26 countries compete today in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest
The 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which has been held annually in Europe since 1956, should have taken place in May last year, in Rotterdam, but the European Broadcasting Union decided to postpone it for one year, considering that they were not conditions for its realization have been met because of the covid-19 pandemic.
This year 39 countries entered the competition, but 26 reached the final, of which 20 were qualified in two semifinals, which took place on Tuesday and Thursday.
In the first semifinal they went on to the final: Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Cyprus, Norway, Belgium, Israel, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Malta.
Portugal, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Iceland, San Marino, Switzerland, Greece, and Finland were chosen in the second semifinal.
These 20 countries are joined in the final by the so-called ‘Big Five’ (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host country (Netherlands).
With “Love is on my side” Portugal takes to Eurovision, for the first time, a song entirely in English, composed by Tatanka, the vocalist of The Black Mamba, band formed in 2010 and that moves in the universe of blues, soul and of funk.
The Black Mamba will be the seventh to play in the final, which can be watched from 20:00 on RTP1 and on the online platform RTP Play.