Festival da Canção splits into two very different nights – and that’s exactly the point

There’s something quietly comforting about the Festival da Canção. It doesn’t rush. It doesn’t shout. It just keeps doing its thing, year after year, trusting that good music will eventually find its moment.

For the upcoming edition, the Portuguese national final has drawn a clear line between its two semi-finals. Not in a competitive way, but in a curatorial one. Two nights. Two moods. Two different ways of understanding what Portuguese music sounds like right now.

Semi-final 1: risk, colour and creative freedom

The first semi-final, scheduled for Saturday, 21 February, feels like the Festival da Canção letting its hair down a little.

Agridoce, Evaya, Marquise, Djodje, Dinis Mota, Bateu Matou, André Amaro and Nunca Mates o Mandarim make up a line-up that leans heavily into diversity of sound and intention. Pop sits next to electronic textures, indie blends into alternative songwriting, and nothing feels particularly safe.

This is the semi-final for people who like being surprised. Songs that take risks. Artists with a strong personal identity. It’s the kind of night where not everything will be instantly accessible, but where something might quietly stay with you longer than expected.

Semi-final 2: roots, emotion and quiet strength

A week later, on Saturday, 28 February, the Festival shifts its focus.

Bandidos do Cante, Cristina Branco, Inês Sousa, Sandrino, Jacaréu, Francisco Fontes, Gonçalo Gomes and Rita Dias form a semi-final that feels more grounded, more reflective. Tradition isn’t treated as a museum piece here, but as something alive, capable of speaking to the present.

There’s space for cante, for songs built around voice and lyrics, for intimacy rather than spectacle. Even when the arrangements are modern, the emotional core remains very close to the ground.

It’s a semi-final that invites you to listen rather than react.

Two nights, one idea

What’s striking about this split isn’t which semi-final looks “stronger”. It’s how clearly each night has its own personality.

Together, they reinforce what the Festival da Canção does best: acting less like a talent show and more like a snapshot of a country’s musical imagination. Different generations. Different aesthetics. Different ways of telling stories through music.

And maybe that’s why the Festival still matters. It doesn’t try to be everything at once. It allows contrasts to exist. It lets music breathe.

Two nights. Two worlds.
And somewhere between them, the next Portuguese Eurovision story waiting to be told.

Source: RTP