Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Country Portugal
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: Canção para Eurovisão 2003
Selection date(s)Artist: 9 January 2003
Song: 2 March 2003
Selected entrantRita Guerra
Selected song"Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez)"
Selected songwriter(s)Paulo Martins
Finals performance
Final result22nd, 13 points
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2001 • 2003 • 2004►

Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez)" written by Paulo Martins. The song was performed by Rita Guerra, who was internally selected by the Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) on 9 January 2003 to represent the nation at the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia. RTP returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their withdrawal in 2002 as one of the bottom six countries in the 2001 contest. The national final Canção para Eurovisão 2003 was organised in order to select the song that Rita Guerra would perform and the winning song was selected exclusively by public televoting. "Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez)" emerged as the winning song with 75% of the votes.

Portugal competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2003. Performing during the show in position 7, Portugal placed twenty-second out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 13 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 contest, Portugal had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-six times since its first entry in 1964.[1] The nation's highest placing in the contest was sixth, which they achieved in 1996 with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" performed by Lúcia Moniz. Portugal's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on three occasions, most recently in 1997 with the song "Antes do adeus" performed by Célia Lawson. Portugal has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1964 and 1997.

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. RTP confirmed Portugal's participation in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest on 29 November 2002.[2] The broadcaster has traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with an exception in 1988 when the Portuguese entry was internally selected. Despite the initial announcement that the selection of the 2003 Portuguese entry would involve the reality singing competition Operação Triunfo, the broadcaster internally selected the artist due to scheduling conflicts and organized a national final in order to select the song.[3]

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

Rita Guerra was internally selected to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

On 9 January 2003, the broadcaster announced that Rita Guerra had been internally selected to represent Portugal in Riga. Rita Guerra previously attempted to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest, placing second in Festival da Canção 1992 with the song "Meu amor inventado em mim".[4] It was also announced that her song for the contest would be chosen through a national final.[5]

Canção para Eurovisão 2003

Composers were able to submit their songs for the competition between 9 January 2003 and 5 February 2003.[5] Three songs were selected from 500 submissions received and revealed on 18 February 2003.[6] The national final consisted of two shows held during the first season of the reality singing competition Operação Triunfo, which took place at the Endemol TV Studios in Mem-Martins, hosted by Catarina Furtado and broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional.[7][8] The first show took place on 23 February 2003 where all three competing songs were performed by Rita Guerra. The winning song was selected solely by a public televote that opened following the first show and closed during the second show on 2 March 2003, when "Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez)" was announced as the winning song.[9][10]

Final – 2 March 2003
Draw Song Songwriter(s) Televote Place
1 "Prazer no pecado" Ménito Ramos 15% 2
2 "Estes dias sem fim" Rui Miguel Soares Correia, Laura Santos, Raquel Marcos 10% 3
3 "Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez)" Paulo Tomé Martins da Encarnação 75% 1

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 took place at the Skonto Hall in Riga, Latvia, on 24 May 2003.[11] According to the Eurovision rules, the participant list for the contest was composed of the winning country from the previous year's contest, any countries which had not participated in the previous year's contest, and those which had obtained the highest placing in the previous contest, up to the maximum 26 participants in total.[12] The draw for running order had previously been held on 29 November 2002 in Riga, with the results being revealed during a delayed broadcast of the proceedings later that day.[13] Portugal was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina and before the entry from Croatia.[14] Portugal finished in twenty-second place with 13 points.[15]

In Portugal, the show was broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional with commentary by Margarida Mercês de Melo.[16] The Portuguese spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Portuguese televote, was Helena Ramos.[17]

Voting

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

References

  1. ↑ "Portugal Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (29 November 2002). "Portugal: Operacão Triunfo in 2003". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Pereira, Luís (27 July 2015). "Parabéns Festival da Canção – Recordar 2003". Festivais da Canção (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "PORTUGUESE NATIONAL FINAL 1992".
  5. 1 2 Rodrigues, André (10 January 2003). "RTP confirms Rita Guerra as Portugal's artist". Esctoday.
  6. ↑ Rodrigues, André (18 February 2011). "Portugal: Rita Guerra is on the way". Esctoday.
  7. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (23 February 2003). "Tonight: Rita Guerra to introduce Portuguese songs". Esctoday.
  8. ↑ "DE JOANESBURGO PARA A OT". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 3 September 2003. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "PORTUGUESE NATIONAL FINAL 2003".
  10. ↑ "Festival da Canção 2003".
  11. ↑ "Riga 2003–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Rules of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Eurovisão: Concorrência de leste". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 19 May 2003. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "Comentadores Do ESC - escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  18. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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