We are now facing real Eurovision history. A country, which has never been really successful in the ESC is now the hosting it! Nobody really expected that Portugal could ever win the contest anymore. But never say never. With a good song every country is able to win.

We are now facing real Eurovision history. A country, which has never been really successful in the ESC is now the hosting it! Nobody really expected that Portugal could ever win the contest anymore. But never say never. With a good song every country is able to win.

It does not mean that Portugal has never send good songs, the opposite is the truth. The Portuguese entries were musical pearls, not every year, but often. And often these songs have not been appreciated enough, in particular by the juries in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Due to this unfair votings it was often rumoured that Portugal would possibly withdraw from the ESC.

But it could have many reasons, why Portugal was mostly be found on the bottom part of the scoreboards. Portugal came last for three times. And 10 times Portugal made it in the Top10, but never a second or third place.

The Portuguese entries often included ethnic music elements, such as Fado style, sometimes sad and melancholic melodies and slow ballads. This has often not matched with the pan European taste. There were too less happy songs, which could have been radio hits. The contribution of 1974 “E Depois Do Adeus” sung by Paulo de Carvalho has been taken as song for the “clove revolution”, even if it came last with 3 points only. Dulce Pontes has represented Portugal back in Rome 1991 with “Lusitana Paixão” and made one of the best rankings so far #8. After that she became very famous and been appreciated as the “new Alma Rodriguez” – due to her talent to sing Fado.

Furthermore the language rule of the previous decades prevented that the lyrics would be understood, by non-Portuguese. Nowadays there is a trend that the native language could be either successful. It depends on a good composition, a certain magic of the song, a good voice and an impressing stage show. Marija Šerifović from Serbia is a perfect example, as she won with a great song “Molitva” in her native Serbian language, because of all these reasons in 2007. Hence Salvador Sobral also sang his winning song “Amar Pelos Dois” in Portuguese with the highest points ever in the ESC. This year a lot of entries will be sung in their native languages. There is a certain nostalgia as well, as in former years it used to be like this and good traditions should live on.

Some of the Portuguese entries have become real evergreens in Portugal and sometimes even beyond. But nowadays contemporary Portuguese music is seldomly played at international radio stations, only traditional music can be heard on special cultural programmes. So the Eurovision Song Contest was always a very good opportunity to present Portuguese music to the world, even if it was only for 3 minutes.

Last year there has been the 60th anniversary of the Portuguese broadcaster RTP. Therefore a huge national final has been evolved. And there were two great medleys being performed with former Eurovision singers like Rita Guerra.

These are the medleys:

And in that year, Portugal was able to win the ESC for the very first time with Salvador’s beautiful ballad. Portugal was the ESC winner! Salvador has made the entire country proud. And it has proofed that a country, which has never won before is able to win it. Therefore it is to be expected that this year’s organizers will put even more effort to make this historic ESC event to an unforgettable.

Furthermore this year is also the 50th time Portugal is participating. Due to various rule changes, Portugal also had to pause some years here and there. The debut Portugal had in 1964. Since the introduction of the semi finals, Portugal only qualified four times. This year as a host country it has a guaranteed place in the final.

Have a look at all the Portuguese entries:

• Copenhagen 1964 António Calvário Oração 0 points #13
• Naples 1965 Simone de Oliviera Sol De Inverno 1 point #13
• Luxembourg 1966 Madalena Iglesias Ele E Ela 6 points #13
• Vienna 1967 Eduardo Nascimento O Vento Mudou 3 points #12
• London 1968 Carlos Mendes Verão 5 points #11
• Madrid 1969 Simone de Oliveira Desfolhada Portuguesa 4 points #15
• Dublin 1971 Tonicha Menina Do Alto Da Serra 83 points #9
• Edinburgh 1972 Carlos Mendes A Festa Da Vida 90 points #7
• Luxembourg 1973 Fernando Tordo Tourada 80 points #10
• Brighton 1974 Paulo de Carvalho E Depois Do Adeus 3 points #14
• Stockholm 1975 Duarte Mendes Madrugada 16 points #16
• The Hague 1976 Carlos do Carmo Uma Flor De Verde Pinho 24 points #12
• London 1977 Os Amigos Portugal No Coração 18 points #14
• Paris 1978 Gemini Dai-li-dou 5 points #17
• Jerusalem 1979 Manuela Bravo Sobe, Sobe, Balão Sobe 64 points #9
• The Hague 1980 José Cid Um Grande, Grande Amor 71 points #7
• Dublin 1981 Carlos Paião Play-back 9 points #18
• Harrogate 1982 Doce Bem-bom 32 points #13
• Munich 1983 Armando Gama Esta Balada Que Te Dou 33 points #13
• Luxembourg 1984 Maria Guinot Silêncio E Tanta Gente 38 points #11
• Gothenburg 1985 Dora Não Sejas Mau Para Mim 9 points #18
• Bergen 1986 Dora Não Sejas Mau Para Mim 28 points #14
• Brussels 1987 Nevada Neste Barco à Vela 15 points #18
• Dublin 1988 Dora Voltarei 5 points #18
• Lausanne 1989 Da Vinci Conquistador 39 points #16
• Zagreb 1990 Nucha Sempre Há Sempre Alguém 9 points #20
• Rome 1991 Dulce Lusitana Paixão 62 points #8
• Malmö 1992 Diná Amor D'água Fresca 26 points #17
• Millstreet 1993 Anabela A Cidade Até Ser Dia 60 points #10
• Dublin 1994 Sara Tavares Chamar A Música 73 points #8
• Dublin 1995 Tó Cruz Baunilha E Chocolate 5 points #21
• Oslo 1996 Lúcia Moniz O Meu Coração Não Tem Cor 92 points #6
• Dublin 1997 Célia Lawson Antes Do Adeus 0 points #24 
• Birmingham 1998 Alma Lusa Se eu te pudesse abraçar 36 points #12
• Jerusalem 1999 Rui Bandeira Como Tudo Começou 12 points #21
• Copenhagen 2001 MTM Só Sei Ser Feliz Assim 18 points #17
• Riga 2003 Rita Guerra Deixa-me Sonhar 13 points #22
• Istanbul 2004 Sofia Foi Magia 38 points #15 (Semi Final)
• Kiev 2005 2B Amar 51 points #17 (Semi Final)
• Athens 2006 Nonstop Coisas De Nada 26 points #19 (Semi Final)
• Helsinki 2007 Sabrina Dança Comigo (vem Ser Feliz) 88 points #11 (Semi Final)
• Belgrade 2008 Vânia Fernandes Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas) 69 points #13 (Final)
• Moscow 2009 Flor-de-lis Todas As Ruas Do Amor 57 points #15 (Final)
• Oslo 2010 Filipa Azevedo Há Dias Assim 43 points #18 (Final)
• Düsseldorf 2011 Homens Da Luta Luta É Alegria 22 points #18 (Semi Final)
• Baku 2012 Filipa Sousa Vida Minha 39 points #14 (Semi Final)
• Copenhagen 2014 Suzy Quero Ser Tua 39 points #11(Semi Final)
• Vienna 2015 Leonor Andrade Há um Mar que nos Separa 19 points #14 (Semi Final)
• Kiev 2017 Salvador Sobral Amar Pelos Dois 758 points #1 (Final)
• Lisbon 2018 Claudia Pascoral O Jardim (Final)
  
  

Author: Bernd LemmermannEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Public relations, Editor, Journalist

About me:
As one of the founders of eurovisionlive.com I am responsible for the interviews with the singers and the editorial content. My passion for the Eurovision Song Contest exists since my early childhood. The exotic music, different cultures and languages have given a lot of inspiration to me. Since my very first ESC in Dublin 1994 I particularly appreciate the get together and friendship of all the nationalities and Riverdance was a thrill!