Once again, RTP held the first semi-final in Lisbon at their studio and we had 8 songs competing for 4 places in the final. Sónia Araújo and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira were the hosts. Voting was, once again, 50% jury, 50% public.
The line up was:
1. "Inércia" - Ana Cláudia
Ana gives a strong performance to a song that, only with the studio version, didn’t promise too much. I must say this song was a grower and at the end made us think it could qualify.
2. "É o que é" - João Campos
Song number 2 screams D.A.M.A. all over and it is a very pleasant one! My favourite in a year the overall quality is not huge. João with the three back singers and the two guitar players brought us a very quiet and nice moment. When the song is great, there’s no need of anything else on stage.
3. "O Meu Sonho" - Soraia Tavares
This was for sure different. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but Lura wrote a nice song to which Soraia gave her good performance. Two male dancers added a bit of staging. Was it enough?
4. "A Dois" – Calema
The “biggest opponent” to song #5, according to the general opinion, was a well performed song by Calema. Amazing pop ballad with a strong performance that justified it being one of the favourites.
5. "Telemóveis" - Conan Osíris
Since all the songs were made public, this was the one that became the big favourite to win the whole thing but also the one to generate more polemic. The performance was not as expected (have the studio version as a reference) and in a way there are some stage elements and acts (the spoons, the male dancer…) that don’t do anything for the song. Lyric wise, it is a very cleaver composition.
6. "Mais Brilhante Que Mil Sóis" - Ela Limão
A very weak performance that was what Ela gave us with a song that goes nowhere. Coming after two of the big favourites of FC 2019, didn’t help at all.
7. "Hoje" - Filipe Keil
This first semi-final was, in the opinion of many, the strongest one, but “Hoje” didn’t do much for it. Just a ballad, with a nice beat and that is all. The performance was competent but nothing to call home about.
8. "Perfeito" – Matay
`Perfeito” which means perfect, was all that: an amazing performance by Matay with the piano background adding a classic touch. No doubt Matay was the best voice of the night and that helped to elevate a song that, only with the studio versions, was not wowing a lot of people.
After all was sung, we had a nice homage Maria Guinot (ESC 1984 “Silêncio e Tanta Gente”) and then Cais do Sodré Funk performed “Oração” and “O Vento Mudou” together with the original ESC participants.
And then it went on and on and on… until we got the final results!
Qualified for the Final:
"Perfeito" 22 points (12 J + 10 T)
"Telemóveis" 19 points (7 J + 12 T)
"A Dois" 18 point s(10 J + 8 T)
"Inércia” 13 points (8 J + 5T) *
* “É o Que É” also finished with 13 points but Ana got the ticket for getting more votes from the jury.