Good news from Portugal! After a tough time in which he had to undergo a heart transplant, Salvador Sobral is back. He’s planning to return to the stage in May.
BBC Music speaks to Salvador Sobral
In light of Dutch music festival Eurosonic, BBC Music spoke to the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The Eurosonic festival is an annual event in Groningen, The Netherlands, where the European music scene gets extra attention. Each edition centres another country. For 2017, Portugal was the chosen one.
In light of that, BBC Music had the opportunity to ask Salvador Sobral a couple of questions. The interview was published soon after his release from hospital after getting a heart transplant. In the interview, Sobral makes the following statement:
Yes hopefully I will be there [at the Eurovision Song Contest] and ready to perform!
That, of course, is a very exciting statement coming from the latest Eurovision winner. He’s very hopeful that a return to the stage will be possible in May. How perfect would the Eurovision Song Contest stage be as a platform for his return after these horrible times?
Portugal the centre of Europe
In the interview, Salvador Sobral speaks with pride of his country. He says his country is becoming very trendy in Europe. Tourism is increasing, they won the European Championship 2016 in football, they’ve now won Eurovision and, let’s not forget, Salvador also mentioned how Madonna has now moved to Portugal.
He does feel Portugal’s music is in the right phase at the moment. Salvador Sobral mentioned how he feels Europe is discovering the Portuguese music scene. Not just the traditional fado music, but also other styles. Like he says, his live jazz album was the most sold album in Portugal.
After winning the contest in Kyiv, Salvador Sobral didn’t have the chance to keep building his career. He had to undergo a heart transplant. Thankfully, he’s recovering well from that at the moment.
We are very excited at the thought of seeing Salvador Sobral perform again! How about you? Let us know!
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