The 8th of March RTP, the Portuguese broadcaster, held on the Grand Final of the Festival da Canção 2025, Portuguese national selection for the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
This gala, broadcasted from the RTP studios in Lisbon, was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim, who were accompanied by Alexandre Guimarães, Catarina Maia and Wandson in the "Green Room". Twelve songs faced a mixed televoting system (50%) and seven regional juries (50% - Alentejo, Algarve, Azores, Centre, Lisbon, Madeira and North), which chose the winner. The televoting lines were open from Monday the 3rd of March, day in wich was revealed the order of performances of the 12 finalists.
Bombazine – «Apago Tudo»
Margarida Campelo – «Eu Sei Que O Amor»
Henka – «I Wanna Destroy U»
Bluay – «Ninguém»
Jéssica Pina – «Calafrio»
Marco Rodrigues – «A Minha Casa»
Napa – «Deslocado»
Peculiar – «Adamastor»
Fernando Daniel – «Medo»
Emmy Curl – «Rapsódia Da Paz»
Josh – «Tristeza»
Diana Vilarinho – «Cotovia»
The show began with a funny sketch about the victory in the ESC of Salvador Sobral in 2017 and the “successives victories” of the Portuguese proposals. It is worth watching it.
After the performances of the contestants RTP offered to the audience a very particular tribute to the Swiss winners in the Eurovision Song Contest before the most special moment of the night: the voting.
The votes showed a certain discrepancy between the televoting and the jury. In fact, even between the different juries were discrepancies. The breakdown of the jury votes was: up to six different contestants won a twelve (JOSH from the Centro region, Marco Rodrigues from Lisbon-Tajo, Jessica Pina from Alentejo, NAPA from Madeira and Bombazine from the Azores), and only Peculiar won two, from the Norte region and the Algarve. Neither Fernando Daniel, who was one of the big favourites, nor Diana Vilarinho, who finished the voting at the top, won any twelve. But Diana obtained four times ten points from the juries. The public's favourite, Henka with ‘I wanna destroy you’ was second to last among the juries, while two of the options best valued by the experts (Margarida Campelo and Jessica Pina) were in the last places for the audience. NAPA and Diana Vilarinho achieved the same puntuation on the top combining the jury vote and the televote but NAPA won the Festival after obtaining more votes from the televote.
NAPA is the new name of the band Men On The Couch. The band is composed of Francisco Sousa (guitar), João Guilherme Gomes (vocals and guitar), João Rodrigues (drums), Diogo Góis (bass) and João Lourenço Gomes (piano). The band's path began in a basement on the island of Madeira, where the five friends strengthened ties or their friendship through music. Their sound has influence of the sound of Arctic Monkeys and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the melodies of The Beatles and the sensitivity of Caetano Veloso and Tom Jobim. Thanks to YouTube, their songs reached an unexpected audience on and off the island. Over time, they decided to change English for their mother tongue and exchanged basement for the studio. In 2019, they released Senso Comum, their first album, with catchy melodies and a raw and melancholic spirit that had big succes in Portugal. In 2023, they released Logo Se Vê, a more mature album that challenged the foundations of the previous one with more complex and innovative structures, without losing its essence. 2024 marked a milestone for the band with their first national tour, selling out dozens of venues in the main clubs, theaters and festivals in Portugal.