All 20 composers of this year’s Kansan Festival will be interpreters of themes they created for the competition, the first time since the competition was revamped as it celebrates its 60th anniversary.
According to Goncalo Madaila of the RTP program directorate, which organizes the Festival da Cansan, there is “curiosity” in this year’s edition.
“For the first time since the change in the format of the festival, all composers are on stage,” Gonçalo Madail said at a press conference in Lisbon at which the 20 songs competing in this year’s competition were presented.
The competition, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, was renewed in 2017. The 51st edition of that year was presented by RTP as a “renewed window” for Portuguese composers and performers with songs nominated for live broadcast. two nights of qualifying matches in front of a jury.
In this edition, the winning song was “Amar dos dos”, written by Luisa Sobral and performed by Salvador Sobral, which gave Portugal its first and only victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv.
This year the composers are “much younger” and, according to Gonçalo Madaila, “there could not be a better message about the future of the festival.”
Of the 20 songwriters participating this year, RTP invited 14 songwriters and the remaining six were selected through a free song submission that was open to the public from August 7 to October 15.
RTP invited Bispo, Buba Espinho, Cristina Clara, Uca, Yolanda, Joao Borsha, Leo Middea, Maria Joao, Mila Dores, Nena, Noble, No Mac (Emanuel Oliveira and Duarte Carvalho), Perpetua and Silk Nobre to compose the songs.
The five composers selected from the competition are FILIPA, João Couto, LEFT., MELA, Rita Onofre and Rita Rocha.
The 58th Festival da Canção will take place in February and March and will be divided, as usual, into two semi-finals and a final, which will again take place at the RTP studio in Lisbon.
The first semi-final is scheduled for February 24. On that day, Bispo with “Casa Portuguesa”, Yolanda with “Gritou”, Joao Borsch with “Schami Pelas”, LEFT., with “Volto a ti”, MELA with “Água”, Mila Dores with “Sharpen your tongue”, Nena with “Conspiracy Theories”, Noble with “Memory”, Perpetua with “Bem Far Aqui” and Rita Rocha with “Periods”.
In the second semi-final, which will take place on March 2, the songs of Buba Espinho, “O Farol”, Cristina Clara, “Primavera”, FILIPA, “You Can’t Hide”, Huca, “Pede choro”, João will be performed. Couto, “Room for One”, Leo Middea, “Sweet Secret”, Maria Joao, “Dia”, No Maca (Emanuel Oliveira and Duarte Carvalho), featuring Ana Maria, “Aceitar”, Rita Onofre, “Criatura” and Silk Nobre, “Change”.
The themes can now be heard on the Festival da Canção page on the online platform Youtube.
The final will take place on March 9 and the winning song will represent Portugal at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden in May, 50 years after the country’s first win with ABBA’s “Waterloo”.
Sweden won the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in May, held in Liverpool, UK, with the song “Tattoo” performed by Lauryn, who had already taken first place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with the song “Euphoria”.
It was the seventh time Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest, following triumphs in 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012 and 2015.
Last year, Portugal came in 23rd place with Mimicat and the song “Ai Coração”.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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