Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song "Baunilha e chocolate" written by António Victorino d'Almeida and Rosa Lobato de Faria. The song was performed by Tó Cruz. The Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) organised a two-stage national final in order to select the Portuguese entry for the 1995 contest in Dublin, Ireland. The first stage titled Selecção Nacional resulted in eight artists that competed in the second stage, Festival da Canção1995, which took place on 7 March 1995 where "Baunilha e chocolate" performed by Tó Cruz emerged as the winner following the combination of votes from 22 regional juries and a public televote.
Portugal competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 1995. Performing during the show in position 16, Portugal placed twenty-first out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 5 points.
The Portuguese national broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), broadcasts the event within Portugal and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster has traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with an exception in 1988 when the Portuguese entry was internally selected. The broadcaster organized Festival da Canção 1995 in order to select the 1995 Portuguese entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Selecção Nacional
Selecção Nacional was the first phase of selecting Portugal's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1995. 36 artists, selected from 800 applications, competed in the competition which took place in 1994. Six semi-finals featuring six artists each were held from which the votes of a jury panel consisting of João Maria Tudela, Miguel Ângelo and Nucha selected the winner to advance to Festival da Canção 1995 from each show. Due to all semi-finals having a tie for first place between two to three artists, an additional Second Chance round featuring the seven artists that lost the tie-break was held from which an additional two acts advanced to Festival da Canção 1995.[3][4][5] All shows of the competition were hosted by Sofia Morais, Herman José and former Eurovision Song Contest entrant Carlos Mendes, who represented Portugal in the 1968 and 1972 contest, and were broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional.[6]
Festival da Canção 1995, the 32nd edition of Festival da Canção, was the second phase of selecting Portugal's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1995. The competition took place at the Cinema Tivoli in Lisbon on 7 March 1995, hosted by Sofia Morais, Herman José and former Eurovision Song Contest entrant Carlos Mendes, who represented Portugal in the 1968 and 1972 contest, and broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional. The eight artists that qualified from Selecção Nacional each performed one song created for them by composers invited by RTP for the competition and the winner, "Baunilha e chocolate" performed by Tó Cruz, was selected based on the combination of votes of 22 regional juries and a public televote which acted as a 23rd jury.[7][8] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, TetVocal performed as the interval act.[9]
The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 took place at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997.
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the seven countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 13 May 1995.[10] Portugal was one of the top sixteen countries in the 1994 contest and thus was permitted to participate. On 9 December 1994, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Portugal was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from the United Kingdom and before the entry from Cyprus.[11] The Portuguese conductor at the contest was Thilo Krasmann and Portugal finished in twenty-first place with 5 points.[12]
In Portugal, the show was broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional with commentary by Ana do Carmo.[13][14][15] The Portuguese spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Portuguese jury, was Serenella Andrade.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal and awarded by Portugal in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Norway in the contest.
