Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "Grito" performed by Iolanda. The Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) organised the national final Festival da Canção 2024 in order to select the Portuguese entry for the contest.

Portugal was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 7 May 2024 and was later selected to perform in position 14. At the end of the show, "Grito" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Portugal placed eighth out of the fifteen participating countries in the semi-final with 58 points. In the final, Portugal performed in position 18 and placed tenth out of the 25 performing countries, scoring a total of 152 points.

Background
Prior to the 2024 contest, Portugal had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 54 times since its first entry in 1964. Portugal had won the contest on one occasion: in with the song "Amar pelos dois" performed by Salvador Sobral. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Portugal had featured in only eight finals. Portugal's least successful result had been last place, which it had achieved on four occasions, most recently in with the song "O jardim" performed by Cláudia Pascoal. Portugal had also received nul points on two occasions: in and. In, Portugal placed 23rd with the song "Ai coração" performed by Mimicat.

The Portuguese national broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), broadcasts the event within Portugal and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster had traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with exceptions in and  when the Portuguese entries were internally selected. RTP confirmed Portugal's participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest on 7 August 2023, announcing the organization of the 58th Festival da Canção in order to select the 2024 Portuguese entry.

Festival da Canção 2024
The 58th edition of Festival da Canção took place between February and March 2024 at the RTP Studios in Lisbon and featured 20 acts competing over two semi-finals and a final. Each show was hosted by a different couple of presenters, while Inês Lopes Gonçalves and Wandson Lisboa were the green room hosts in all of them. The shows were broadcast on RTP1 as well as on other domestic and international channels of RTP, and streamed online via RTP Play.

To celebrate 60 years since the first edition of Festival da Canção, the shows featured as guests a number of past winners who went on to represent Portugal at Eurovision, namely António Calvário, Simone de Oliveira ( and ), Paulo de Carvalho (solo in and as part of Os Amigos in ), Adelaide Ferreira , Anabela , Tó Cruz , Inês Santos ( as part of Alma Lusa), Rita Guerra , Vânia Fernandes , Filipa Sousa , Suzy , Isaura , Elisa Silva , The Black Mamba  and Mimicat ; as well as several former contestants or hosts of the festival, namely Helena Isabel, Herman José, Delfins, António Sala, Pedro Granger, Catarina Furtado, Selma Uamusse, Tozé Brito, Eládio Clímaco, Milhanas, Isabel Angelino, Sílvia Alberto, Júlio Isidro, Pedro Fernandes (comedian), Margarida Mercês de Melo, Sofia Morais, José Nuno Martins, Ana Paula Reis, Isabel Campelo, Jorge Fernando, Manuel Luís Goucha, Helena Coelho, Rui Drumond and António Victorino de Almeida; in addition, Alex D'Alva Teixeira, Ana Lua Caiano and Luca Argel performed.

Competing entries
RTP selected 14 entries by direct invitation of composers, and the remaining six from a record 809 entries received through an open submission window between 7 August and 15 October 2023; selected composers were then required to send the full versions of their entries by 30 November 2023.

On 6 November 2023, RTP announced the list of selected composers. Their entries, which they would all also perform, were unveiled on 18 January 2024 during a presentation event at Musicbox in Lisbon.

Semi-finals
The semi-finals took place on 24 February and 2 March 2024, the first hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato and the second by Sónia Araújo and Jorge Gabriel. In each show, 10 entries competed, with 6 advancing to the final. The voting occurred in two rounds: a 50/50 combination of votes from an expert jury and a public televote determined the first five qualifiers, and a second round of televoting determined the sixth and final qualifier. The jury consisted of Gisela João, Benjamim, Lia Pereira, Miguel Esteves Cardoso, Lura, Pedro Oliveira and Mimicat.

Key: Jury and televote round qualifier Televote-only round qualifier

Final
The final took place on 9 March 2024 and was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. The winner was selected based on the 50/50 combination of votes from seven three-member regional juries (one for each of the regions of Portugal) and from a public televote open throughout the week preceding the show; in the event of a tie, the public voting would take precedence.

Promotion
As part of the promotion of her participation in the contest, Iolanda attended the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024. In addition, she performed at the Eurovision Village in Malmö on 4 May 2024.

At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Portugal was scheduled for the second half of the first semi-final. The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Portugal was set to perform in position 14.

In Portugal, all three shows were broadcast on RTP1, with the broadcast of the second semi-final starting delayed; commentary was provided by José Carlos Malato and Nuno Galopim. In addition, RTP aired the contest internationally through RTP Internacional and RTP África as well as on its streaming platform RTP Play.

Performance
Iolanda took part in technical rehearsals on 28 April and 1 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 6 and 7 May. For her performance of "Grito" at the contest, she was joined on stage by five dancers; the colour white dominated the staging and costumes.

Semi-final
Portugal performed in position 14, following the entry from and before the entry from. At the end of the show, the country was announced as a qualifier for the final. It was later revealed that Portugal placed eighth out of the fifteen participating countries in the first semi-final with 58 points.

Final
Following the semi-final, Portugal drew "producer's choice" for the final, meaning that the country will perform in the half decided by the contest's producers. Portugal will perform in position 18, following the entry from and before the entry from. Iolanda once again took part in dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show on 11 May. She performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 11 May. Portugal placed tenth in the final, scoring 152 points; 13 points from the public televoting and 139 points from the juries.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded by and to Portugal in the first semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public. The Portuguese jury consisted of Joaquim Albergaria, Inês Henriques, Edmundo Inácio, Rafaela e Ribas dos Santos da Silva Rodrigues, and Patrícia Silveira. In the first semi-final, Portugal placed 8th with 58 points, receiving maximum twelve points from and marking the country's fourth consecutive qualification to the final. In the final, Portugal placed 10th with 152 points, receiving twelve points in the jury vote from, , and the. Over the course of the contest, Portugal awarded its 12 points to in the first semi-final, and to  (jury) and  (televote) in the final.

The spokesperson for the Portuguese jury at the final was Mimicat, who represented.

Detailed voting results
Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

The following members comprised the Portuguese jury:
 * Joaquim Albergaria
 * Inês Henriques
 * Edmundo Inácio
 * Rafaela e Ribas dos Santos da Silva Rodrigues
 * Patrícia Silveira