Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Portugal was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 by Vânia Fernandes with the song "Senhora do mar (Negras águas)", being the forty-second Portuguese appearance at the yearly contest.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country Portugal
National selection
Selection processFestival da Canção 2008
Selection date(s)9 March 2008
Selected entrantVânia Fernandes
Selected song"Senhora do mar"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 120 points)
Final result13th, 69 points
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

Fernandes was selected by the national public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) as a result of her victory at the Festival da Canção 2008, the Portuguese national final, held on 9 March 2008, at the Teatro Camões, in Lisbon. Ten acts entered the competition to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, with the winner being selected through SMS and televoting.

The Portuguese song, composed by Andrej Babić and Carlos Coelho, was performed last in the second semi-final on 22 May. It received a total of 120 points, coming second out of 19 competing countries and thus qualifying Portugal to the final, for the first time since the semi-final format was introduced in 2004. Performing 13th in the running order, Portugal received a total of 69 points and placed 13th in a field of 25 countries.

After Eurovision, Fernandes remained involved with Eurovision, attending the 2008 convention of the Luxembourgish brand of OGAE, a Eurovision fanclub.

Background
Main article: Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest

Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 41 times since its debut entry in 1964.[1] It achieved its best result in 1996, when Lúcia Moniz came sixth with "O meu coração não tem cor", getting the maximum 12 points a country can give from both Cyprus and Norway and receiving 92 points in total. Portugal's least successful entries have been in 1964, 1974 and 1997 when Portugal placed last.[2]

The Portuguese national broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) broadcasts the event each year and organizes the selection process for its entry. Many different selection processes have been used, however the most common is the Festival da Canção competition, having been held almost every year since Portugal joined the contest. At Festival da Canção, members of the public vote for the performance they want to represent them at the Contest.[3] RTP again chose to use this format to select the 2008 Portuguese entry.

Before Eurovision

Festival da Canção 2008

Festival da Canção 2008 was the 44th edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that selects Portugal's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format

The format of the competition consisted of the final on 9 March 2008, which took place at the Teatro Camões in Lisbon.[4] The competition featured ten competing songs submitted by producers who RTP invited for the competition. A meeting was held between the board of directors and the producers of RTP to decide how the competition would be planned. The most important issue during the meeting was to find talented artists within Portugal with experience to compete, but not ruling out the possibility of new names participating as well. Therefore, in a change from the last two contests, the producers created the song while RTP selected the performer for their entry.[5][6] Results were determined exclusively by votes from the public.

Between 24 January and 30 January 2008, RTP revealed the names of the ten producers that were invited to participate. The invited producers were:[7][8][9][10]

  • Carlos Coelho
  • Carluz Belo
  • Elvis Veiguinha
  • Fernando Martins
  • Gimba
  • Jan Van Dijck
  • Ménito Ramos
  • Nuno Feist
  • Ramon Galarza
  • Renato Júnior

Among the competing producers were former winning Festival da Canção composers Jan Van Dijck (1990) and Elvis Veiguinha (2006).

Cancellation rumours

The final details of the competition were to be planned during a decisive meeting within RTP in December 2007, however rumours later arose that the competition would be cancelled due to the resignation of Nuno Santos, the person responsible for Portugal's participation at the Eurovision Song Contest.[11][12] With his resignation, it was deemed that it would not be possible to plan the contest in time for Eurovision. Despite this, RTP confirmed that Portugal would still be in the contest, and that the possibility of an internal selection was being considered.[13][14] Ultimately, RTP announced in January 2008, that Festival da Canção 2008 would be held.[15][16]

Competing entries
Vânia Fernandes

10 entries participated in the 44th Festival da Canção. The competing artists were announced between 25 January and 15 February 2008. Among the competing artists were participants from the recent third season of talent show Operação Triunfo: Joana Melo, Alex Smith, Ricardo Soler and winner Vânia Fernandes. Francisco Andrade from Blá Blà Blá was the runner-up of Festival da Canção 2004 and Vanessa came third in Festival da Canção 2007. All songs were performed entirely in Portuguese, and were not released until the broadcast of the competition.

Artist Song Composer(s) Producer
Alex Smith[17] "Obrigatório ter" Jan Van Dijck, Pedro Malaquias Jan van Dijck
Big Hit[18] "Por ti, Portugal" Fernando Martins, Alexandra Valentim, João Baião Fernando Martins
Blá Blà Blá[19] "Magicantasticamente" Gimba, Luís Miguel Viterbo Gimba
Carluz Belo[20] "Cavaleiro da manhã" Carluz Belo Carluz Belo
Lisboa não sejas francesa[21] "Porto de encontro" Miguel Majer, Ricardo Santos Miguel Majer, Ricardo Santos
Marco Rodrigues[22] "Em água e sal" Tiago Machado, Inês Pedrosa Elvis Veiguinha
Ricardo Soler[23] "Canção pop" Renato Júnior, Nuno Markl Renato Júnior
Tucha[24] "O poder da mensagem" Ménito Ramos Ménito Ramos
Vanessa[25] "Do outro lado da vida" Nuno Feist, Nuno Marques da Silva Nuno Feist
Vânia Fernandes[26][27] "Senhora do mar" Andrej Babić, Carlos Coelho Carlos Coelho

Final

The final took place at the Teatro Camões in Lisbon on 9 March 2008, hosted by Sílvia Alberto who also hosted Operação Triunfo. In the final ten entries participated, and the winner was determined exclusively by a public telephone vote in Portugal, France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland. Voting lines were open from the beginning of the competition.[28][29]

The competing artists together performed as the interval act with a medley of Eurovision winning songs: "Waterloo" by ABBA, "Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz and Hallejulah by Milk and Honey. Each artist also performed a cover version of another Eurovision winning song of their choice in solo. Marco Rodrigues performed "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros, Carluz Belo performed "L'oiseau et l'enfant" by Marie Myriam, Big Hit performed "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan, Joana Melo of Lisboa não sejas francesa performed "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw, Vânia Fernandes performed "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti, Vanessa performed "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener, Ricardo Soler performed "Ne partez pas sans moi" by Celine Dion, Alex Smith performed "My Number One" by Elena Paparizou, Tucha performed "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim and Blá Blà Blá performed "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. Band Be-Dom and a hip-hop group performed as the second part of the interval act.[30][31]

Final – 9 March 2008
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Marco Rodrigues "Em água e sal" 5,944 3
2 Carluz Belo "Cavaleiro da manhã" 2,049 8
3 Big Hit "Por ti, Portugal" 2,934 6
4 Lisboa não sejas francesa "Porto de encontro" 1,974 9
5 Vânia Fernandes "Senhora do mar" 17,650 1
6 Vanessa "Do outro lado da vida" 2,622 7
7 Ricardo Soler "Canção pop" 4,736 4
8 Alex Smith "Obrigatório ter" 6,928 2
9 Tucha "O poder da mensagem" 626 10
10 Blá Blà Blá "Magicantasticamente" 4,616 5

Promotion

RTP announced that they would be holding a promotional tour for Fernandes and "Senhora do mar". Fernandes would be travelling to countries around Europe, promoting her song on various TV and radio shows.[32] Despite an English-language version of the song being written for the promotional tour, it was decided by RTP that the song would be sung at the contest entirely in Portuguese by Fernandes.[33]

Fernandes' promotional tour began in Bulgaria, where she appeared on many TV shows and sang a duet with the Bulgarian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 Mariana Popova.[34][35] From 27 to 30 April, Fernandes visited Malta, appearing on various radio and TV shows, giving interviews and singing "Senhora do mar".[36][37] In Turkey, she performed a duet with Şebnem Paker, the Turkish representative at the 1996 and 1997 contests.[38] Finally, after arriving in Serbia for the contest, Fernandes performed a duet with the Beauty Queens, the group that accompanied Serbia's winning singer Marija Šerifović at the 2007 contest, performing both "Senhora do mar" as well as "Zavet", the Beauty Queens' losing entry at Beovizija 2008, the Serbian Eurovision selection for the contest.[38][39][40]

Promotion of the song was also made through an English version of the song being written, called "Lady of the Sea", as well as a promotional video being made of both the Portuguese and English versions of the song.[41] The video shot on Fernandes' home island of Madeira, commissioned by the Madeiran government in order to promote the island.[42]

At Eurovision

Since Portugal had come in 11th in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Vânia Fernandes was obliged to perform her song in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest.[43] The EBU split up countries with a friendly voting history into the two different semi-finals, to give a better chance to other countries to win. On 28 January 2008, the EBU held a special draw which determined that Portugal would be in the second semi-final, held on 22 May 2008.[44] The draw for the running order allowed three countries in each semi-final to select their positions in the running order. Portugal was selected as a wild card, and were allowed to select their position in the semi-final. As such, the Portuguese delegation for the contest selected to perform 19th (last) on the night of the semi-final.[45]

Although only being allowed to vote in the second semi-final, RTP broadcast both semi-finals on RTP. The first semi-final was broadcast on a time-delay, 3 hours ahead of the live showing. The second semi-final, which Portugal was competing in, was broadcast live on RTP.[46]

At the contest the commentator for RTP was Isabel Angelino, who also hosted a series of shows for RTP on Fernandes, her preparations in Belgrade and the rehearsals in Belgrade.[47] The spokesperson for Portugal, announcing the results of the Portuguese televote for the contest, was Sabrina, the Portuguese entry at the 2007 contest.[48]

Semi-final
Fernandes at the Eurovision 2008 semi-final

Fernandes sang in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008, performing 19th on the night. Her performance was similar to her performance at Festival da Canção. She again wore the same black dress, with the same backing singers as in Festival da Canção. The stage was filled with blue light, with the background showing blue waves, like in water. The backing dancers had the same choreography as before.[49] She received a total of 120 points, coming second to the Ukraine's Ani Lorak. She received 3 points from Latvia, Malta and Cyprus, 4 points from Lithuania, 5 points from Sweden and Bulgaria, 6 points from Albania, Hungary and Serbia, 7 points from the Czech Republic, Georgia and the United Kingdom, 8 points from Croatia, Belarus and the Ukraine, 10 points from Iceland, and the maximum 12 points from Switzerland and France — receiving no points from Turkey, Denmark and Macedonia. She qualified for the final on 24 May for the first time in Portugal's history since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004.[49][50] The semi-final received 1.45 million viewers, the second-most watched show that day.[51][52]

Final
Vânia Fernandes, along with her backing singers, performing "Senhora do mar (Negras águas)" in the final of Eurovision 2008

Fernandes sang a repeat performance of "Senhora do mar (Negras águas)" in the final, performing 13th on the night, following Turkey and preceding Latvia. This time she received only 69 points, placing 13th in a field of 25. She received the most points, 10 points, from Andorra and Switzerland, as well as receiving 8 points from Spain and France, 6 points from Iceland and Belgium, 5 points from San Marino and the Netherlands, 4 points from Germany, 3 points from Croatia and the Ukraine, and 1 point from Serbia.[53] This was Portugal's best placing at the Eurovision Song Contest since 1998. The show received 2 million viewers in Portugal, and was the most watched program that day.[54]

Points awarded by Portugal[55]
Points awarded to Portugal (Semi-final 2)
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

After Eurovision

After Fernandes came 13th in the final, despite the placement being the country's best in ten years, disappointment arose in Portugal over her result, with the Portuguese population and media expecting a higher result in Belgrade.[54] With this, there were talks within RTP over a new selection method for Festival da Canção, with the possibility that anyone can enter songs to RTP, and not just the selected producers.[56]

Fernandes benefited from her Eurovision appearance, however. She starred in a new advertisement for the Portuguese branch of the Spanish bank Banco Santander.[57] She also made a number of Eurovision-related appearances, appearing at a Eurovision party in Cologne, Germany, as well as appearing at the annual convention of the Luxembourgish branch of OGAE, the official Eurovision fan organization, appearing with Eurovision winner Corinne Hermès and Luxembourgish entrant Marion Welter.[58][59] She was also interviewed on the Portuguese-language radio station Radio Latina in Luxembourg.[60]

See also

References
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  2. "History by Country: Portugal". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  3. "Festival da Canção: História" (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  4. Costa, Nelson (31 January 2008). "Portugal: RTP announces Festival da Canção date". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  5. Florindo, Luis (12 September 2007). "Portugal: RTP in talks with singers for 2008". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  6. Costa, Nelson (20 August 2007). "Portugal: RTP prepares changes in Eurovision national selection". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  7. Costa, Nelson (24 January 2008). "Portugal: The first invited producers revealed". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
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  10. Florindo, Luis (30 January 2008). "Portugal 2008: Line-up of invited producers complete". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  11. Florindo, Luis (14 November 2008). "Portugal 2008: final decision in December". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
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  19. Costa, Nelson (6 February 2008). "'Bla Bla Bla' in national selection; members revealed". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  20. Costa, Nelson (23 February 2008). "Portugal: Carluz Belo (NF 2008) speaks to oikotimes.com". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  21. Costa, Nelson (25 January 2008). "Joana Melo confirmed to national selection". Oikotimes. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
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  33. Davies, Russell (4 April 2008). "Portugal: Language selection made". Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  34. Florindo, Luis (18 April 2008). "Portugal: Promotion tour first stop in Bulgaria". ESCToday. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  35. Costa, Nelson (18 April 2008). "Vânia Fernandes duet with Mariana Popova in Bulgaria". Oikotimes. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
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  55. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
  56. Costa, Nelson (13 June 2008). "Portugal: A new selection method to Eurovision?". Oikotimes. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  57. Dufaut, Dominique (23 September 2008). "Portugal : Vania Fernandes stars in bank commercial". ESCToday. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
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