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 performed her single “Na Ilha” during one of the semi-finals.
RTP has announced that Elisa will be revealing the results of the Portuguese jury in the Grand Final of Eurovision 2021. To date, she is the first and only non-selected Eurovision 2020 artist who has been confirmed by their broadcaster to be a spokesperson for the final.
During the national final season, she joined Ulrikke in being a 2020 national final winner to be invited back as a guest performer, rather than taking part in the selection itself.
You can watch the announcement video below:
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.
Are you excited to see Elisa return? Let us know! Would you like to see her represent Portugal in the future? 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!