Festival da Canção 2014 was the 48th edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that selects Portugal's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2014 Portuguese entry marked a return to the Eurovision Song Contest for RTP and Portugal after the broadcaster withdrew from the 2013 Contest. RTP confirmed Portugal's return to the competition on 7 November 2013.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of two shows: a semi-final on 8 March 2014 and the final on 15 March 2014, both taking place at the Convento do Beato in Lisbon. The competition featured ten competing songs written by composers who RTP invited for the competition. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry with the approval of RTP. The semi-final featured the ten competing entries from which five advanced to the final. Results during the semi-final and final were determined solely by votes from the public. Both shows were hosted by Sílvia Alberto and José Carlos Malato, with Joana Teles reporting from the green room. All submitted songs were required to be in Portuguese and foreign composers were allowed to partake in the competition. On 28 January 2014, RTP revealed the names of the ten composers that were invited to participate. The invited composers were:
Andrej Babić
Emanuel
Jan Van Dijck
João Matos
João Só
Luís Fernando, Rui Fingers and Ricardo Afonso
Marc Paelinck
Nuno Feist
Tiago Pais Dias
Tozé Santos
On 6 February 2014, Tiago Pais Dias withdrew from the competition. Hélder Godinho replaced him after his withdrawal.
Competing entries
10 entries participated in the 48th Festival da Canção. The competing artists were announced on 11 February 2014.
Semi-final
The semi-final took place 8 March 2014. Ten entries participated, and of these ten, five advanced to the final by a public telephone vote.
Final
The final took place on 15 March 2014. The winner, Suzy with the song "Quero ser tua", was determined by the public televote.
Controversy
Following the conclusion of Festival da Canção 2014, Catarina Pereira and Rui Andrade, who placed second and third respectively, raised concerns about the outcome of the contest. The concerns involved suspicions that Emanuel, the composer of the winning song, influenced the televote in favour of his entry.
At Eurovision
During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Portugal was drawn to compete in the second half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014. In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Portugal would perform 13th, following San Marino and preceding Netherlands. Portugal failed to qualify from the first semi-final, just missing out on qualification by placing 11th in a field of 16 songs with a score of 39 points. On stage, Suzy was joined by backing vocalists Marta Mota and Sara Campina, backing dancers Luís Filipe Pimenta and Renato Nobre, and percussionist Jefferson Negreiros. The performance featured the two backing vocalists performing choreography with Suzy, the two dancers playing two large drums and the percussionist performing on a hand drum. In Portugal, the first semi-final and final were broadcast live and the second semi-final was broadcast on delay on RTP1. All shows were commentated by Sílvia Alberto. The Portuguese spokesperson revealing the result of the Portuguese vote in the final was Joana Teles.
Points awarded to Portugal
Points awarded by Portugal
Semi-final 1
Points awarded in first semi-final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point
Final
Points awarded in the final:
Split voting results
The following five members comprise the Portuguese jury:
Paula Ferreira – Chairperson – event promoter
José Cabrita – event promoter
Jan Dijck – composer
Ana Augusto – singer
Marina Ferraz – lyricist
Semi-final 1
The Portuguese votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.
Final
The Portuguese votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.
