Portugal was represented by

Fernando Tordo Fernando Travassos Tordo (born March 29, 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal) is Portuguese singer and songwriter. Since 2003 he has been a Commander of the Order of Merit, an honor bestowed on him by the Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. Considered one ...

, with the song "Tourada", at the

1973 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song " Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the E ...

, which took place on 7 April in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

. "Tourada" was chosen as the Portuguese entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa on 26 February.

Before Eurovision

Festival da Canção 1973

The Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1973 was held at the

Teatro Maria Matos The Maria Matos Theatre ( pt, Teatro Maria Matos) is a theatre located in the Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish of Alvalade (Lisbon), Alvalade, in the Concelho, municipality and Portugal, Portuguese capital of Lisbon. History Originally, the bui ...

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 ...

, hosted by Alice Cruz and

Artur Agostinho Artur Fernandes Agostinho (25 December 1920 – 22 March 2011) was a Portuguese journalist, recipient of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) ...

. Ten songs took part in the final. This event was also marked by the return of Simone de Oliveira to the songs, after being unable to sing for about 3 years. This singer was awarded the Interpretation Award for her performance in "Apenas o meu povo". The results were determined by a distrital jury, that had 20 votes each, and a selection jury, composed of nine elements, to vote, each one with 10 votes to distribute among the songs in the contest

Controversy

"Tourada" became very controversial after the night of the Festival because this poem was much more than a song with a bullfighting content, this song cheated the

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

of the time, insofar as it was a sharp criticism of the current political and social regime. The possibility was still raised of not allowing "Tourada" to go to

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 ...

, but the fears of the negative repercussions that this attitude would have internationally spoke louder and so the political power let Fernando Tordo take Tourada" to

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Tordo performed 3rd in the running order, following

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and preceding

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At the close of the voting the song had received 80 points, coming 10th in the field of 17 competing countries. The orchestra during the Portuguese entry was conducted by Jorge Costa Pinto.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1973

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973