The Portuguese participating broadcaster, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), organised the national final Festival da Canção 2004 in order to select its entry for the contest.

Performing during the show in position 7, "Foi magia" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.

[1] Its highest placing in the contest was sixth, achieved in 1996 with the song "O meu coração não tem cor" performed by Lúcia Moniz.

Its least successful result has been last place, which it has achieved on three occasions, most recently in 1997 with the song "Antes do adeus" performed by Célia Lawson.

Both shows took place at the Endemol TV Studios in Mem-Martins, hosted by Catarina Furtado and broadcast on RTP1 and RTP Internacional.

[3][4] The top three contestants of the second season of Operação Triunfo: Francisco Andrade, Gonçalo Medeiros, and Sofia Vitória, were selected for the competition and were each assigned a potential Eurovision Song Contest song selected by a jury panel consisting of lyricist Rosa Lobato de Faria, Carlos Mendes (who represented Portugal in 1968 and in 1972), journalist and music critic Nuno Galopim and producers José Marinho and Nuno Figueira from 300 submissions received by Portuguese composers.

According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 12 May 2004 in order to compete for the final on 15 May 2004; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.