Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Festival da Canção 2017 was the 51st edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that selects Portugal's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.[3]

The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 19 and 26 February 2017 and the final on 5 March 2017. The semi-finals took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon, while the final took place at Coliseu dos Recreios, also in Lisbon.[4] The competition featured sixteen competing songs written by composers who RTP invited for the competition. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry. Each semi-final featured eight competing entries from which four advanced to the final from each show. Results during the semi-finals were determined by a jury panel appointed by RTP and votes from the public. In the final, the winner was determined by the votes from regional jury panels and a public voting.[3][5]

For the very first time, RTP abolished the language restrictions, so that artists may submit songs in any language(s), even without Portuguese. On 5 December 2016, RTP revealed the names of the sixteen composers that were invited to participate. The invited composers were:[3]

The running order of the semi-finals for the sixteen participating composers was drawn on 17 January 2017.[6]

16 entries participated in the 51st Festival da Canção. Half of the competing performers, the artists drawn to perform in the first semi-final, were revealed on 18 January 2017.[7] The remaining competing artists were announced on 26 January 2017.[8] Among the competing artists was former Eurovision Song Contest entrant Rui Drumond, who represented Portugal in the 2005 Contest as part of 2B.

The first semi-final took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon on 19 February 2017, hosted by Sónia Araújo and José Carlos Malato.[4][9] In the first semi-final eight entries participated, and of these eight, four advanced to the final. The qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from jury members made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. Real Combo Lisboense performed as the interval act with a medley of songs that did not win Festival da Canção. The jury that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Júlio Isidro, Ramon Galarza, Nuno Markl, Tozé Brito, Inês Lopes Gonçalves , Gabriela Schaaf, João Carlos Callixto, Inês Meneses and Dora.

The second semi-final took place at RTP's studios in Lisbon on 26 February 2017, hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and Jorge Gabriel.[4][9] In the second semi-final eight entries participated, and of these eight, four advanced to the final. The qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from jury members made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. Real Combo Lisboense performed as the interval act with a medley of songs that did not win Festival da Canção. The jury that voted in the second semi-final consisted of Júlio Isidro, Ramon Galarza, Nuno Markl, Tozé Brito, Inês Lopes Gonçalves , Gabriela Schaaf, João Carlos Callixto, Inês Meneses and Dora.

The final took place at Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon on 5 March 2017, hosted by Sílvia Alberto and Catarina Furtado.[4][9] In the final eight entries participated, and the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from seven regional juries and a public telephone vote.[10]

On social media, the manager of the official Facebook page of Festival da Canção commented that "For many of the [participating] composers, Eurovision was not the goal but rather to have this opportunity to showcase more of Portuguese music". The comment was met with controversy among Portuguese Eurovision fans.[11] RTP's programming director, Daniel Deusdado reacted to the criticism by saying "Social networks catch fire for anything. If we had said otherwise, that is, that we make a song to win Eurovision, people later would said: and why should we win Eurovision? This [Festival da Canção] should be for providing a platform for Portuguese music [...] For us, everything is fine. The aim is to push for Portuguese music [...] I can say that half of the forest didn't burn"[12]

Following the first semi-final, jury panellist Nuno Markl publicly revealed on social media that he had given top marks to Salvador Sobral, which sparked calls for his replacement. It was also pointed out that Markl works with one of the composers competing in the second semi-final, João Só, at Rádio Comercial, which could cause conflict of interest.[13] On 22 February 2017, Markl submitted his resignation from the jury panel, but it was not accepted by RTP.[14]

Because of health issues, it was not possible for Sobral to be away from his health management for two weeks. Therefore, the first two rehearsals of Portugal were performed by his sister and composer of the song Luísa Sobral. She took part in the technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 May in Salvador's stead, after which Salvador took part in the dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

At the end of the show, it was announced that Portugal finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualified for the grand final. Later, it was revealed that Portugal was the most voted country in the semi-final, by both the jury and the televoting.

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Portugal was drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Portugal was subsequently placed to perform in position 11, following the entry from Denmark and before the entry from Azerbaijan.[18] As a result, Portugal won the contest with 758 points overall; 382 from the juries and 376 from the televoting. For the winner's encore, Salvador and Luísa sang the song as a duet.

"Amar pelos dois" managed to receive points from 39 of the 42 international juries, only failing to receive any from Bulgaria, Montenegro (although both countries voted for Portugal in their televotes), and Portugal themselves, as they could not vote for their own entry.

Points awarded to Portugal by each national televote

Points awarded to Portugal by each national jury

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal and awarded by Portugal in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[19][20]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the televoting and jury voting conducted during the two shows. The country finished in first place on both occasions. In the semi-final, Portugal was ranked first with 370 points overall, garnering 197 from the televote and 173 from the jury vote.[21] Portugal received 12 points from the televoters in Albania, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, and received 12 points from the juries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Moldova, Poland and Spain.[22] In the end, Portugal won the contest with 758 points overall; 376 from the televote and 382 from the jury vote. In the grand final, Portugal earned a total of thirty sets of 12 points. The country received maximum scores from the televoters in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, and received top marks from the juries of Armenia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[23]

The Portuguese jury comprised: [24]

• Tozé Brito - Chairperson - composer, songwriter, former singer, director at Portuguese Author's Society
• Nelson Carvalho - music producer, sound engineer
• Inês Meneses - radialist
• Celina da Piedade - musician
• Ramón Galarza - musician, music producer

Split voting results from Portugal (semi-final 1)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		T. Brito	N. Carvalho	I. Meneses	C. da Piedade	R. Galarza	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Sweden	5	3	6	5	7	6	5	2	10
02	Georgia	12	4	14	11	4	8	3	5	6
03	Australia	2	7	5	3	8	5	6	12
04	Albania	17	15	15	17	15	17		17
05	Belgium	15	11	4	15	16	13		3	8
06	Montenegro	11	17	17	9	17	15		16
07	Finland	3	2	7	6	6	4	7	4	7
08	Azerbaijan	1	1	3	13	5	3	8	10	1
09	Portugal
10	Greece	7	10	8	12	9	9	2	6	5
11	Poland	9	9	13	10	10	10	1	13
12	Moldova	6	8	2	2	2	2	10	1	12
13	Iceland	8	12	10	8	14	11		11
14	Czech Republic	4	5	1	1	1	1	12	9	2
15	Cyprus	10	16	11	4	13	12		8	3
16	Armenia	14	6	12	7	3	7	4	14
17	Slovenia	16	14	16	14	12	16		7	4
18	Latvia	13	13	9	16	11	14		15

Split voting results from Portugal (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		T. Brito	N. Carvalho	I. Meneses	C. da Piedade	R. Galarza	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Israel	17	22	25	22	15	25		11
02	Poland	15	17	20	18	9	19		21
03	Belarus	23	16	16	2	6	12		16
04	Austria	2	2	9	4	20	2	10	17
05	Armenia	19	13	10	5	16	13		19
06	Netherlands	9	14	11	12	7	8	3	13
07	Moldova	13	8	1	1	22	5	6	1	12
08	Hungary	22	15	19	6	3	15		9	2
09	Italy	8	21	17	15	10	18		7	4
10	Denmark	20	20	21	19	5	20		25
11	Portugal
12	Azerbaijan	1	1	2	10	21	1	12	15
13	Croatia	25	25	15	24	1	22		12
14	Australia	6	7	7	8	17	6	5	22
15	Greece	12	9	14	23	12	17		20
16	Spain	11	18	8	14	19	16		6	5
17	Norway	14	6	6	3	25	9	2	24
18	United Kingdom	4	11	13	11	24	11		14
19	Cyprus	16	12	12	7	13	10	1	18
20	Romania	24	24	24	25	2	24		4	7
21	Germany	18	19	22	21	11	23		23
22	Ukraine	21	23	23	17	4	21		8	3
23	Belgium	10	3	4	13	14	3	8	2	10
24	Sweden	7	5	5	9	18	4	7	10	1
25	Bulgaria	3	4	18	16	23	14		3	8
26	France	5	10	3	20	8	7	4	5	6