Just before their participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, escXtra.com decided it was time to speak to the composer behind the Portuguese entry for the 2014 Eurovision: Emanuel! Read what he had to say below!
escXtra.com: Hey Emanuel! First of all, welcome back to Eurovision!
Emanuel: Thank you so much for your kind words. It’s a great pleasure to compite again in this amazing and quite important musical contest.
X: You as a composer and singer, what makes a song ‘perfect’ for you?
E: A song and its public must always be hand-in-hand sort of speeching. If a song conquers its public, then I would say the composer/author reach perfection.
X: Did you ever consider to enter Eurovision as a singer?
E: Definitely. Unfortunately It will probably never happen in the near future. You see, my schedule is booked with months in advance. So, for me to be able to participate in the portuguese selection, RTP need to announce the dates and regulations months before it actually happens.
You see, I have all my weekends booked. So, I would only been able to participate if all would be organized in a very early stage.
X: Songs in the Portuguese language (also from Brazil), like Danza Kuduro or Ai Se Eu Te Pego, score incredibly well in European music charts nowadays. Why do you think Portugal hasn’t found the formula to make a song really successful in Eurovision yet?
E: I think those are two different things entirely. First of all, we all know that neighbors countries vote for each other: Portugal only has Spain as a neighbor, which leads to the lost of many points.
Besides that, a song that charts internationally might not work in the Eurovision Song Contest and vice-versa.
Another thing, as I mention, is the time to compose a song. For example, my recent hits “RITMO DO AMOR (KUDURO)”, “BABY, ÉS UMA BOMBA” and “I LOVE KUDURO HOUSE”, with more than 12 millions visualizations on youtube (go and see and listen to them), took me months to complete and achieve perfection. For “QUERO SER TUA”, RTP gave me 15 days. I think we have a great entry, nevertheless it could have been better if I had more time to work on it.
X: Let’s go back to 2007 now. You composed the Portuguese entry, Dança Comigo. It didn’t make it to the final, did you learn lessons from that for 2014?
E: Of course; many things!
Unfortunately, I will not be able to be in Denmark and attend the ESC due to previous engagements I had scheduled since December 2013. This means I will not personaly put in pratice everything I learn. Nevertheless, I taught my team and I’m always in contact with them in order to organize everything for the best achivement, puting in practice everything I learnt back in 2007.
X: People have been comparing Quero Ser Tua to Kaoma’s Lambada quite often now. What would you say about that?
E: I must say the 2 time signatures before the chorus of “QUERO SER TUA” have the same harmonic sequence featuring in the Lambada.
However, all the musical structure of the theme, rhythmic and melodic, are very different. Moreover, this structure is closer to the style I developed for me as a singer.
Listen to the songs I mentioned earlier and you will find that this is accurate.
X: What was your inspiration behind Quero Ser Tua?
E: With “QUERO SER TUA”, I intended to compose a song with a catchy rhythm and a beautiful and accessible melody to all Europeans.
It should be noted that, by RTP’s imposing, I had to work a poem exclusively in Portuguese, which led me to have to find solutions to make it more appealing to non-Portuguese ears.
A Portuguese song to become accessible to everyone whom do not know our language, we must learn to use the right keywords and highlight some melodic phrases without words, just with vocalizations, as was the case.
X: In FdC 2014, you as a composer were invited to find a singer for your song. Why Suzy?
E: Because Suzy has the entire package.
First of all, she has a voice and a vocal ability that pleases me greatly. Furthermore, she speaks very good English.
Assisted to all these positive aspects, I must also mention that the reason for my choice was imprisoned with her charisma and her strong screen image.
X: What do you expect from the entire Eurovision experience?
E: I want to learn from the entire experience and bring this knowhow to my day-to-day business.
But I aim also to achive a spot in the grand final of the 10th.
X: Finally, thank you for this interview! Do you have a message for the readers of escXtra.com?
E: Many thanks for all the support and love that you guys have shown concerning my song.
The most important thing is you must not forget to be happy: that’s why we are born.
escXtra would like to thank Emanuel for taking the time to speak to us ahead of the semifinal in Copenhagen. You can listen to Portugal’s entry, Quero Ser Tua, below!
