Recently, Portugal confirmed their participation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Broadcaster RTP have now confirmed the list of composers for Festival da Canção 2026. Overall, a total of 660 entries were submitted for the six open submission slots.
🇵🇹 660 open submissions received for Festival da Canção 2026
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 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.
RTP have now confirmed that 660 songs were submitted for the open submission phase that will choose six songs. This is an increase of 27 entries on last year. A five person jury will evaluate the songs to advance to the live shows. These are: Fábio Silva, Inês Marques Lucas, Miguel Ângelo, Rita Ribeiro and Teresinha Landeiro.
🇵🇹 Festival da Canção 2026 composers revealed
In a recent press release, RTP the national broadcaster of Portugal announced the 20 composers for Festival da Canção 2026. Of the 20 composers, 8 were invited directly by RTP. Six were picked from the 660 entries submitted to the broadcaster. One was chosen by NAPA and one was selected through Prova de Acesso. The list of selected composers are as follows:
Invited composers by RTP
- André Amaro
- Bandidos do Cante
- Bateu Matou
- Cristina Branco
- Djodje
- EVAYA
- Inês Sousa
- Marquise
The songs are expected to be released at a later date. Next year, the live shows of Festival da Canção 2026 will air on RTP1.
Composers from open submissions
- AGRIDOCE
- Francisco Fontes
- Gonçalo Gomes
- Jacaréu
- Rita Dias
- Sandrino
Composer chosen by NAPA
- Mates o Mandarim
Composer chosen through Prova de Acesso
- Dinis Mota
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.
