Portugal

Finland's victory in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, provided an unfortunate side effect for Portugal, as they now have sole posesssion of the record for most Eurovision entries without a victory. Indeed it's even worse than that, because with 40 previous entries, the Portuguese are still waiting for their first Top 5 result. Since the semi-final process was introduced to Eurovision in 2004, Portugal hasn't made it through to the final, although the came close in Helsinki, finishing in 11th place.

This year's Portuguese Final which featured ten songs was held on March 9th at the Teatro Camões in Parque das Nações in Lisbon with the winner being chosen by televoting. In one of the easiest wins in any national final this year, "Senhora do Mar" (Lady Of The Sea) performed by Vania Fernandes secured almost three times as many votes as the runner-up.

Vânia was born in Funchal, on the island of Madeiraand is best known in Portugal for having won the RTP talent show "Operação Triunfo", a "Pop Idol" kind of programme, in 2008. However, her connection with music dates back to her childhood.

In June 2001 she finished her secondary studies and won the contest Talentos à solta, that took place in Calheta. In June 1999 – She won the contest Funchal a Cantar. In June1997 she began her participation in regional shows (such as Madeira em Festa, by João Luís Mendonça), hotels and television shows. In June 1997 She participated, for the first time, in the contest Funchal a Cantar.

Also in October 2003 Vania began, with the band Oficina” her experience as a jazz singer. In November 2002 she began her activity in several musical events, in the field of fado. In October 2001 she began her singing studies at the Conservatory. She also won 1st place at the Vozes da Madeira Festival as well as beginning her professional life as a singer in hotels and bars in the Madeira region, in the field of light/pop/rock music.

In June 2004 Vania was part of the resident band Humberto Fournier Sextet, which opened the Jams at the Irish Pub, during Funchal’s Jazz Festival. In October 2003 she began her piano studies at the Conservatory, with Professor João Luíz.

In April 2005 Vania attended the master class by the baritone Prof. António Salgado, who has a doctorate in Vocal Technique. In August 2004 she participated in the Vozes do Atlântico festival, as chorus supervisor.

In April 2006 Vania won the Reconnaissance Prize at the Jazz Festival, in Lisbon, representing the Madeira Conservatory. In August 2005 she became becomes the Voice Supervisor at the Vozes do Atlântico Festival.

In October 2006 she participated in Portugal Taste and Madeira Taste in Guernsey and Jersey (USA) respectively, as the representative of the Madeira Regional Government.

In 2007 Vania was a final year student of the Instrument and Singing Professional Course, at CEPAM, the Madeira Conservatory, under the guidance of Prof. João Pereira, and a final year student of the Jazz course, before finding national fame through the television casting show.

Vania has several projects in various musical styles, mostly in the field of jazz, among which the project with the Júlio Resende Quartet.In February 2007 she took a training course, as part of the Leonardo da Vinci Project, in the Helsinki Conservatory, representing the Madeira Conservatory.

The lyrics of "Senhora do Mar" (Lady Of The Sea) were written by long time Eurovision fan Carlos Coelh who has also produced the song. Carlos has previously entered songs into national finals in several countries, but this is his first time making it to Eurovision.

By contrast composer Andrej Babic is one of this year's most experienced songwriters. Andrej hails from Croatia and expressed his love of music from a young age. After finishing primary and secondary musical school, he began to compose in earnest and immediately reaped success with the group Teens. His songs have gained gold sales, and chart toppers.

When the group split up in 2001, Andrej continued to collaborate with one of the group members, Claudia Beni and in 2003, he wrote "Više Nisam Tvoja" for Claudia, who represented Croatia at the Eurovision. After this success, Andrej worked with numerous Croatian singers and singers from other countries. In 2005, he wrote "Call Me" for the group Femminem, which represented Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest in that same year.Last year Anjez wrote the Slovenian entry "Cvet z Juga", the first entry from that country to qualify from the semil. This year he is trying to repeat that success with Portugal. Andrej joins a small group of songwriters who have written Eurovision entries for four different countries.

While bookmakers don't rate its chances, this is the first year that a POrtuguese entry has made any major impact on internet fan polls, suggesting a long overdue qualification might be in their grasp.