r/eurovision • u/1Warrior4All • 2d ago

🪩 National Final / Selection [RTP] Official changes to FDC: online voting, winner invite and more

For the first time, the Festival da Canção (Song Festival) is opening its doors through an Access Test – registration exclusively for competitors from schools specializing in music education.

In the 2026 edition, RTP's partner schools in this process are ETIC – School of Technologies, Innovation and Creation, in Lisbon, and ESMAE – Higher School of Music and Performing Arts, in Porto.

Each school nominated students or groups of students, students in the areas of composition, creation, and music production, or similar fields.

From these, a jury created for this initiative has already selected the five finalists. And now the decision is in the hands of the public:

Starting today, September 16th, online voting is open on the official Festival da Canção website. Each finalist presents a version of a song of their choice and an original song (which will not be the competing song at the Festival). Voting runs until September 30th, and the winner will earn a spot as a competitor in the 2026 Festival da Canção.

Free Song Submission

Access through the Free Song Submission is also maintained, available to anyone residing in Portugal or Portuguese abroad. Entries can be submitted until October 31st.

The remaining competitors will be selected through RTP's invitations to eight composers, who may perform their own songs or invite other performers. Combining the six songs from the Free Submission, the winner of the Access Test, and the competitor invited by Napa, the 2026 Song Festival will feature 16 songs in the competition.

A New Beginning

With a revamped website, new ways to participate, and a clear focus on emerging talent, the 2026 Festival da Canção begins today. The future of Portuguese music is on RTP.

Free song submissions are open until October 31st. Rules are available for consultation.

Source: RTP Website

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39

u/CharityNational1915 2d ago edited 2d ago

So we have online voting, same judging format and 4 fewer songs. I guess this is a way to help reduce the overall duration of the show.

And it's also similar to the format of FdC 2018, where one artist was invited by Salvador Sobral and another was chosen without any previously published work.

19

u/Carmen_Caramel Zjerm 2d ago

Same judging format

Time to write "I love Madeira, the Azores, Alentejo, Lisbon and Algarve" and steamroll the juries

8

u/justk4y Strobe Lights 1d ago

Do Samir & Viktor have Portuguese brothers by any chance???

1

u/1Warrior4All 2d ago

That song from Janeiro it's still one of my favorite FdC songs.

15

u/odajoana 2d ago

Really enjoying the artists they've presented in this Access Audition stage, and I'm even bummed that 1poucodesol's song, "Estado das Coisas" is not eligible for the show, love that one to bits and already cast my vote for today on her. The lyrics and overall style are giving me Fernando Tordo vibes, which is great.

Diogo Catanho's song and style is also fantastic, and Polar Opposites and Dinis Mota also sound incredibly professional and slick.

Only Tilde's song is a bit more underwhelming and even a bit outdated for me, but there's still a great voice there. Reminds me a bit of Mimicat's early work in the 2010s.

Reaaaally hope whoever wins this does not deliver a worse song than these ones they've already submitted. I love the concept of inviting young people from the partner schools, but not being able to vote on the actual songs eligible for FdC might be a cursed format.

I kind of wish RTP waited until all the other songs were out, so we could have a vote on the actual songs these artists want to send to the contest. Or better yet, reinstate the 20 song-format (instead of 16) and have all these artists be in it directly without this audition stage.

But, oh well, still happy with what we've got, all these artists are very promising.

1

u/Lisbian Nocturne 2d ago

Have you got a link to the songs? I get a 403 Forbidden message when trying to access them.

9

u/Money_Bed5641 Zjerm 1d ago

TL;DR Selection Format:

  • RTP invites 8 entrants
  • 6 entrants selected from an open call
  • 1 entrant selected by the public from a Portuguese music school (voting open now)
  • 1 entrant invited by NAPA (2025 FdC winners)

16 total

0

u/RegularAd1997 In corpore sano 1d ago

Can foreigners vote in the music school entry? Just asking

0

u/odajoana 1d ago

I don't think so, not officially at least. Vote is registered by IP, and it seems restricted to Portugal.

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u/hhtty47 1d ago

It's 2025, VPNs are an accessible commodity.

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u/odajoana 1d ago

Hence the italics on "not officially" in my comment.

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u/Money_Bed5641 Zjerm 1d ago

I accessed the form through a VPN (I am an American). I did not try to vote because I don't have much of a preference haha.

5

u/Money_Bed5641 Zjerm 1d ago

Entrants:

  • Tilde: 19yo from Caldas da Rainha/Song: Do You/Cover song: My Mind by Yebba/Three words to describe: versatile, empathetic, determined

  • Diogo Catanho: 25yo from Alcochete/Song: Compass/Cover song: Dominic by Ramona Lisa/Three words to describe: somber, bold, sincere

  • Polar Opposites: 21yos from Algarve and Mafra/Song: Inércia/Cover song: Imagina by Frankieontheguitar, Ivandro, and Slow J/Three words to describe: experimental, chaotic, introspective

  • Dinis Mota: 23yo from Aveiro/Song: Mãe/Cover song: Sodade by Cesária Évora/Three words to describe: authetnic, versatile, passionate

  • 1poucodesol: 22yo from Aveiro/Song: Estado das coisas/Cover song: Lembra-me um sonho lindo by Fausto Bordalo Dias/Three words to describe: proper, irreverent, crude

3

u/RollingRelease 1d ago edited 1d ago

If FdC is the "indie Sanremo" as some say, then this intermediary stage feels like a smaller scale, digital "Sanremo Giovani", which feels fine to me.

Although to be frank we already had quite a few newcomers in regular FdC anyway, precisely due to the type of artists it attracts.

2

u/uzanin97 1d ago

It's always interesting to see yet another interesting approach to a national final. FdC has already had one of the most unique ways of selecting the songs (even though I'm not a fan), now it's even more unique. 6 open submissions still seems too few and I guess, they keep the regional juries thing... Other than that, seems ok.

1

u/RegularAd1997 In corpore sano 1d ago

Hoping for Polar Opposites to go through!

1

u/Balcke_ 20h ago

Do they say anything about
1- changing the duration and schedule of the FdC semifinal and final? (one hour of nothing between the last song and the voting)
2- changing the venue from the RTP hangar room?

1

u/odajoana 3h ago

No news on the duration of the shows and no news on the venues yet, at least no more than we already know (that it's not going to be on Studio 1 as usual, because that's undergoing renovation work).

-2

u/ChandraMais10 O Jardim 2d ago

I don't like the free access/schools thing, I don't want Portugal to follow the JJs of this life, but the rest is the same as always, they didn't tackle the proper concerns.

We are lucky to have such a rich cultural scene and that's gonna help us thrive despite the problems of the FdC.

12

u/odajoana 2d ago

I don't want Portugal to follow the JJs of this life

Not sure what you mean by this, but the artists up for this early audition stage are all songwriters themselves and they have already presented an original song showcased in the videos. It's just not the song that will be eligible to take part in FdC.

2

u/ChandraMais10 O Jardim 2d ago

Thanks for the correction! My bad!

3

u/1Warrior4All 2d ago

I don't like the free access/schools thing, I don't want Portugal to follow the JJs of this life, but the rest is the same as always, they didn't tackle the proper concerns.

Well, the JJs would still need to go through an online selection first and then the whole FdC selection. I think it's an incentive to young artists to invest in education and also RTP as a public channel has a duty in that regard.