Festival RTP da Canção
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Festival RTP da Canção was the name given to the national festival, produced and broadcast by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, to choose the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Like most pop festivals in isolated countries, it was a very important event for the still incipient music industry of the 60's and 70's. Left wing composers and writers would try to squeeze subversive lyrics in the contest, with great effect. After the 1974 revolution (incidentally code-triggered by that year's winner being played on national radio) Portugal became increasingly open to foreign culture, thus deeming the Festival as a lesser musical event, dominated by below standard pop songs with little or no impact in the industry, although remaining a high audience TV show.
The 90's saw a recovery of the contests image, then considered a viable means for a new singer to start a career. Internationally acclaimed portuguese singers Dulce Pontes and Sara Tavares made their debut in the 91 and 94 editions respectively. Many other unknown performers like Lucia Moniz and Anabela leaped to national stardom after taking the RTP trophy.
After reaching and all-time high 6th place in the 1996 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the festival steadily declined from then on. In 2000 the winner Liana did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, as Portugal had for the first time been relegated due to consecutive poor showings. In 2002 the FEstival da Canção wasn't organized, contradicting the tradition of staging a Festival da Canção even without participating in that year's Eurovision Song Contest, as happened in 2000 and 1970. Since 2001, the festival saw consecutive changes of format. 2005 saw RTP commissioning a song for eurovision, rather than organizing some kind of competition. Since 2006 RTP seemingly settled for a traditional multi-singer, multi-composer competitive format, claiming the memory of older contests and songs. Producers have since been invited to come up with songs, lyrics and singers, and the 2007 result with Sabrina almost making it to the Eurovision final, gave RTP the necessary confidence boost to maintain the current format.
The next Festival RTP da Canção is scheduled for March, 9th 2008, 9pm, at Teatro Camões, Lisbon.
[edit] Table of past winners
| Year | Song | Artist | Position in Eurovision Song Contest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas) | Vânia Fernandes | 13th in the final, 2nd in the second semi final |
| 2007 | Dança Comigo (Vem Ser Feliz) | Sabrina | 11th in semi final |
| 2006 | Coisas De Nada (Gonna Make You Dance) | Nonstop | 19th in semi final |
| 2005 | Amar | 2B | 17th in semi final |
| 2004 | Foi Magia | Sofia Vitória | 15th in semi final |
| 2003 | Deixa-me Sonhar (Só Mais Uma Vez) | Rita Guerra | 22nd - in bilingual Portuguese/English version |
| 2001 | Só Sei Ser Feliz Assim | MTM | 17th |
| 2000 | Sonhos Mágicos | Liana | did not enter |
| 1999 | Como Tudo Começou | Rui Bandeira | 21st |
| 1998 | Se Eu Te Pudesse Abraçar | Alma Lusa | 12th |
| 1997 | Antes do Adeus | Célia Lawson | 24th |
| 1996 | O Meu Coração Não Tem Cor | Lúcia Moniz | 6th |
| 1995 | Baunilha e Chocolate | Tó Cruz | 21st |
| 1994 | Chamar a Música | Sara Tavares | 8th |
| 1993 | A Cidade Até Ser Dia | Anabela | 10th |
| 1992 | Amor d'Água Fresca | Dina | 17th |
| 1991 | Lusitania Paixão | Dulce Pontes | 8th |
| 1990 | Há Sempre Alguém | Nucha | 20th |
| 1989 | Conquistador | Da Vinci | 16th |
| 1988 | Voltarei | Dora | 18th |
| 1987 | Neste Barco À Vela | Nevada | 18th |
| 1986 | Não Sejas Mau P'ra Mim | Dora | 14th |
| 1985 | Penso Em Ti (Eu Sei) | Adelaide | 18th |
| 1984 | Silêncio E Tanta Gente | Maria Guinot | 11th |
| 1983 | Esta Balada Que Te Dou | Armando Gama | 13th |
| 1982 | Bem Bom | Doce | 13th |
| 1981 | Playback | Carlos Paião | 18th |
| 1980 | Um Grande, Grande Amor | José Cid | 7th |
| 1979 | Sobe, Sobe Balão Sobe | Manuela Bravo | 9th |
| 1978 | Dai Li Dou | Gemini | 17th |
| 1977 | Portugal No Coração | Os Amigos | 14th |
| 1976 | Uma Flor De Verde Pinho | Carlos do Carmo | 12th |
| 1975 | Madrugada | Duarte Mendes | 16th |
| 1974 | E Depois Do Adeus | Paulo de Carvalho | 14th |
| 1973 | Tourada | Fernando Tordo | 10th |
| 1972 | A Festa Da Vida | Carlos Mendes | 7th |
| 1971 | Menina | Tonicha | 9th |
| 1970 | Onde Vais Rio Que Eu Canto | Sérgio Borges | withdrawn |
| 1969 | Desfolhada Portuguesa | Simone de Oliveira | 15th |
| 1968 | Verão | Carlos Mendes | 11th |
| 1967 | O Vento Mudou | Eduardo Nascimento | 12th |
| 1966 | Ele E Ela | Madalena Iglésias | 13th |
| 1965 | Sol De Inverno | Simone de Oliveira | 13th |
| 1964 | Oração | António Calvário | 13th |
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