RTP the national broadcaster of Portugal has launched the upcoming edition of Festival da Canção 2026 along with the announcement that representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is optional.
🇵🇹 Festival da Canção 2026 returns … with new twists!
Once again RTP will use its famous music festival to select the representative for the Iberian nation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna next May. Festival da Canção 2026 is open for submissions that will close on October 31. The 59th edition of the competition will see the format retain its familiar structure of recent years. In total 16 songs will feature across two Semi-Finals and a Grand Final.
Of the 16 songs, 8 will be composed by songwriters invited by RTP. Another six songs will be chosen from the open submissions phase of the selection. All citizens of Portuguese nationality or resident in Portugal can submit, including Portuguese living outside Portugal, as well as citizens of other nationalities residing in Portugal. One artist will be selected by NAPA who won Festival da Canção 2025. The final submission will be chosen through the Prova de Acesso. This is a unique opportunity created by RTP that will showcase young talent by allowing two music schools to nominate up to five artists to compete for a place in the national final. The winner of Prova de Acesso will be chosen through an online vote.
The live shows will retain their voting structure. Each Semi-Final will see four acts directly advance to the final through the combined votes of the public voting (50%) and professional jury (50%). One wildcard in each Semi-Final will also advance from the public votes. During the Grand Final, the combined votes of the public voting (50%) and the seven regional juries (50%) will decide the winner of Festival da Canção 2026. However, in a major change this year, the winner does not have to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna next May.
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
Out of 55 participations to date, Portugal has won the Eurovision Song Contest only once – in 2017 with Salvador Sobral’s ‘Amar pelos dois‘. To this day, it holds the record for the most points in the history of the contest with 758. Their next best result was with ‘O meu coração não tem cor‘ by Lúcia Moniz back in 1996, which finished in sixth place. Currently, the Iberian nation is enjoying a run of five qualifications in a row.
Earlier this year, NAPA won Festival da Canção 2025 with ‘Deslocado’. During the Basel contest, ‘Deslocado’ achieved 21st place in the Grand Final with 50 points. Over the Summer, the song has resonated with listeners to become a viral hit. So far it has amassed over 75,000,000 streams on Spotify alone.
Who should represent Portugal at Eurovision 2026? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra.bsky.social on Bluesky, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see interviews and reactions to the latest Eurovision news.
