not being internally-selected or invited to participate in the festival this year, she will be performing her new single “Na Ilha” during tomorrow night’s semi-final.
As reported by ESC Portugal, Elisa Silva will return to the Festival da Canção stage tomorrow to perform as an interval act. The song, “Na Ilha” is dedicated to her home island of Madeira. The song was co-written and co-composed by Elisa alongside Mikkel Solnado, João Repolho and Choro. She joins Ulrikke in being a 2020 national final winner to be invited back as a guest performer, rather than taking part in the selection itself.
Ahead of the live performance, you can listen to and stream the song below:
You can also find “Na Ilha” alongside the other latest releases from Eurovision and national final artists via our New Music Friday playlist:
Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest
Portugal was once seen as one of the most unlucky Eurovision countries, holding the record for the longest period of participation without a win (49 attempts). Of course, this ‘curse’ was broken in 2017 when Salvador Sobral won the contest with “Amar Pelos Dois”. Not only was this their first win, but it was also their first and only top 5 placing in the contest to date.
Unfortunately, since this victory, Portugal haven’t been able to replicate this success in the past two contests. In 2018, as the host nation, Portugal got its fourth last place finish with Cláudia Pascoal’s “O Jardim”. After performing 15th in semi final 1 in Tel Aviv in 2019, Conan Osiris didn’t qualify for the Grand Final.
In 2020, Elisa won Festival da Canção 2020 but unfortunately didn’t get a chance to represent her country at the Eurovision due to the pandemic. RTP later confirmed that Festival da Canção 2021 would go ahead.
What do you think of “Na Ilha”? Are you excited for Festival da Canção 2021? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our reactions to the news in the run up to Rotterdam!
