PORTUGAL WITHDRAWS FROM EUROVISION 2016!

Damn. Portugal won't participate in Eurovision 2016. I'm so saddened. Portugal therefore becomes the first country to withdraw from the contest. OGAE Portugal reports that it's financial difficulties that have lead the country to withdraw. An official statement from RTP is still to come so stay tuned... Many Eurofans need to listen to this now.

Source - Eurovoix

WHO WILL AND WON'T PARTICIPATE IN EUROVISION 2016?

The deadline for countries to apply for participation was 15th September although it's still possible to withdraw up until 10th October without a financial penalty. Ukraine, Bulgaria and Bosnia & Herzegovina have all expressed an interest to return however Bosnia said this last year so I'm trying not to get too excited... but of course it would be awesome to have 'em back. I am thrilled to see Bulgaria and Ukraine return too. Israel will defiantly participate after some doubts and have been allocated to perform in the 2nd semi final, as the 1st semi clashes with Israel's memorial day.

Portugal, Russia and San Marino all remain silent but are expected to be in Stockholm. Maybe. Interestingly, Montenegro announced a few days ago their participation is uncertain. We still don't know what's happening with Croatia but for some reason, I'm not so optimistic.. even though it's been hinted The Voice winner, Nina Kraljic, could fly the Croatian flag.

Liechtenstein defiantly won't compete due to not having the funds to apply for EBU membership. A shame but I'm not surprised. And then we have Australia. Are the Aussies going to become a permanent fixture.. It would be nice for them to stick around but EUROvision? If they stay, there's going to be uproar. Maybe the EBU will invite someone else? China wants to enter and what about Kazakhstan? Will 2016 be the year they debut? Or someone else? Kosovo? Who knows what's going to happen. There's still so many unanswered questions and lot's of uncertainty. It would be awesome to have a record breaking amount of participants next year.

Portugal: Ronaldo's sister Katia Aveiro wants to do Eurovision!

Portugal are probably the unluckiest country in Eurovision. In 48 years of participating, they haven't ever graced the top five let alone win. The Portuguese haven't qualified for the final since 2010 either. Many people are calling for the selection process - Festival da Canção - to be scrapped or revamped as it clearly isn't working. But there's one Portuguesse singer who is being rumoured as a possible participant for Portugal and someone who this blogger thinks would be perfect... Katia Aveiro! 

Katia Aveiro is famously Cristiano Ronaldo sisters but is also a singer and has expressed an interest in representing her country in Stockholm! She posted this on Twitter..

Her music is pretty good actually. Portugal should select her internally, give her an awesome dance song and bang - Portugal are back in the final. Do you think she would be a good choice? Or would the Portuguese be better opting for someone else? Enjoy her latest song below:

REVIEWING THE CLASS OF 2015: PORTUGAL!

Leonor Andrade will be hoping to give Portugal its first ever victory next month. Is a Portuguese win possible? Will Leonor even make the final? Here's our thoughts...

Ana: This is a very weak entry. The song is not memorable and Leonor's vocals are not amazing. Even at some points of the song her voice is really annoying. It would need another serious revamp, but it doesn't matter what they do, this is staying in the semi final anyway. 3/10

Ilkar: Like Switzerland this is in desperate need of proper production and remix. With the difference that I like Leonor and I like this song. This could well be on any Italian female pop star's album, only much better produced. This makes me think of Laura Pausini's songs, and I could even hear Emma or Amoroso do this for example. The result would though be completely different. But the corn is there somewhere..... 7/10

Jack: Portugal's entry is nice but I don't think nice is going to cut in Vienna.. Sad but true. Portugal will most probably not make the final but I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong as I do think it's a lovely song. Like Ilkar says, with a stronger production the song could have been a hit for Laura Pausini, Emma or even Annalisa. It sounds really good on the official album. Boa sorte! 8/10

Jess: Leonor has a lovely voice. I love just sitting down and listening to this song. 7/10

John: There's nothing I would like more than to see Portugal bagging its first Eurovision title. And although this song is a cut above some of the more recent entries from Portugal, I still don't see it bringing home the trophy. I like this song but wonder if it wouldn't sound better in English? Portuguese is not the easiest of languages and maybe this is a factor they ought to take into consideration??? 5/10

OUR VERDICT - 30/50
OVERALL SCORE - 6.0/10

LEONOR ANDRADE TO REPRESENT PORTUGAL!

So Portugal has opted for Leonor Andrade to represent them in Vienna. Favourites Simone de Oliveira and Yola were both eliminated in the first round meaning Leonor was joined in the 'Super final' with  Teresa Radamanto and Gonçalo Tavares. The winning song is pleasant but you can forget about Lisbon 2016.....

Photograph - eurovision.tv

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #7!

The penultimate national final weekend is here. Three more songs will be revealed/selected and Melodifestivalen also continues..

UNITED KINGDOM
The British entry will be revealed tonight! Eeeeeek! You'll be able to find out who is representing the UK at 21:30 GMT on the BBC's Red Button service. Viewers outside the UK will be able to watch the big reveal on eurovision.tv. There's not much known about the show itself apart from the fact that it'll include a short interview with our representative and Scott Mills. Here's hoping the UK doesn't disappoint!

PORTUGAL
Festival da Canção has been a three night affair this week with two semi finals taking place earlier this week. The big favourite, Simone de Oliveira, has apparently said she won't go to Vienna even if she does win the national final. These acts are in the running:

• Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa
• Yola Dinis - Outra vez primavera
• Gonçalo Tavares - Tu tens uma mágica
• Teresa Radamanto - Um fado em Viena
• Simone de Oliveira - À espera das canções
• José Freitas - Mal menor (Ninguém me guia à razão)

SWEDEN 
Melodifestivalen's Second Chance Round will also take place tonight. This is how the battles are looking:

• Andreas Weise – Bring out the fire VS Linus Svenning – Forever starts today 
• Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar VS Kristin Amparo – I see you 
• Dolly Style – Hello hi VS  Dinah Nah – Make me (La la la) 
• Behrang Miri feat. Victor Krone – Det rår vi inte för  VS Samir & Viktor – Groupie 

Who would you like to see make next weeks grand final?

ROMANIA 
And finally, Romania will select their entry tomorrow night. Twelve acts will participate - who are you rooting for? Here's the running order:

1. Voltaj – De la capat
2. Baietii – Dragoste in lanturi
3. Tudor Turcu – Save Us
4. Aurelian Temisan feat. Alexa – Chica Latina
5. Rodica Aculova – My Light
6. Blue Noise – Love Won’t Run Away
7. Ovidiu Anton – Still Alive
8. Lara Lee – Superman
9. Super Trooper – Secret Place
10. Luminita Anghel – A Million Stars
11. Cristina Vasiu – Nowhere
12. CEJ – We Were In Love

I'd like to see Voltaj win but I think it'll be either CEJ, Lara Lee or Luminita Anghel who will fly Romania's flag in Vienna...

Portugal: 'Festival da Canção' participants revealed!

The full line-up for Festival da Canção has been revealed and the following acts will participate.

Adelaide Ferreira – Paz

Composer: Adelaide Ferreira / Lyrics: Adelaide Ferreira

Diana Piedade – Maldido Tempo

Composer: Carlos Massa / Lyrics: Carlos Massa

Filipa Baptista – A Noite Inteira

Composer: Augusto Madureira / Lyrics: Augusto Madureira

Filipe Gonçalves – Dança Joana

Composer: Héber Marques / Lyrics: Héber Marques

Gonçalo Tavares – Tu Tens Uma Mágica

Composer: Gonçalo Tavares / Lyrics: Gonçalo Tavares & José Cid

José Freitos – Mal Menor (Ninguém Me Guia À Razão)

Composer: Chukry / Lyrics: Chukry

Leonor Andrade – Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa

Composer: Miguel Gameiro / Lyrics: Miguel Gameiro

Rita Seidi – Lisboa, Lisboa

Composer: Sara Tavares / Lyrics: Sara Tavares

Rubi Machado – Quando A Lua Voltar A Passar

Composer: Sebastião Antunes / Lyrics: Sebastião Antunes

Simone de Oliveira – À Espera Das Canções

Composer: Renato Júnior / Lyrics: Tiago Torres da Silva

Teresa Radamanto – Um Fado Em Viena

Composer: Fernando Abrantes / Lyrics: Jorge Mangorrinha

Yola Dinis – Outra Vez Primavera

Composer: Nuno Feist / Lyrics: Nuno Marques da Silva

Simone de Oliveira's name might be familiar to you. She represented Portugal in 1965 and 1969 and is hoping to return to the contest once again after all these years. Meanwhile Adelaide Ferreira also returns - she represented the country thirty years ago. This blogger is most excited to hear Diana Piedade's song though. She took part in the Portuguese version of Pop Idol a few years ago and has a fantastic voice.. I've always admired her. Portugal will select their entry on 7th March, with two semi finals to take place beforehand on 3rd and 5th March.

Portugal: National final in March!

Twelve composers will be invited by RTP to participate in the upcoming Portuguese national final. This was also the method they used last year. Composers will select an artist to perform their song.. Will Emanuel return? Meanwhile, it's been revealed Festival da Canção will take place in early March however exact dates remain unknown. 

Portugal: Entry to be chosen through "Festival da Canção"!

Festival da Canção will once again be used to select the Portuguese participant for Vienna. More details - regarding dates and the number of participants - will be revealed very soon! Suzy missed out on qualification by one point.. will Portugal finally make the final this year? 

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 robbed!

This is truly shocking... Suzy was robbed yesterday. Her handbag was robbed, which contained ID documents and money. It's also believed a member of the Portuguese delegation had their suitcase stolen, which had promotion material in it. Suzy has said that her spirits have not been dampened and that she's going to enjoy the rest of her Eurovision adventure! :-)

Source - Eurovision Ireland

Russia: Rui Andrade joins the team!

The Russian entry has been written and composed by an international team and now it's been revealed Rui Andrade will join the Tolmachevy Sisters on stage as a backing vocalists, who's Portuguese. Rui came 3rd in the Portuguese national final although he still gets the chance to shine in Eurvosion. ;-)

Meanwhile, with all the current problems in Crimea - what will happen when people there vote? Will the vote be counted as part of the Russian or Ukrainian vote? It'll be interesting to see how that develops.

Introducing 2014: Portugal!

Portugal withdrew last year due to financial difficulties however they are back - which is awesome!! The Portuguese entry was chosen through Festival da Canção, and Suzy emerged as the winner with Quero Ser Tua. It was a controversial choice. Following the results, Catarina Pereira and Rui Andrade (who came 2nd and 3rd respectively) raised their concerns about the outcome of the contest. These concerns involved suspicions that Emanuel, the composer of the winning song, influenced the televote in favour of his entry. Anyway, the final itself consisted of five songs. The main favourite was Mea Culpa by Catarina Pereira. I would love to see her fly the Portuguese coulours in Eurovision one year - maybe she'll be selected internally?

Rui Andrade was another favourite to take the crown, but his song was very underwhelming and thus he only came 3rd. Suzy is fantastic and actually lives in Dubai. I hope she'll make the final. She's recorded a new version of the song and it was premiered at the Eurovision in Concert event last week. There are only small changes. Boa sorte! 

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

NuVidz: Linnea Dale, Arisa, Rui Andrade, Mariya Yaremchuk!

My favourite act in this years Norwegian national final is Linnea Dale. She's talented and beautiful. Here's the official video-clip of High Hopes. Although I don't think Norway will opt for this. They'll probably go for either Mo or Carl Epsen. Arisa won Sanremo with Controvento - and if Emma wasn't chosen internally, this song would have probably been the Italian entry for Copenhagen. It's such a brilliant song. Arisa has said in an interview that should would love to represent her country in Eurovision. Let's hope RAI take note for 2015! Meanwhile, Rui Andrade is the big favourite to win the Festival da Canção on Saturday with Ao teu encontro. A pleasant ballad but I do think it's a little boring... his voice is phenomenal and I just think the song lets him down. But that's just my opinion. I've heard that Mariya Yaremchuk was considering changing her song for Copenhagen although I don't know if that's true. With the current political situation in Ukraine, anything could happen. But a ballad in Russian, ironically, could fly the Ukrainian flag. Enjoy БЕЗ ТЕБЯ! We'll have all the entries for Eurovision 2014 by this time next week so we don't have long to wait. :)

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)".

Portugal: National final to be held on 15th March!

The Portuguese representative will be chosen through "Festival da Canção" - it will consist of two shows. Firstly, there will be semi-final on 8th March and then the grand final will probably take place a week later on 15th March.

RTP, the national broadcaster, has also announced that the outcome will be decided by televote alone. Ten artists will participate in the event, and the Portuguese broadcaster will invite ten composers to compete in the event. These composers will select a singer to perform their song in the selection. So Portugal will select their representative on the same night as Norway and Moldova.