RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, have revealed format changes for Festival da Canção 2026, as well as participation discussions ahead of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna.

Festival da Canção 2026 will feature 16 songs across two semi finals. Each semi final will see 5 songs progress to the final – 4 will be selected by a combination of 50% jury votes & 50% televoting, while the fifth will be selected entirely by televoting. In the final, a combination of 50% seven regional juries & 50% televoting will decide the winner.

The 16 songs that will compete in Festival da Canção 2026 will be selected in several ways. Of these songs, 8 will be composed by composers who have been directly invited by RTP. A further 6 will be selected through an open submission, which is open until Friday 31st October. NAPA, the winners of Festival da Canção 2025, will select one artist to participate in the contest.

The final artist will be chosen through the Prova de Acesso. Online voting will determine which of the five artists will receive the final spot in Festival da Canção 2026 and is open until Tuesday 30th September.

Another change in the format is that the winner of Festival da Canção 2026 will not automatically have the right to represent Portugal at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, but will have the opportunity to do so. RTP intends to discuss whether Portugal will participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, during a meeting with the EBU on Thursday 25th September.

Let us know what you think about Portugal and the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

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Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix & ESCspot