The first semi-final of Festival da Canção 2021 took place tonight. Ten acts competed for five places at the Grand Final. A professional jury and the Portuguese public decided the first five finalists based on a 50/50 system. The last set of finalists will be chosen next Saturday, and will join tonight’s qualifiers on the Grand Final to take place on March 6th.
Tonight’s show was took place in RTP Studios in Lisbon and was hosted by Jorge Gabriel, Sónia Araújo and Inês Lopes Gonçalves. The night saw RTP continue to showcase Portuguese talent alongside charismatic presenters and guests, excellent visuals and efficient sequencing of the artists. In addition, Festival da Canção 2020 winner Elisa returned to the FdC stage to perform her new single “Na Ilha”.
This week, RTP revealed that if a competing artist returns a positive test for COVID-19 before their semi-final, that participant will be disqualified from the competition. However, if they qualify and then test positive before the final, their semi-final performance will be used instead during the selection on 6th March.
The results
Just like in previous years, the power was equally divided between the expert jury and the public at home. In case of a tie, the choice of the jury prevails over the choice of the televote. The jury and the televote awarded to the songs points from one to twelve. The five acts with the highest total votes advanced to the Grand Final, where they will be joined by the five finalists of the second semi final. You can read more about this year’s jury here.
Here was tonight’s running order, with the five qualifiers in BOLD:
- The Black Mamba – Love Is On My Side
- Valéria – Na mais profunda saudade
- Mema – Claro como água
- Nadine – Cheguei aqui
- Miguel Marôco – Girassol
- Fábia Maia – Dia lindo
- Irma – Livros
- Karetus & Romeu Bairos – Saudade
- Sara Afonso – Contramão
- IAN – Mundo
Semi-Final Two
The second semi-final will take place on February 27th, again at RTP Studios in Lisbon. Next week’s show will be hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and Jorge Gabriel. Once again, ten acts will compete for the last five places avaible in the Grand Final. The running order is as follows:
- Da Chick – I Got Music
- Tainá – Jasmim
- Ariana – Mundo Melhor
- Eu.Clides – Volte-Face
- Joana Alegre – Joana Do Mar
- Pedro Gonçalves – Não Vou Ficar
- Ana Tereza – Com Um Abraço
- Carolina Deslandes – Por Um Triz
- Graciela – A Vida Sem Acontecer
- NEEV – Dancing In The Stars
You can watch our Festival da Canção reaction series below:
Did the right acts make it through? Who are you looking forward to seeing next week? 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!
