Portugal was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, held in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Before Eurovision

''Festival da Canção 1979''

The Portuguese national final to select their entry, the '' Festival da Canção 1979'', was held on 24 February at the

Cinema Monumental Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, and was hosted by

José Fialho Gouveia José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

and

Manuela Moura Guedes Manuela may refer to: People * Manuela (given name), a Spanish and Portuguese feminine given name * Manuela (singer) (1943–2001), German singer of Schlager songs Film and television * ''Manuela'' (1957 film), a British film directed by Guy Hami ...

. The musical director was Thilo Krasmann. Three semi-finals in February narrowed the final selection from 27 eligible songs to nine; the top three winners in each of the three heats were chosen by a jury composed of 5 elements, each of them would have to score each song from 1 to 5 points depending on their analysis of each of the themes in the competition. The regional juries came back, with twenty-two regional juries throughout Portugal, the Azores and the Madeira Islands picking the winner. Each district could vote for each song from zero to 10 points. The winning entry was "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe", performed by

Manuela Bravo Maria Manuela de Oliveira Moreira Bravo, known as Manuela Bravo (born 7 December 1957) is a Portuguese singer. Bravo made her first public appearance when she was only 5 years old in Cinema Éden, in Lisbon (which is now closed). When she was 1 ...

and composed by

Carlos Nóbrega e Sousa Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

At Eurovision

Manuela Bravo was the first performer on the night of the contest, preceding

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. At the close of the voting the song had received 64 points, placing 9th in a field of 19 competing countries. It was the highest ranking Portugal had received since 1972.

Voting

References

External links

Portuguese National Final 1979
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1979

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...