The Song Festival has been, since 1964, a place for sharing Portuguese music each year. It has seen various formats, featured established names and emerging talents in national music, and maintains a following of critics and aficionados, but it has never lost its public service to song and to the people who listen to it, and therefore to the country itself. This is the premise that drives us. And, as such, we understand that participating in the 2026 Song Festival is not only the opportunity that so many Portuguese artists wish to have, but also the continuation of a cultural heritage that we intend to honor.
It has become the norm that the winner of the Festival da Canção represents RTP, and consequently Portugal, at the Eurovision Song Contest. We were, with Salvador Sobral and LuÃsa Sobral, winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017. And it was the country that won, far beyond RTP that took them there. Thus, the sense of belonging to a people is inseparable when participating in an international event such as the Eurovision Song Contest.
Despite Russia being banned from participating in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest for political reasons (the invasion of Ukraine), we were astonished to see that the same fate did not befall Israel, which, according to the UN, is committing acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. We were equally perplexed by the results of the vote in the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU/UER): 738 votes out of 1122 in favor of the new voting rules, meaning a majority satisfied with the changes and no democratic uprising regarding Israel's participation in Eurovision. RTP was also part of this majority, a fact that we, as citizens, in addition to our role as artists, regret.
Therefore, we publicly declare, jointly, in a concerted position between current authors and future performers, our refusal to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest should we be the representatives of the winning song at the Festival da Canção in March of next year. We understand that the country and the world are experiencing moments in which silence makes us complicit in a tragedy. With words and songs, we act within the possibilities given to us. We do not condone the violation of Human Rights. And we resist with culture, with Portuguese culture.
Long live music! It's why we're here.
The 11 (at the time of the post) who signed the text:
Evaya, Cristina Branco, Djodje, Sr.Fontes, Gonçalo Gomes, Inês Sousa, Bateu Matou, Jacaré, Marquise, Nunca Mates o Mandarim, and Rita Dias
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