In the first semifinal of the contest, in addition to Portugal, whose song will be presented in 5th place, there will also be Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Ireland, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Finland.

This year, 37 countries participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, but in the final there will only be 26: ten are chosen today, during the first semifinal, and another ten are selected on Thursday, in the second semifinal.

In addition, there are six countries, the so-called 'Big Five' (France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and Italy) and the host country (which this year should be Ukraine, having won last year) that have direct entry into the Final.


Today's semifinal is shown live on RTP1 from 20:00 in Lisbon.

Portugal won for the first and only time the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017, with the theme “Amar pelo dois”, performed by Salvador Sobral and composed by Luísa Sobral. Following the victory, Lisbon hosted the competition the following year.