| Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) | |||
| Country |  Portugal | |||
| Selection process | Festival da Canção 2006 | |||
| Selection date | 11 March 2006 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Coisas de nada" | |||
| Artist | Nonstop | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (19th) | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Portugal was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Coisas de nada" written by José Manuel Afonso and Elvis Veiguinha, and performed by the groupNonstop. The Portuguese participating broadcaster,Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), organised the national finalFestival da Canção 2006 in order to select its entry for the contest. The competition took place on 11 March 2006 where "Coisas de nada" performed by Nonstop emerged as the winner after tying for first place following the combination of votes from five-member jury panel and a public televote—the tie was decided in Nonstop's favour after their song scored the highest with the jury.
Portugal competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 19, "Coisas de nada" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Portugal placed nineteenth out of the 22 participating countries in the semi-final with 26 points.
Prior to the 2006 contest,Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) until 2003, andRádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) since 2004, had participated in theEurovision Song Contest representing Portugal thirty-nine times since their first entry in1964.[1] Their highest placing in the contest was sixth, achieved in1996 with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" performed byLúcia Moniz. Following theintroduction of semi-finals for the2004 contest, they had, to this point, yet to feature in a final. Their least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on three occasions, most recentlyin 1997 with the song "Antes do adeus" performed by Célia Lawson. The Portuguese entry has also receivednul points on two occasions;in 1964 and 1997. In2005, "Amar" performed by2B failed to qualify to the final.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTP organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2006 contest on 21 December 2005.[2] The broadcaster has traditionally selected its entry for the contest via the music competitionFestival da Canção, with exceptionsin 1988 and 2005 when the entries were internally selected. On 10 January 2006, the broadcaster revealed details regarding its selection procedure and announced the organization ofFestival da Canção 2006 in order to select the 2006 entry.[3]
Festival da Canção 2006 was the 42nd edition ofFestival da Canção organised by RTP to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Ten entries competed in the competition which took place on 11 March 2006 at the Congress Centre inLisbon. The show was hosted by Helena Coelho, Daniel Oliveira, Isabel Angelino,Jorge Gabriel, Helena Ramos andEládio Clímaco and broadcast onRTP1 andRTP Internacional.[4]
Five producers were invited by RTP for the competition: Elvis Veiguinha, José Marinho, Luís Oliveira, Ramón Galarza and Renato Júnior. Each producer worked in coordination with two composers and performers on their songs which were required to be created and submitted in Portuguese (with exceptions for a small part of the song which could be in any other language).[3] The competing artists were revealed on 16 February 2006.[5]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beto | "O amor é uma fonte" | José Marinho, Jose Jorge Letria | José Marinho |
| Bruno Nicolau | "Um dia direi" | Gustavo Teixeira | Renato Júnior |
| Cuca | "As minhas guitarras" | Ramón Galarza, Paulo Abel Lima | Ramón Galarza |
| Lara Afonso | "Alma nova" | Luís Oliveira, António Avelar Pinho | Luís Oliveira |
| Madison Lucia | "Na noite és tu e eu" | Douglas Temmo, José Manuel Afonso, Elvis Veiguinha, Slu Fernandes | Elvis Veiguinha |
| Mariafolia | "Bem mais além" | José Marinho, António Avelar Pinho | José Marinho |
| Natalie Insoandé | "Durmo com pedras na cama" | Luís Oliveira, António Avelar Pinho | Luís Oliveira |
| Nonstop | "Coisas de nada" | José Manuel Afonso, Elvis Veiguinha | Elvis Veiguinha |
| Ricardo Moraes | "Nunca mais te digo adeus" | Ricardo Landum | Ramón Galarza |
| Vânia de Oliveira | "Sei quem sou (Portugal)" | Carlos Coincas, José Liaça | Renato Júnior |
The final took place on 11 March 2006. Ten entries competed and the winner, "Coisas de nada" performed byNonstop, was selected based on the 50/50 combination of votes of a jury panel and a public televote. The jury that voted consisted ofFilipe La Féria,Simone de Oliveira, Tozé Brito,Fátima Lopes and João Gobern. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Alexandra Valentim, Filipe Santos, Pedro Mimoso,Rui Drumond (who represented Portugal in 2005 as a member of2B), and Teresa Radamanto performed as the interval acts.[6] Vânia de Oliveira and Nonstop were both tied at 22 points each but since Nonstop received the most points from the jury they were declared the winners.[7]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bruno Nicolau | "Um dia direi" | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
| 2 | Lara Afonso | "Alma nova" | 6 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| 3 | Madison Lucia | "Na noite és tu e eu" | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 4 | Mariafolia | "Bem mais além" | 1 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 5 | Ricardo Moraes | "Nunca mais te digo adeus" | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 6 | Vânia de Oliveira | "Sei quem sou (Portugal)" | 10 | 12 | 22 | 2 |
| 7 | Natalie Insoandé | "Durmo com pedras na cama" | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4 |
| 8 | Nonstop | "Coisas de nada" | 12 | 10 | 22 | 1 |
| 9 | Beto | "O amor é uma fonte" | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 10 | Cuca | "As minhas guitarras" | 7 | 8 | 15 | 3 |
| Draw | Song | Total | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Um dia direi" | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 5 |
| 2 | "Alma nova" | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 6 |
| 3 | "Na noite és tu e eu" | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 4 |
| 4 | "Bem mais além" | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| 5 | "Nunca mais te digo adeus" | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 3 |
| 6 | "Sei quem sou (Portugal)" | 8 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 10 |
| 7 | "Durmo com pedras na cama" | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 46 | 8 |
| 8 | "Coisas de nada" | 12 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 54 | 12 |
| 9 | "O amor é uma fonte" | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 2 |
| 10 | "As minhas guitarras" | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 7 |
The victory of Nonstop atFestival da Canção 2006 was contested by the public which preferred runner-up Vânia de Oliveira.[8] Several online petitions were launched in favour of de Oliveira as the Portuguese entrant, while composer Carlos Coincas criticised RTP's failed efforts to revive the competition solely due to the controversial voting system and the broadcaster's selection of the jury members.[9][10]
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Portugal was set to perform in position 19, following the entry fromLithuania and before the entry fromSweden.[11] At the end of the show, Portugal was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Portugal placed nineteen in the semi-final, receiving a total of 26 points.[12]
In Portugal, the two shows were broadcast onRTP1 andRTP Internacional with commentary byEládio Clímaco.[13] RTO appointed Cristina Alves as its spokesperson to announce the Portuguese votes during the final.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal and awarded by Portugal in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Sweden in the semi-final and toUkraine in the final of the contest.
| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points |  Andorra |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
|
|
