Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Portugal selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 through the annual Festival da Canção.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Portugal | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Festival da Canção 1996 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 7 March 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Lúcia Moniz | |||
| Selected song | "O meu coração não tem cor" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 6th, 92 points | |||
| Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
Festival da Canção 1996
Festival da Canção 1996 was held on 7 March 1996 and was hosted by Carlos Cruz and Isabel Angelino. The winner was selected through the votes of 10 regional juries of Portugal. The winner was Lúcia Moniz with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" (My Heart Has No Colour).
| Final – 7 March 1996 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Singer | Song (English translation) | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
| 1 | Vânia Maroti | "Start Stop" | Pedro Abrantes, Fernando Abrantes, Maria João Abrantes | 33 | 10 |
| 2 | Tó Leal | "Eu mesmo" (Myself) | Paco Bandeira, Francisco Rodrigues | 42 | 8 |
| 3 | Patrícia Antunes | "Canto em português" (I am singing in Portuguese) | João Mota Oliveira, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 91 | 2 |
| 4 | Barbara Reis | "A minha ilha" (My island) | Luís Filipe, Johnny Galvão | 43 | 7 |
| 5 | Elaisa | "Ai, a noite" (Oh, the night) | Dina, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 49 | 6 |
| 6 | Somseis | "A canção da paz" (The peace song) | Thilo Krasmann, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 76 | 3 |
| 7 | Cristina Castro Pereira | "Ganhámos o céu" (We have won the sky) | José Cid | 63 | 4 |
| 8 | Lúcia Moniz | "O meu coração não tem cor" (My heart has no colour) | Pedro Osório, José Fanha | 95 | 1 |
| 9 | Pedro Miguéis | "Prazer em conhecer" (Pleased to meet you) | Jan van Dijck, Francisco Rodrigues | 54 | 5 |
| 10 | João Portugal | "Top Model" | Nuno Nazareth Fernandes | 34 | 9 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Viseu | Viana do Castelo |
Porto | Ponta Delgada |
Évora | Vila Real |
Coimbra | Lisbon | Funchal | Faro | Total |
| 1 | "Start Stop" | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33 |
| 2 | "Eu mesmo" | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 42 |
| 3 | "Canto em português" | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 91 |
| 4 | "A minha ilha" | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 43 |
| 5 | "Ai, a noite" | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 49 |
| 6 | "A canção da paz" | 2 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 76 |
| 7 | "Ganhámos o céu" | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 63 |
| 8 | "O meu coração não tem cor" | 7 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 95 |
| 9 | "Prazer em conhecer" | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 54 |
| 10 | "Top Model" | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 34 |
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts Norway who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. Moniz placed 18th with 32 points, thus qualifying for the final.
On the night of the contest, Moniz performed 4th, following Spain and preceding Cyprus. Although the song was in second place in the voting at best, at the end of the voting Moniz received 92 points, finishing 6th out of 23 competing countries. This was Portugal's best placing at the contest in its history until Salvador Sobral's victory 21 years later.
The Portuguese jury awarded its 12 points to United Kingdom.
Points awarded to Portugal (Pre-qualifying round)
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded to Portugal (Final)
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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Points awarded by Portugal (Pre-qualifying round)
| 12 points |  Netherlands |
| 10 points |  United Kingdom |
| 8 points |  Sweden |
| 7 points |  Switzerland |
| 6 points | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium |
| 5 points |  Estonia |
| 4 points |  France |
| 3 points |  Ireland |
| 2 points |  Malta |
| 1 point |  Turkey |
Points awarded by Portugal (Final)
| 12 points | United Kingdom |
| 10 points |  Croatia |
| 8 points | Ireland |
| 7 points | Netherlands |
| 6 points |  Iceland |
| 5 points |  Austria |
| 4 points | Sweden |
| 3 points | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Cyprus |
| 2 points |  Norway |
| 1 point | France |
External links
| Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest | |||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Entries scored out are when Portugal did not compete | |||||||||||||||||||