Portugal: Songs for Festival da Canção 2026 released
The 16 songs in this year's edition of Portugal's Festival da Canção have been released
Portuguese broadcaster RTP is prepping for its annual Festival da Canção, and with that we now know what songs will be competing this year.
16 songs will be a part of this year's festival, and all the songs are available to listen to down below.
Like previous years, this year's Festival da Canção will consist of three shows total: two Semi-finals and one Final. There will be 10 acts that will advance to the Final, which will be held on 7 March 2026.
Festival da Canção 2026
Festival da Canção 2026 take place over three shows: two Semi-finals and the Final.
- Semi Final 1: 21 February 2025
- Semi Final 2: 28 February 2025
Both Semi-finals will see eight acts, with five advancing to the Final from each one. Four acts will be selected by a 50/50 split between jury and public votes, with the last one selected via 100% public vote from the remaining songs.
- Final: 7 March 2026
The Final will see 10 acts looking to receive the Festival da Canção victory. The winner will be decided by a 50/50 split between regional juries and public vote.
The winner will take the Eurovision 2026 stage if they have not chosen to opt out of participating. If the winner chooses not to head to Eurovision 2026, the broadcaster will select an act to travel to Vienna instead.
Portugal in Eurovision
Portugal has participated in the contest 56 times since 1964. It was a very bad start, as they managed to get zero points in their debut year.
Before Eurovision 2017, they had never won the contest, and had never made the top 5. In fact, Portugal held the record for most appearances in the contest without a win!
But that changed in 2017, when Salvador Sobral won with "Amar Pelos Dois."
Since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004, Portugal has only qualified for the Grand Final 10 out of 19 times.
