Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972

Portugal was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 with the song "A festa da vida", composed by José Calvário, with lyrics by José Niza, and performed by Carlos Mendes. The Portuguese participating broadcaster Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) selected its entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1972. This was Mendes' second participation in Eurovision, having already represented Portugal in the 1968 contest.

Eurovision Song Contest 1972
Participating broadcaster	Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP)
Country	Portugal
National selection
Selection process	Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1972
Selection date(s)	22 February 1972
Selected artist(s)	Carlos Mendes
Selected song	"A festa da vida"
Selected songwriter(s)	José Calvário José Niza
Finals performance
Final result	7th, 90 points
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1971 • 1972 • 1973►

Before Eurovision

Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1972

Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) held the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1972 at the Teatro São Luiz in Lisbon on 22 February 1972, hosted by Alice Cruz and Carlos Cruz. Eight songs took part in the final.^[1] A new voting system determined the results: in addition to the vote of the usual distrital jury, based in the respective 18 district capitals that had 20 votes each, RTP called the selection jury, composed of eight elements, to vote, each one with 10 votes to distribute among the songs in the contest.^[2] This year, the Interpretation Prize was established, an award that over the course of several festivals distinguished the best interpretations in the respective festivals; Duarte Mendes for the interpretation of "Cidade alheia" was elected this year.^[3]

Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa - 22 February 1972

Draw	Artist	Song	Conductor	Jury		Votes	Place
				Selection	Distrital
1	Paco Bandeira	"Vamos cantar de pé"	Pedro Osório	2	75	77	2
2	Duarte Mendes	"Cidade alheia"	Lan Biddle	12	9	21	6
3	Manuel Vargas	"Vem o caminheiro"	Jorge Machado	2	35	37	3
4	Carlos Mendes	"A festa da vida"	Richard Hill	55	172	227	1
5	João Henrique	"Esta festa das cidades"	Rafael Ferro	2	15	17	7
6	João Braga	"Amor de raiz"	José Torregrosa	3	27	30	4
7	Fernando Tordo	"Dentro da manhã"		3	7	10	8
8	Tozé Brito	"Se quiseres ouvir cantar"	Jorge Machado	1	21	22	5

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Mendes performed 7th in the running order, following Norway and preceding Switzerland. At the close of the voting the song had received 90 points, coming 7th in the field of 18 competing countries, at the time Portugal's highest Eurovision finish.^[4][5] The orchestra during the Portuguese entry was conducted by Richard Hill.^[6]

Each country nominated two jury members, one below the age of 25 and the other above, who voted for their respective country by giving between one and five points to each song, except that representing their own country. All jury members were colocated in the Grand Hall of Edinburgh Castle.^[7] The Portuguese jury members were Pedro Sousa Macedo and Maria João Aguiar.^[8]

Voting

Points awarded to Portugal[9] Score Country 10 points  Luxembourg 9 points  Italy 8 points 7 points  Belgium  Ireland  Spain  Sweden 6 points   Switzerland 5 points  Malta  Netherlands 4 points  Austria  France  Monaco  United Kingdom  Yugoslavia 3 points  Germany 2 points  Finland  Norway

Points awarded by Portugal[9] Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points  Italy  Luxembourg 6 points  Germany  Spain 5 points  Austria  Netherlands  Norway  Yugoslavia 4 points  Finland  Ireland  Sweden  United Kingdom 3 points  Belgium 2 points  France  Malta  Monaco   Switzerland

References

1. Ficha técnica, letras das canções e as capas dos discos, sempre que os temas concorrentes foram editados.
2. ESC National Finals database 1972
3. INFORMAÇÃO SOBRE O IX GRANDE PRÉMIO TV DA CANÇÃO PORTUGUESA 1972
4. "Final of Edinburgh 1972". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
5. ESC History - Portugal 1972
6. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 60, 89. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
8. Vasco Hogan Teves, 1964–1983 20 anos de Festival RTP da Canção
9. "Results of the Final of Edinburgh 1972". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.