Welcome to The Xtra Files, our new series which will give you an insight into what the team at escXtra think of your favourite entries into this year’s contest! Today, we review Portugal.
Now that all the songs have been released, we are able to review each and every one of them. Our honest and brutal reviews will keep you entertained until the rehearsals start in May! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an escXtra leaderboard of the entries! You can see our preview reviews here.
Today, it is the turn of the Portuguese entry, ‘Amar Pelos Dois’ by Salvador Sobral, to be reviewed by Katarina, Luke, Nick, Ryan, Simon, and Wivian. Let’s get started!
The Reviews
Katarina
1962 called, it wants its song back! I am by no means a blinded fan of mainstream pop, but this entry sounds extremely dated and I struggle to listen to the whole three minutes of it. That being said, I love Salvador’s vocals and his performance skills, but not even that can lift Portugal in my rankings.
Luke
Portugal have finally become less dated and have now entered 1956. Even though Salvador acts like a frightened hamster, he has an absolutely beautiful voice, which sounds wonderful with the song. It feels like a song from an old musical, which would’ve been a massive hit. Finally, Portugal have sent something credible!
Nick
Portugal take us back to 1956. And how I long to be there. This song is just mesmerising. Portugal have found exactly what we need in Europe in 2017. It’s pure magic. Portugal do what Portugal want and they’ve often been punished for it (sadly). This is the year they should crack the top five. If there’s justice.
Ryan
I wouldn’t listen to this song on its own but Salvador’s performance mesmerises me. He has the ability to move anyone just through his way of performing. This song is either going to come near the bottom of the semi or near the top of the final, it all depends on whether it can click on the Kyiv stage… I think it just might!
Simon
This will be divisive. Quality, yes, but an acquired and old-fashioned taste. It will be interesting to see how they present him and the song, but being Portugal in Eurovision, I struggle to see a wise choice.
Wivian
This song sounds like it could be from a 30’s black and white film. It’s very charming and romantic, and the lyrics are heartbreakingly good. I really, really like the last minute or so, but it takes a bit too long to get to it.
Scores
| Dimitris | 2 | Rodrigo | 10 |
| Hlynur | 6 | Ryan | 8 |
| Katarina | 2 | Sagheer | 9 |
| Luke | 9 | Simon | 4 |
| Matteo | 9 | Sophie | 7 |
| Nathan | 5 | Wivian | 6.5 |
| Nick | 10 | Yassia | 6 |
When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 2, the average score for Portugal is 6.79.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)
Leaderboard
Portugal reaches 11th place in our leaderboard with a score of 6.79.
- France – 9.04
- Sweden – 7.77
- Belarus – 7.75
- Australia – 7.25
- Israel – 7.21
- Serbia – 7.08
- Estonia – 7.07
- Switzerland – 6.96
- Denmark – 6.83
- Armenia – 6.80
- Portugal – 6.79
- Hungary – 6.79
- Germany – 6.59
- Austria – 6.58
- Moldova – 6.58
- Greece – 6.54
- Norway – 6.33
- Latvia – 6.25
- United Kingdom – 6.00
- The Netherlands – 5.33
- Albania – 5.21
- Ukraine – 5.13
- San Marino – 3.92
Tomorrow, we will review Georgia.
Do you agree with our reviews of Portugal? What are your thoughts on Salvador Sobral’s ‘Amar Pelos Dois’? Let us know in the comments!
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