Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Portugal selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 through the annual Festival da Canção.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Festival da Canção 1996 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 7 March 1996 | |||
| Selected entrant | Lúcia Moniz | |||
| Selected song | "O meu coração não tem cor" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 6th, 92 points | |||
| Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
Festival da Canção 1996
Festival da Canção 1996 was held on 7 March 1996 and was hosted by Carlos Cruz and Isabel Angelino. The winner was selected through the votes of 10 regional juries of Portugal. The winner was Lúcia Moniz with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" (My Heart Has No Colour).
| Final – 7 March 1996 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Singer | Song (English translation) | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
| 1 | Vânia Maroti | "Start Stop" | Pedro Abrantes, Fernando Abrantes, Maria João Abrantes | 33 | 10 |
| 2 | Tó Leal | "Eu mesmo" (Myself) | Paco Bandeira, Francisco Rodrigues | 42 | 8 |
| 3 | Patrícia Antunes | "Canto em português" (I am singing in Portuguese) | João Mota Oliveira, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 91 | 2 |
| 4 | Barbara Reis | "A minha ilha" (My island) | Luís Filipe, Johnny Galvão | 43 | 7 |
| 5 | Elaisa | "Ai, a noite" (Oh, the night) | Dina, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 49 | 6 |
| 6 | Somseis | "A canção da paz" (The peace song) | Thilo Krasmann, Rosa Lobato de Faria | 76 | 3 |
| 7 | Cristina Castro Pereira | "Ganhámos o céu" (We have won the sky) | José Cid | 63 | 4 |
| 8 | Lúcia Moniz | "O meu coração não tem cor" (My heart has no colour) | Pedro Osório, José Fanha | 95 | 1 |
| 9 | Pedro Miguéis | "Prazer em conhecer" (Pleased to meet you) | Jan van Dijck, Francisco Rodrigues | 54 | 5 |
| 10 | João Portugal | "Top Model" | Nuno Nazareth Fernandes | 34 | 9 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Viseu | Viana do Castelo |
Porto | Ponta Delgada |
Évora | Vila Real |
Coimbra | Lisbon | Funchal | Faro | Total |
| 1 | "Start Stop" | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33 |
| 2 | "Eu mesmo" | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 42 |
| 3 | "Canto em português" | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 91 |
| 4 | "A minha ilha" | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 43 |
| 5 | "Ai, a noite" | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 49 |
| 6 | "A canção da paz" | 2 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 76 |
| 7 | "Ganhámos o céu" | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 63 |
| 8 | "O meu coração não tem cor" | 7 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 95 |
| 9 | "Prazer em conhecer" | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 54 |
| 10 | "Top Model" | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 34 |
At Eurovision
Due to news rules implemented in this year, Moniz's was required to pass through a preliminary round of voting, to bring down the 30 countries that applied to participate to 23 for the contest. Portugal passed through this preliminary round.
On the night of the contest, Moniz performed 4th, following Spain and preceding Cyprus. Although the song was in second place in the voting at best, Moniz finished 6th with 92 points. This was Portugal's best placing at the contest in its history until Salvador Sobral's victory 21 years later.
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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Points awarded by Portugal (Pre-qualifying round)
| 12 points |  |
| 10 points |  |
| 8 points |  |
| 7 points |  |
| 6 points | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| 5 points |  |
| 4 points |  |
| 3 points |  |
| 2 points |  |
| 1 point |  |
Points awarded by Portugal (Final)
| 12 points | |
| 10 points |  |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points |  |
| 5 points |  |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| 2 points |  |
| 1 point | |