Salvador Sobral claims the Portuguese ticket for Kyiv

Salvador Sobral has won the Portuguese ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The 27-year old singer won the Festival da Canção with Amar Pelos Dois. Luisa Sobral, Salvador’s sister, composed the song and also wrote the lyrics.

A seemingly easy victory for Salvador

Looking at the results, it seems like it was an easy victory for Salvador Sobral. He indeed won the jury vote in a very convincing fashion, collecting most of the twelves on offer, beating Jorge Benvinda and Celina da Piedade, who had to share second place. It all seemed like it could be close, until both Jorge (5 points) and Celina (6 points) were knocked out of the televote early on. Celina da Piedade could only just hang on to the podium. Her 16 points were good enough for a third place overall. By then it was already mathematically impossible for any act to catch up with Salvador. Viva La Diva’s Nova Glória eventually won the televoting. They claimed second place overall with 18 points. Salvador won with 22 points.
Fan favourite Pedro Gonçalves claimed third place with televoters. Juries however weren’t really on his side. The only English language song on offer got quite a few last places. Only the Algarve region, led by Filipa Sousa, appreciated Pedro’s effort with 12 points. He eventually finished in sixth.

Salvador’s road to Kyiv

Salvador Sobral rose to fame back in 2009. He participated in Idolos, where he finished in seventh place. For Festival da Canção 2017, he was invited to participate. As we mentioned before, his sister Luisa composed a song and asked her brother to sing it, to which he agreed. On the way to the final, he slowly became the man to beat. In the past weeks, it hadn’t been easy for Salvador. During the semifinal, he was suffering from an umbilical hernia. It must’ve been quite bad as he wore wide clothes to hide it. He had surgery a few days after the semifinal. It was visible that Salvador wasn’t feeling quite 100% yet tonight. When he then started his performance without his earpieces working, he was up for quite the task. He did however complete it in a very professional manner.
During the reprise, the winner paid hommage to his sister. He turned Amar Pelos Dois into a duet, together with his sister. Worry not, his sister is also a singer. Salvador will now be travelling to the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv to represent Portugal after a one year absence from the competition. He will take part in the first half of the first semifinal, on 9th May 2017.
What do you think? Will Salvador Sobral bring Portugal back to final for the first time since 2010? Or maybe even a first top 10 since 1996? Let us know below in the comments section, on Facebook or on Twitter!