Salvador Thiam Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (born 28 December 1989), known professionally as Salvador Sobral, is a Portuguese singer.
Sobral is perhaps best known for representing his native Portugal in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Amar Pelos Dois" note , which gave the country their first-ever victory in the competition since they began competing in 1964 — the longest-ever gap between a country's inaugural and winning entries at Eurovision.
Their victory also came after a string of failed Eurovision entries in The New '10s — having not qualified for a final since 2010 — which partly motivated them to skip the contest altogether in 2013 and 2016.
The song, written and composed by Sobral's sister Luísa, is the first winning song of the contest to be sung entirely in a language other than English since Serbia's 2007 entry, "Molitva", by Marija Šerifović. note Upon receiving the Eurovision trophy, Luisa joined her brother on the Eurovision stage to perform a reprise of the song together.
Prior to winning Eurovision, Sobral competed on the third season of Pop Idol Ídolos, where he placed seventh. In 2016, he released his debut album Excuse Me. In addition to his career as a solo artist, he is also a member of the band Alexander Search, who released their self-titled debut in 2017.
He is also outspoken - whilst he is a strong philanthropist, his attitude has been known to rub other acts the wrong way, as he has openly spoken out against manufactured music, refused to hear visiting entries in the 2018 contest Portugal hosted, and at one point before the main event called its eventual winner, "Toy" by Netta, horrible as a song, so it was no surprise he would give her the trophy.
Discography:
as Salvador Sobral
- Excuse Me (2016)
- Excuse Me Ao Vivo (Excuse Me - Live) (2017)
- Paris, Lisboa (Paris, Lisbon) (2019)
- BPM (2021)
- SAL EP (2022)
with Alexander Search
- Alexander Search (2017)
Selected filmography:
- Pop Idol Ídolos (2009)
- Eurovision Song Contest (2017)
- Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Salvador Sobral provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adam Westing: In Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga he appears in a cameo, singing his winning Eurovision song as a busker in the streets of Edinburgh.
- Alliterative Name
- Brother–Sister Team: "Amar Pelos Dois" was written and composed by his sister Luísa, who also stepped in for him during the first rehearsals in Kyiv when he had to stay a little longer in Portugal for medical reasons. The Triumphant Reprise when he won first Festival da Canção then Eurovision was done as a duet between them both.
- Dark Horse Victory: Prior to his performance at the first semi, nobody was really expecting Portugal to win with a demure, classic-sounding ballad like "Amar Pelos Dois". After the performance went viral on YouTube and shot up in betting agencies, however...
- Gratuitous English: Averted with "Amar Pelos Dois", which is sung entirely in Portuguese. It's the first winning song at Eurovision to boast that statistic since 2007.
- Incest Subtext: In the new song Só Um Beijo
, him and his sister (and songwriter) Luísa sing a beautiful duet... about falling in love with each other after sharing a kiss. In Prometo Não Prometer they duet again, singing about not being able to stop loving each other or to forget each other. It could be argued that singing Amar Pelos Dois as a duet is also eyebrow-raising. - Messy Hair: One of his more prominent and well-known physical features. He cut it short a few months after the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.
