Portugal participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "A luta é alegria" written by Vasco Duarte and Jel. The song was performed by the group Homens da Luta. The Portuguese broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) organised the national final Festival da Canção 2011 in order to select the Portuguese entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. The competition took place on 5 March 2011 where "A luta é alegria" performed by Homens da Luta emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from twenty regional juries and a public televote. Portugal was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 16, A luta é alegria" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Portugal placed eighteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 22 points. Background Prior to the 2011 contest, Portugal had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-four times since its first entry in 1964. The nation's highest placing in the contest was sixth, which they achieved in 1996 with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" performed by Lúcia Moniz. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Portugal had featured in only three finals. Portugal's least successful result has been last place, which they have achieved on three occasions, most recently in 1997 with the song "Antes do adeus" performed by Célia Lawson. Portugal has also received nul points on two occasions; in 1964 and 1997. The nation qualified to the final in 2010 and placed eighteenth with the song "Há dias assim" performed by Filipa Azevedo. 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. RTP confirmed Portugal's participation in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 5 November 2010. The broadcaster has traditionally selected the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest via the music competition Festival da Canção, with exceptions in 1988 and 2005 when the Portuguese entries were internally selected. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Festival da Canção 2011 in order to select