Today I'm going to tell you about one of the great moments of 2017. Last year was a great year for Portugal. And one of the events that made 2017 one of the best years for the Portugueses was Eurovision.
Portugal already has 49 participations and the first one was in 1964. From the first time until 2017, Portugal never won. If we observe the scores that Portugal received in all the participations we can see that we never had close to winning. The best classification obtained until last year had been the 6th place, with the song "O meu coração não tem cor", in the voice of Lúcia Moniz.
There were many Portugueses Songs that should have a higher score, because they are really beautiful songs that are still present in the lives of many Portuguese, such as:
- Lusitana Paixão, by Dulce Pontes;
- Chamar a Música, by Sara Tavares;
- Há Sempre Alguém, by Nucha;
- Playback, by Carlos Paião;
- Desfolhada Portuguesa, by Simone de Oliveira;
- Conquistador, by Da Vinci;
- E Depois do Adeus, by Paulo de Carvalho;
- Amor D'Água Fresca, by Nucha;
The Song Festival of 2017 (where the artist who represents Portugal in Eurovision will be chosen), arrived and the Portugueses didn't show much enthusiasm. For many years we have created false expectations, we saw Eurovision always in the hope that Portugal will have a good score or even win. But the disappointment of seeing Portugal lose year after year was so much that we came to the point where the indifference of the people was remarkable.
Until our moment came:
When we were in the Festival of the Song, we realize that in the middle of 16 songs there was one very special, marked by simplicity and difference. This song was "Amar pelos Dois" written by Luísa Sobral, in the voice of her brother Salvador Sobral. The music of Luísa and Salvador passed to the final, where one week later it conquered the title of winner, qualifying for the semi-finals of Eurovision 2017.
At first there were many Portugueses despised the music of Salvador, I don't know if was because the Salvador had a very different personality (he has an open mind) or if was because he had "tics" when sing (very common in jazz singers). Or even if was because of fear to losing again and so don't want catch a disappointment.
Eurovison was coming, so it was necessary travel for Kiev to start rehearsals, but as the Salvador has a disease couldn't travel by plane. So his sister Luísa went alone to Ukraine and did all the rehearsals for him.
Salvador arrived in Kiev a few days before the first semifinal in which he would sing. And from the moment he arrived it was visible the affection of all the people and even of other countries. At that moment the Portugueses began to believe that maybe it would be possible to passed for the final.
Day of the 1st semifinal (09/05/2017): Salvador was the 9th person to sing and when he went up to the "mini-stage" there was a deep silence to hear his voice. Salvador charmed the audience and when it was time to reveal the finalists there was the name of Portugal. I was so proud in that moment, after 7 years without going to the final there were us.
Grand Final Day (13/05/2017): After 4 days since the semifinal, the big day has arrived. The bookmakers pointed to the victory of Portugal, and at the same time the hope of the Portuguese was growing. When it came time for Salvador to sing (he was the 11th to take the stage), he heard total silence again in the arena of Kiev, Salvador was over the attentive and excited look of the whole of Europe.
The moment to know the results had arrived, and each time there were more countries to give the 12 points to Portugal. The points were increasing more and more and when there was only Portugal and Bulgaria, they said the 2nd place: Bulgaria!! By excluding parts Portugal had won, it didn't seem real. And it was then they said:
THE WINNER OF EUROVISION 2017 IS PORTUGAL!!!
Now it will be Portugal's turn to organize Eurovision and I am very anxious to see how it will run. It's already next month that begins the selection of the singer who will represent Portugal.