Portugal likely to qualify for Eurovision final

Written By Lara Silva

Tuesday night is the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy where the first 17 songs will compete and 10 will qualify for Saturday’s Grand Final. Portugal is set to have a qualification chance of 92% with Maro’s “Saudade, Saudade”.

The final involves 25 countries, 10 that will qualify today during the first semi-final, and 10 more that will qualify in the second semi-final on Thursday. The “Big Five” have an immediate place in the final, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the host country Italy.

The singer Maro will represent Portugal in this year’s Eurovision, after winning the Song Festival. For tonight’s semi-final, Maro will sing the song “Saudade, Saudade” by herself, but in the final on Saturday, her performance will be accompanied by a female choir with Beatriz Pessoa, Beatriz Fonseca, Carolina Leite, and Sara Badalo.

Also known as Maro, Mariana Secca comes from Lisbon and began studying piano at 4 years old. She studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and then moved to Los Angeles where she collaborated with Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jacob Collier.

Her song “Saudade, Saudade” is an indie-pop track released via Universal music that peaked in the top 5 in the charts in Portugal. While there is no direct translation of the word “saudade”, it means a feeling of longing or nostalgia for someone, essentially missing someone. The song is performed in Portuguese and English.

Maro told Eurovision the song is about the loss of a grandparent, saying “I think it’s just something intimate, it’s something so personal. It’s about loss, but it’s also about celebration. It’s crazy how impactful our grandparents can be, and how it’s a reference to so many values, including unconditional love”.

 

The following countries will compete tonight, along with Portugal: Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Slovenia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Moldova, Croatia, Denmark, Australia, Iceland, Greece, Norway, and Armenia.

Portugal only won the Eurovision Song Contest once in 2017, with Salvador Sobral’s song
Amar Pelos Dois”. The first time Portugal participated in Eurovision was in 1964, missing five editions in 1970, 2000, 2002, 2013, and 2016.

⬇️Who do you think will win this year’s Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below⬇️

Stay up to date
Subscribe To Portugal.com's Newsletter

Receive the latest news, travel information, stories, offers and more!

Invalid email address
Give it a try. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Join our FB group Portugal Travel & Living for all things Portugal and news updates

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Follow Us

324FansLike
126FollowersFollow
159FollowersFollow

Most Popular

Lisbon’s Lost Café: The Legendary Chave D’Ouro

I first heard about the Café Chave d'Ouro (which translates in Portuguese as "Golden Key") in Neill Lochery's riveting book Lisbon: War in the...

99 Places You Cannot Miss in Portugal

From north to south, as well as in the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, Portugal's natural beauty and historical richness make it so...

Portugal Golden Visa: The Ultimate Guide to Portugal’s Golden Visa 2023

October 2023 Update: Portugal's Golden Visa Not Ending After All Portugal shocked the world in February 2023 when the government announced an end to Portugal’s...

Latest Articles