Salvador Sobral and his sister Luisa received a heroic welcome earlier today as they touched down on home soil to a crowd of over a thousand, less than 12 hours after winning the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
Shortly after arriving at Lisbon Airport, a press conference took place giving Portuguese media a chance to speak to the winning pair as well as RTP. Salvador was asked what his victory would mean for Portugal, to which he responded with Tourism as the main advantage.
“We will host next year’s contest which will for sure bring a lot of tourism to the country. But I ask RTP to forgive me as they will no doubt have to spend a lot of money!”
When asked why he decided to perform in Portuguese, he defended the decision stating that the song only ever made sense performed in Portuguese and that in the end, Europe still connected with it despite the language barrier. Luisa revealed that many people had told her that it was better to perform in English, though she believes in an event where you are representing your country, it is better to perform in the native language. She goes on to mention that the song was very nearly not ready for Festival da Canção, as it was completed a mere four days before the submission window closed.
The questions then turned to the Eurovision trophy itself where Salvador informs that neither him or his sister would hold onto the prize.
“We received two trophies, one will go to our parents and the other will be given to RTP”
In regards to the other songs in the competition, Salvador confessed that Italy was a favourite of his due to its impressive lyrics and that Francesco was a lovely person to meet. He also enjoyed Belgium & Finland.
Shortly after the press conference, Salvador & Luisa entered the main airport and were immediately greeted by hundreds of supporters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYRKUeNPBPM
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