Like Ireland and Finland, Portugal will be sending its 40th Eurovision entry to Athens. However, just like the Finns, the Portuguese have had very little success with only nine entries hitting the Top 10, and a 6th place in 1996, being Portugal's best ever result. Portugal hasn't competed in the final of the contest
since 2001.
This year Portuguese broadcaster RTP decided to revert to a full scale national final, which unfortunately came up with a result which wasn't to the satisfaction of audience who watched the show in the Lisbon Conference Centre or on television on March 10th. Deciding to go with a 50/50 televote/jury
mix, the result was a tie, and RTP rules dictated that the favourite of the jury went to Athens. The winning song was the bi-lingual Portuguese/English song "Coisas De Nada", sung for the four piece girl group Nonstop.
Nonstop was created out of the TV talent show "Popstars" in 2001 and as
such they are also the oldest Popstars group still in action. As the contestants were eliminated the line-up for the newest Portuguese girl group was revealed. By the 4th April 2001 the five finalists, Andrea Soares, Ana Rita Reis, Fátima Sousa, Kátia Moreira and Liliana Almeida were known as the formal winners of the contest.
Nonstop was born. Nonstop achieved notable success with their eponymous first album and especially with their first hit single "Ao Limite Eu Vou" was produced by the Steelworks team of Tim Woodcock and Elliot Kennedy. The song became one of the biggest hits that summer, going #1 on the national music charts, easily reaching
gold status.
On the back of the single, the album sold over 30,000 copies and went gold. Along with their success in Portugal came the interest from other countries, such as Canada, Belgium and South Africa, in their music, while "Basta Um Sorriso" was chosen to be the second single and second hit.
Six
months after the group’s formation, in January, 2002, Fátima announced she was leaving the band claiming homesickness. Though the loss of one member the four remaining girls decided to continue as a quartet.
Nonstop’s promotion on their first album continued with the release of its third single Não Há Nada Em
Mim, constantly appearing on various TV shows and in magazines. One of their songs was also chosen for one of Portugal's top soap opera.
While the group continued to play concerts throughout Portugal, their profile declined during 2003. Then, in 2004, three years after releasing of their debut album, Nonstop announced
their comeback with a second album. Their second album, entitled "Tudo Vai Mudar" gained considerable attention, and the band were seen all over Portuguese music television.
Nonstop recorded a successful cover version of "Playback" , the 1981 Eurovision entry and one of the biggest Portuguese hits
of the early 1980s. The girls then visited France and Portugal, promoting their music.
In 2006 they were invited by the Portuguese music producer, Elvis Veiguinha, to participate in RTP’s Eurovision selection, Nonstop jumped back into studio to record "Coisas de Nada" (Meaningless Things) a song co-written
by Veiguinha, under the title "Vem Dançar".
The songwriters behind this year's Portuguese entry are Elvis Veiguinha, who has a long career in the music industry, starting as a DJ, before successfully becoming a successful producer of advertising and and television.
José Manuel
Afonso got his first acoustic guitar when he was 9 years old, and his first electric guitar in his mid-teens. In the late 80s, he was the man behind Ritual Tejo, a renowned pop/rock band, for whom he wrote songs and played guitar for 15 years. Simultaneously, between 1994 and 2002, he worked in the field of advertising and
television, spending four years at Analógico MC, and another four as a freelancer. After the turn of the millennium, he developed a fruitful partnership with Elvis Veiguinha at Digital Mix Música.
Nonstop have not recorded a promotional video for the song, nor have they engaged in the promotional tours of other
contestants. Instead they have worked with RTP on created a series of five minute video clips shown on RTP International, and aimed at the Portuguese diaspora, based around Europe.
Since being selected, the Portuguese song has been given very little chance of success. It is ranked a the complete outsider by
bookmakers, and is in the bottom five in most fan polls.
PORTUGAL @ EUROVISION