Portugal has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since its debut in , missing five contests (, , , , and ). The current Portuguese participating broadcaster in the contest is (RTP), which selects its entrant with the national selection . Portugal won the contest for the first time in and hosted the contest in Lisbon.
Portugal finished last on its debut in 1964 and again in , before achieving its best result of the 20th century in , with "" performed by Lúcia Moniz finishing sixth. The country then finished last for the third time in . Having not appeared in the final since and as holders of the record for most appearances in the contest without a win, Portugal won at the 49th attempt, when "" by Salvador Sobral won the 2017 contest, Portugal's first top-five result in the contest. As hosts in 2018, the country finished last in the contest for a fourth time.
Participation
was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It participated in the contest representing Portugal since its in 1964. Since 2004, after a restructuring that led to the incorporation of into the current (RTP), it is the latter who participates representing Portugal.
History Portugal's debut entry was "" by António Calvário. It was not a successful debut for the country, with Calvário coming last in the contest. Since then, Portugal has come last on three further occasions, in with "" by Paulo de Carvalho, in with "" by Célia Lawson, and in as a host country. Despite its last-place finish in the contest, "E depois do adeus" gained notability for being used as the radio musical signal to begin the Carnation Revolution against the Estado Novo regime, being played at 22:55 on 24 April 1974. Prior to its sixth-place finish for "" by Lúcia Moniz in , Portugal's best result in the contest was two seventh-place finishes, for Carlos Mendes in and José Cid in . Despite prior poor results, the 1990s were the most successful decade for the country, with four recorded finishes in the top 10. Portugal was relegated in 2000 due to insufficient points accrued, and withdrew in 2002 due to financial difficulties (allowing Latvia, who ultimately won, to compete).
Since semi-finals were introduced in , Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times, including from 2004 to 2007. In , "" by Vânia Fernandes finished 13th, Portugal's best result since 1996. The country continued to be present in the final until 2010. In , Portugal reached the finals with "" by Salvador Sobral, ending a 6-year non-appearance in the finals, as it did not participate in the contest in 2013 and 2016 and did not qualify for the finals in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015, finally winning the contest for the first time ever, earning 758 points, setting the record for the highest number of points in the history of the competition, topping both the televoting and jury voting for the first time since 's "Rise Like a Phoenix" in . It was the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since 's "" in . As the host country in , Portugal came last for the fourth time in the contest, and for the first time in a non-joint last position. This was the third instance of a host country placing in the bottom five since . Following a non-qualification in , Portugal recorded a 12th-place finish in , a ninth-place finish in , a 23rd-place finish in , a tenth-place finish in and a 21st-place finish in , and failing to qualify for the final in 2026 which was the first time in the 2020s that Portugal failed to qualify for the final with the last time being in 2019.
Absences Portugal has been absent from five contests since their first participation. The country's first absence was in , where Portugal, along with four other countries, boycotted the contest due to the result of the previous year, when four countries were announced the winner.O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007
Portugal missed the due to their poor average results over the past five years. Despite being eligible to enter the 2002 contest, RTP declined to enter, and was replaced by eventual winner Latvia.
The fourth absence was in , when Portugal didn't participate for financial reasons. The fifth absence was in . RTP stated that this break was needed in order to facilitate a content renewal for its national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Festival da Canção.
Festival da Canção
Festival da Canção (sometimes referred to as "Festival RTP da Canção") is the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by RTP, and is normally held between February and March of the year of the contest. It is one of the longest-running Eurovision selection methods. Previously a number of regional juries selected the winner, however, the winner has been selected through televoting in recent years. In 2009, 2010 and since 2017, a 50/50 system between regional juries and televoting has been used.
In the years when Portugal does not participate in the contest, Festival da Canção was not held, except in two occasions: in 1970, when Portugal boycotted the contest, and in 2000, when the country was relegated.
Participation overview + Table key 1 First place 2 Second place ◁ Last place ◇ Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points António Calvário "" Portuguese 13 ◁ 0 rowspan="28" colspan="2" Simone de Oliveira "" Portuguese 13 1 Madalena Iglésias "" Portuguese 13 6 Eduardo Nascimento "" Portuguese 12 3 Carlos Mendes "" Portuguese 11 5 Simone de Oliveira "" Portuguese 15 4 Tonicha "" Portuguese 9 83 Carlos Mendes "" Portuguese 7 90 Fernando Tordo "" Portuguese 10 80 Paulo de Carvalho "" Portuguese 14 ◁ 3 Duarte Mendes "" Portuguese 16 16 Carlos do Carmo "" Portuguese 12 24 Os Amigos "" Portuguese 14 18 Gemini "Dai li dou" Portuguese 17 5 Manuela Bravo "" Portuguese 9 64 José Cid "" Portuguese 7 71 Carlos Paião "Playback" Portuguese 18 9 Doce "" Portuguese 13 32 Armando Gama "" Portuguese 13 33 Maria Guinot "" Portuguese 11 38 Adelaide "" Portuguese 18 9 Dora "" Portuguese 14 28 Nevada "" Portuguese 18 15 Dora "" Portuguese 18 5 Da Vinci "" Portuguese 16 39 Nucha "" Portuguese 20 9 Dulce "" Portuguese 8 62 Dina "" Portuguese 17 26 Anabela "" Portuguese 10 60 colspan="2" Sara "" Portuguese 8 73 rowspan="2" colspan="2" Tó Cruz "" Portuguese 21 5 Lúcia Moniz "" Portuguese 6 92 18 32 Célia Lawson "" Portuguese 24 ◁ 0 rowspan="5" colspan="2" Alma Lusa "" Portuguese 12 36 Rui Bandeira "" Portuguese 21 12 MTM "" Portuguese 17 18 Rita Guerra "" Portuguese, English 22 13 Sofia Vitória "" Portuguese colspan="2" rowspan="4" 15 38 2B "" Portuguese, English 17 51 Nonstop "" Portuguese, English 19 26 Sabrina "" Portuguese 11 88 Vânia Fernandes "" Portuguese 13 69 2 120 Flor-de-Lis "" Portuguese 15 57 8 70 Filipa Azevedo "" Portuguese 18 43 4 89 Homens da Luta "" Portuguese colspan="2" rowspan="4" 18 22 Filipa Sousa "" Portuguese 13 39 Suzy "" Portuguese 11 39 Leonor Andrade "" Portuguese 14 19 Salvador Sobral "" Portuguese 1 758 1 370 Cláudia Pascoal "" Portuguese 26 ◁ 39 colspan="2" Conan Osíris "" Portuguese colspan="2" 15 51 Elisa ◇ "" ◇ Portuguese ◇ colspan="4" The Black Mamba "Love Is on My Side" English 12 153 4 239 Maro "" English, Portuguese 9 207 4 208 Mimicat "" Portuguese 23 59 9 74 Iolanda "" Portuguese 10 152 8 58 Napa "" Portuguese 21 50 9 56 Bandidos do Cante "" Portuguese colspan=2 12 74
Hostings
Year Location Venue PresentersImage Lisbon Altice Arena Catarina Furtado, Daniela Ruah, Filomena Cautela and Sílvia Alberto
Awards Marcel Bezençon Awards
YearCategorySongComposerPerformerFinalPointsHost city Press Award ""Andrej Babić, Carlos Coelho Vânia Fernandes 13 69 Belgrade Artistic Award ""Luísa Sobral Salvador Sobral 1 758 KyivComposer Award
Barbara Dex Award
YearPerformerHost cityNonstop AthensConan Osiris Tel Aviv
Related involvement Conductors YearConductorNotes Kai MortensenFernando de CarvalhoJorge Costa PintoArmando Tavares BeloJoaquim Luis GomesFerrer TrindadeJorge Costa Pinto Richard HillJorge Costa PintoJose CalvárioPedro Osório Thilo KrasmannJose Calvário Thilo KrasmannJorge MachadoSegundo GalarzaLuis Duarte Mike SergeantPedro OsórioJose Calvário Colin FrechterJaime OliveiraJose CalvárioLuis DuarteCarlos Alberto MonizFernando Correia MartinsCarlos Alberto MonizArmindo Neves Thilo KrasmannPedro Osório Thilo Krasmann Mike Sergeant
Additionally, there was an orchestra present at the Portuguese national final in 1999 and 2001, where the winning entries were conducted by José Marinho and Rui Filipe Reis, respectively.
Heads of delegation YearHead of delegation2015–presentCarla Bugalho Commentators and spokespersons
YearTelevision commentatorRadio commentatorSpokespersonFederico Gallo rowspan="9" Gomes Ferreira Maria Manuela Furtado Fialho Gouveia Henrique Mendes rowspan="3" Amadeu Meireles Artur Agostinho Henrique Mendes Júlio Isidro Amadeu Meireles Ana Zanatti José Côrte-Real Eládio Clímaco Isabel Wolmar Fialho Gouveia rowspan="7" João Abel da Fonseca Isabel Wolmar Teresa Cruz Eládio Clímaco Margarida Andrade Fialho Gouveia Eládio Clímaco João Abel Fonseca Fialho Gouveia Eládio Clímaco Eládio Clímaco Maria Margarida Gaspar Fialho Gouveia Fialho Gouveia Margarida Andrade Maria Margarida Gaspar rowspan="12" Ana Zanatti Margarida Andrade Maria Margarida Gaspar Ana Zanatti Margarida Andrade Ana do Carmo João Abel Fonseca Maria Margarida Gaspar Eládio Clímaco Ana Zanatti Isabel Bahia Margarida Mercês de Mello Eládio Clímaco Isabel Bahia Ana do Carmo Serenella Andrade Maria Margarida Gaspar Cristina Rocha Carlos Ribeiro Rui Unas Lúcia Moniz João David Nunes Manuel Luís Goucha Eládio Clímaco rowspan="9" Margarida Mercês de Mello Margarida Mercês de Mello Helena Ramos Eládio Clímaco Isabel Angelino Cristina Alves Isabel Angelino, Jorge Gabriel Francisco Mendes Teresa Villa-Lobos Hélder Reis rowspan="9" Helena Coelho Sérgio Mateus Ana Galvão Sílvia Alberto Joana Teles Pedro Granger Sílvia Alberto Joana Teles Hélder Reis, Ramon Galarza Suzy Hélder Reis, Nuno Galopim José Carlos Malato, Nuno Galopim Filomena Cautela Hélder Reis, Nuno Galopim Noémia Gonçalves, António Macedo, Tozé Brito Pedro Fernandes José Carlos Malato, Nuno Galopim rowspan="4" Inês Lopes Gonçalves Elisa Silva Nuno Galopim Pedro Tatanka José Carlos Malato, Nuno Galopim Maro rowspan="3" Mimicat Iolanda
Photo gallery
See also List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters Portugal in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest. Portugal in the OTI Festival – A competition organised by the (OTI) between 1972 and 2000.
Notes
References