A new study has found that the majority of Portuguese households are impressed with the staging of Eurovision so far, and believe the song festival will have a positive impact on Portugal, both in terms of acknowledgement for the country for organising large events, as well as in terms of revenue from the extra tourists visiting Portugal this month.
The study, by the IPAM higher institute for marketing, regarding the global impact of the musical extravaganza, also found that 68 percent of Portuguese this year will be watching Eurovision, which is up 20 percent on years gone by.
Many respondents said they would be watching the festival for the first time ever because it is being held in Portugal.
Those who do tune in to watch the contest will see familiar faces from UK TV, including former Britain’s Got Talent finalist Ryan O’Shaughnessy, who got Ireland through to the finals for the first time since 2013.
Finland - featuring former X Factor semi-finalist Saara Aalto – was also among the other nine countries that progressed through to the grand finale in the first semi-finals.
The UK is one of the ‘Big Five’ countries, along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain, which are already assured of a place in the grand final, along with last year’s winners Portugal.
Israel’s Netta Barzilai, who will perform her song Toy, is one the favourites with bookmakers to win this year’s competition.
The IPMA study was carried out between 21 April and 6 May, 2018, with a representative sample of the national territory (Continent and Islands) made up of 1,134 valid online questionnaires.