Portugal plays in the first Eurovision semi-final scheduled for May 10
“Saudade, saudade” will be shown in 10th place
Portugal’s representative in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Maro, with “Saudade, Saudade”, will perform in the first semifinal of the contest, scheduled for May 10, an organization announced.
The 66th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in May, in Turin, Italy, and will be in 40 countries in competition. The two semifinals are scheduled for the 10th and 12th of May and the final on the 14th of the same month.
According to information available on the contest’s official website, the Portuguese song competes in the first semi-final, which includes 16 more countries. “Saudade, saudade” will be presented in 10th place.
In addition to Portugal, in the first semi-final, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Slovenia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Moldova, Croatia, Denmark, Austria, Iceland, Greece, Norway and Armenia will be played.
In the second semifinal, on May 12, 18 other countries compete: Finland, Israel, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Australia, Cyprus, Ireland, North Macedonia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, Montenegro, Belgium, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
The final will be played by 25 countries, ten chosen in the first semi-final, ten chosen in the first semi-final and the so-called ‘Big Five’ (France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and the other three country Italy).
Maro will represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest, having won, this month, the Song Contest. “Saudade Saudade”, written and performed by Maro, was the most voted song by both the regional jury and the public in the final of the contest.
In the first semifinal of the Festival da Canção, Maro performed alone on stage but, in the final, she decided to sing along, a choir composed by singers Beatriz Pessoa, Beatriz Fonseca, Carolina Leite and Sara Badalo.
This Wednesday, in a video shared on the official Instagram account of Festival da Canção, Maro announced that he will perform in Turin again together with a female choir, which will integrate Beatriz Fonseca, Beatriz Pessoa, Carolina Leite, Diana Castro and Milhanas.
Maro is the artistic name of Mariana Secca, from Lisbon, who grew up in a family environment marked by music. She began studying piano at age four, attended the conservatory and attended Berklee School in Boston, United States.
In 2018, he released his first album, homonym.
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1964, having, however, failed five editions (in 1970, 2000, 2002, 2013 and 2016). Between 2004 and 2007, inclusive, and 2011, in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2019, Portugal passed the passage to the final.
Portugal won for the first and only time the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017, with the song “Amar aos dois”, performed by Salvador Sobral and composed by Luísa Sobral. Following the victory, Lisbon hosted the contest the following year.
In 2021, Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest with “Love is on my side”, composed by Tatanka and performed by The Black Mamba, which reached 12th place in the contest. Italy won the contest last year with the song “Zitti e buoni”, performed by Måneskin.