NuVidz: Catarina Pereira, Edyta Gorniak, Giusy Ferreri, Céline Dion feat. Ne-Yo!

Catarina Pereira controversially came 2nd in the Portuguese national final with "Mea Culpa" and she's recently released an official video-clip. It's a shame she never got to represent Portugal in Copenhagen - I loved Suzy but I think Catarina would've qualified. Your High is Edyta Gorniak's latest single. It's a pleasant song with R&B elements. Edyta's fantastic and this is just another great song from the Polish singer! Giusy Ferreri is one of my favourite Italian artists. She only came 9th in Sanremo but this hasn't stopped the lovely Giusy! She's recently released La bevanda ha un retrogusto amaro. It has a strong rock vibe - the video-clip itself was directed by Luca Tartaglia. I'd love to see her represent Italy next year! Céline Dion has teamed up with rapper Ne-Yo to create Incredible. It's a feel-good pop song, which was written by Ne-Yo. The official video has only been on YouTube for 4 days yet it has almost 1 million views. Very impressive!

Portugal: Suzy selected with "Quero ser tua"!

This is a controversial decision.... Suzy has won the right to represent Portugal in Copenhagen although the audience didn't show any appreciation for the winner, they just booed her and waked out. Something about the composer buying votes - but there's no solid evidence of that. Anyway, I like it. A very catchy song although I fear Portugal will be stuck in the semis, again...

Catarina Pereira came 2nd (she was my personal favourite) and Rui's dull ballad came third. He deserved a better song me thinks. Not a bad choice from Portugal.

Portugal: National final tonight!

Five acts are in the running to fly the Portuguese flag in Copenhagen. It's a decent line-up. My favourite is Catarina Pereira! She would be brilliant choice. Suzy's song is nice too - I wouldn't be too disappointed if she was to win... Although I have a feeling Rui will win. But the song is very underwhelming. Or maybe Zana could be a dark horse? We'll find out tonight, anyways!

1. Rui Andrade - Ao teu encontro
2. Catarina Pereira – Mea culpa
3. Zana - Nas asas da sorte
4. Raquel Guerra - Sonhos roubados
5. Suzy - Quero ser tu

Portugal: Festival da Canção qualifiers!

With all the fun from Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia - I almost forgot about Portugal! They held their semi final late last night, where five acts qualified to next weeks final. I'm okay with the qualifiers - and all the songs are decent enough, but aren't they all a bit dated? It's like a national final from the 1980's... I'll be happy if Catarina wins. She brings a cheap-ish pop song but that's never a bad thing. Here are the qualifies:

• Rui Andrade - Ao teu encontro
• Catarina Pereira – Mea culpa
• Zana - Nas asas da sorte
• Raquel Guerra - Sonhos roubados
• Suzy - Quero ser tua

Portugal: Hopefuls revealed!

Festival da Canção returns this year and the Portuguese broadcaster, PTR, has today revealed the ten lucky acts that'll participate. Rui Andrade is going to give it another shot - third time lucky? He's already entered the selection in 2011 and 2012, coming 3rd on both occasions. Meanwhile, Catarina Pereira is giving it another shot. She came runner up in 2010 with Canta por Mim!

These are the acts:

• Rui Andrade – “Ao teu encontro” (Marc Paelinck)
• Suzy – ”Quero ser tua (como a lua é do luar)” (Emanuel)
• Zana – ”Nas asas da sorte” (Jan Van Dijk)
• Raquel Guerra –  ”Sonhos roubados” (Nuno Feist)
• Catarina Pereira – ”Mea culpa” (Andrej Babic)
• Madalena Trabuco - ”Coração de filigrana” (Tozé Santos)
• Lara Afonso – ”O teu segredo” (João Matos/Miguel Ferrador)
• Ricardo Alfonso – ”Emoção” (Ricardo Alfonso/Luis Fernando/Rui Fingers)
• Carla Ribeiro - ”Mais para dar” (Hélder Godinho)
• Ivo Lucas – ”Eu vou” (João Só)

Catarina's song is composed by Andrej Babić, who has composed numerous Eurovision songs in the past - including "Vida minha", "Cvet z juga" and "Senhora do mar (Negras águas)".