Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999

Portugal was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "Como tudo começou" composed by Jorge do Carmo, with lyrics by Tó Andrade, and performed by Rui Bandeira. The Portuguese participating broadcaster, Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP), organised the national final Festival da Canção 1999 in order to select its entry for the 1999 contest in Jerusalem, Israel. The competition took place on 8 March 1999 where "Como tudo começou" performed by Rui Bandeira emerged as the winner following the votes from 11 regional juries.

Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Participating broadcaster	Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP)
Country	Portugal
National selection
Selection process	Festival da Canção 1999
Selection date(s)	8 March 1999
Selected artist(s)	Rui Bandeira
Selected song	"Como tudo começou"
Selected songwriter(s)	Jorge do Carmo Tó Andrade
Finals performance
Final result	21st, 12 points
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1998 • 1999 • 2001►

The song competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performed during the show in position 16, it placed twenty-first out of the 23 participating songs from different countries, scoring 12 points.

Background

Main article: Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 1999 contest, Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Portugal thirty-four times since its first entry in 1964.^[1] Its highest placing in the contest was sixth, achieved in 1996 with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" performed by Lúcia Moniz. Its least successful result has been last place, which it has achieved on three occasions, most recently in 1997 with the song "Antes do adeus" performed by Célia Lawson. The Portuguese entry has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1964 and 1997.

RTP has traditionally selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with an exception in 1988 when it selected its entry internally. The broadcaster organized Festival da Canção 1999 in order to select the 1999 Portuguese entry.^[2]

Before Eurovision

Festival da Canção 1999

Festival da Canção 1999 was the 36th edition of Festival da Canção that selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. Eight entries, selected by a jury panel consisting of RTP representatives Nuno Figueira and Paula Velez, singer Anabela, conductor José Marinho and Antena 1 presenter Armando Carvalheda, from 400 submissions received through an open call for songs, competed in the competition which took place at Sala Tejo of the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon on 8 March 1999, hosted by Manuel Luís Goucha and Alexandra Lencastre and broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional as well as on radio via Antena 1.^[3][4][5] The winner, "Como tudo começou" performed by Rui Bandeira, was selected based on the votes of 11 regional juries.^[6]

Final – 8 March 1999

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Conductor	Points	Place
1	Tempo	"Uma parte de mim"	Samuel Lopes	Reginaldo S. Neves	51	5
2	Liliana Pinheiro	"Eu, tu e nós"	Tó Sanches, Liliana Pinheiro, Rui Bagulho	José Marinho	32	7
3	Francisco Ceia	"Romanzeira"	Francisco Ceia		21	8
4	Rui Bandeira	"Como tudo começou"	Tó Andrade, Jorge do Carmo	José Marinho	90	1
5	Sofia Froes	"Menina alegria"	Firmino Mendes, José Sarmento	José Marinho	72	2
6	Célia Oliveira	"Ser o que sou"	Célia Oliveira, António José Guerra		64	3
7	Tó Leal	"Sete anos, sete dias"	José Fanha, Eduardo Paes Mamede	Eduardo Paes Mamede	44	6
8	Filipa Lourenço	"No cais da solidão"	Carlos Soares, Simon Wadsworth	Simon Wadsworth	57	4

Detailed Regional Jury Votes

Draw	Song	Bragança	Coimbra	Évora	Faro	Funchal	Lisbon	Ponta Delgada	Porto	Viana do Castelo	Vila Real	Viseu	Total
1	"Uma parte de mim"	8	2	5	5	5	1	6	3	2	6	8	51
2	"Eu, tu e nós"	2	5	2	3	2	3	8	2	3	1	1	32
3	"Romanzeira"	1	3	1	1	1	2	1	1	4	2	4	21
4	"Como tudo começou"	10	6	3	8	10	8	5	10	10	10	10	90
5	"Menina alegria"	5	10	6	4	4	10	10	8	5	4	6	72
6	"Ser o que sou"	4	8	4	6	8	6	4	6	8	8	2	64
7	"Sete anos, sete dias"	3	4	10	2	3	4	3	4	1	5	5	44
8	"No cais da solidão"	6	1	8	10	6	5	2	5	6	3	3	57

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999.

The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999. According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation, the seventeen countries which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1998 contest. Portugal was originally relegated for being one of the seven lowest scoring countries but was eventually allowed to compete after Hungary withdrew from the contest and the participation of Latvia failed to materialise.^[7][8] On 17 November 1998, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Portugal was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from Ireland.^[9][10] Portugal finished in twenty-first place with 12 points.^[11]

RTP broadcast the show on RTP1 and RTP Internacional with commentary by Rui Unas.^[12][13] RTP appointed Manuel Luís Goucha to announce the top 12-point score awarded by the Portuguese televote. The broadcast of the contest was watched by 19.9% of Portuguese adults, representing a 55.2% market share of those watching television at that time.^[14]

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal and awarded by Portugal in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Germany in the contest.

Points awarded to Portugal[15] Score Country 12 points  France 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Portugal[15] Score Country 12 points  Germany 10 points  Sweden 8 points  Israel 7 points  Estonia 6 points  Croatia 5 points  Austria 4 points  Iceland 3 points  Denmark 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  Malta

References

1. "Portugal Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
2. "OGAE Portugal - FC 2007 a 1997". www.ogaeportugal.pt. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
3. "Parabéns Festival da Canção – Hoje revisitamos o ano de 1999" (in European Portuguese). 25 August 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
4. "Portugal 1999". mylittleworld.nfshost.com. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
5. "RTP 50 anos". museu.rtp.pt. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
6. "PORTUGUESE NATIONAL FINAL 1999". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 367–369. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
8. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Carlton Books. pp. 156–159. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
9. "Rules of the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, 1999" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
10. "44th Eurovision Song Contest" (in French and English). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 March 2001. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
11. "Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
12. "Programa da televisão" [Television programme]. A Comarca de Arganil (in Portuguese). 27 May 1999. p. 8. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
13. Costa, Nelson (12 April 2014). "Luciana Abreu, Rui Unas e Mastiksoul em 'Dança do Campeão'" [Luciana Abreu, Rui Unas and Mastiksoul in 'Dança do Campeão']. escportugal.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 June 2022.
14. "Festival Eurovisão da Canção" (in Portuguese). Marktest. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
15. "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

External links

• Portuguese National Final 1999