Salvador Sobral
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Salvador Thiam Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (; born 28 December 1989) is a Portuguese singer, who won the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...
for with the song "
Amar pelos dois "Amar pelos dois" (; English: "To Love for the Both of Us") is a song recorded by Portuguese singer Salvador Sobral. The song was written and produced by his sister Luísa Sobral and released for digital download as a single on 10 March 2017 by ...
," written and composed by his sister,
Luísa Sobral Luísa Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (; born 18 September 1987) is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. She came to prominence in 2003 after finishing third in the first season of '' Ídolos'', the Portuguese version of '' Idols'' television series. Aft ...
. In doing so, he gave its first ever win in the contest since its debut in , ending the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history (53 years). Sobral and his entry hold the Eurovision record for the highest-scoring winner, having earned a total of 758 points under the current voting system, after winning both the jury vote and televote.


Early life

Sobral was born in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and has lived there most of his life. He was born into a formerly noble family, the son of Salvador Luís Cabral Braamcamp Sobral and Luísa Maria Cabral Posser Vilar. His paternal grandparents are Salvador José de Almeida Braamcamp Sobral and Maria Elisa Perestrelo de Matos de Figueiredo Cabral. His maternal grandparents are João Luís Posser de Andrade Vilar and Luísa Maria de Melo Breyner Freire Cabral. The politician Hermano José Braamcamp de Almeida Castelo Branco is his great-great-great-great-grandfather. At the age of ten, he participated in the TV programme ''Bravo Bravíssimo'', and at 20 he was one of the ten finalists of '' Ídolos'', the Portuguese version of the ''Idols'' franchise. As a finalist, he sang music by
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
,
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
and
Rui Veloso Rui Manuel Gaudêncio Veloso ComIH (born 30 July 1957) is a Portuguese singer-songwriter and musician. Commonly called "The father of Portuguese rock" (Portuguese: ''O pai do rock português''), Veloso was a major figure in the boom of Portugues ...
. He studied
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
at the , in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, which he abandoned to pursue a degree in music. He spent time in
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
as an
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
student, where he sang in bars.


Career


2009–2010: ''Ídolos''

In 2009, he competed on
season three A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
of '' Ídolos'', Portugal's version of the ''Idols'' franchise. He finished seventh in the competition. His sister,
Luísa Sobral Luísa Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (; born 18 September 1987) is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. She came to prominence in 2003 after finishing third in the first season of '' Ídolos'', the Portuguese version of '' Idols'' television series. Aft ...
, is also a singer who previously placed third on season one of ''Ídolos''.


2011–2014: Barcelona and first concerts

After he left the Psychology program, he applied to the ''Taller de Músics'', a music school in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, where he finished his studies in 2014. In 2015, he participated in the Vodafone Mexefest and EDP Cool Jazz festivals. During this time, Sobral traveled through several cities in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and among them,
Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, where he performed at a private party of a wealthy couple.


2016–2018: ''Excuse Me'', Eurovision Song Contest and health issues

On 2 August 2016, Sobral released his debut single " Excuse Me" as the lead single from his debut studio album. On the same day he released his debut studio album '' Excuse Me''. The album peaked at number 10 on the Portuguese Album Chart. " Nem Eu" was released as the second single from the album on 27 October 2016. In 2017, Sobral was confirmed to be taking part in '' Festival da Canção 2017'', with the song "
Amar pelos dois "Amar pelos dois" (; English: "To Love for the Both of Us") is a song recorded by Portuguese singer Salvador Sobral. The song was written and produced by his sister Luísa Sobral and released for digital download as a single on 10 March 2017 by ...
". He went on to win the competition on 5 March 2017, and represented Portugal in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...
. Sobral could not perform in the first rehearsals because of a heart condition and an operation that forced him to rest ahead of the performance in the semi. His sister took over the role of singer during the first rehearsals. He won the final with 758 points, which under the current voting system represents the highest scoring winner in the history of the contest. In July 2017, he participated in the
Super Bock Super Rock Super Bock Super Rock is a music festival in Portugal that takes place annually since 1995. It is organized by the Portuguese live entertainment company Música no Coração and is named after its main sponsor, the beer brand Super Bock. Over th ...
festival in Lisbon, fronting rock group Alexander Search, a project he shares with pianist
Júlio Resende Júlio Resende ( Faro, 10 June 1982) is a Portuguese pianist and composer. He is a pioneer of a unique and new genre called "Fado-Jazz". His improvisation techniques are transversal to his aesthetics, and articulate different musical genres, from ...
and other musicians – the band plays music inspired by the work by Portuguese poet
Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and ...
. In 23 April 2018 he received – along with his sister,
Luísa Sobral Luísa Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (; born 18 September 1987) is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. She came to prominence in 2003 after finishing third in the first season of '' Ídolos'', the Portuguese version of '' Idols'' television series. Aft ...
– the Portuguese
Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
, both receiving the medals of Commanders (ComM). This honorific award was given by the Portuguese president himself,
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the List of presidents of Portugal, 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democrati ...
. In May 2018, Sobral performed " Mano a mano" and his Eurovision winning song "Amar pelos dois" in the final of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...
, held in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, alongside Brazilian musician
Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...
.


2019–present: ''Paris, Lisboa'' and ''BPM''

On 29 March 2019, his second studio album '' Paris, Lisboa'' (Paris, Lisbon) was released in 13 countries; he sings in 4 languages on it. In 2020, Sobral made a brief appearance in the Netflix film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', performing "Amar pelos dois" as a busker in Edinburgh. The song plays during a montage of the movie's main characters arriving in Edinburgh. On 28 May 2021, Sobral released his third solo album '' BPM''. The album was later nominated for Best Engineered Album at the 22nd Latin Grammy Awards.


Personal life

Salvador Sobral is a fan of
Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...
and
Música popular brasileira Música popular brasileira (, ''Popular Brazilian Music'') or MPB is a trend in post-bossa nova urban popular music in Brazil that revisits typical Brazilian styles such as samba, samba-canção and baião and other Brazilian regional music, com ...
singers including
Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...
and
Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
. He speaks six languages:
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
,
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
,
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, French and some
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
. In 2019, he started to learn
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, as he is a fan of Swedish film-maker
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
. Sobral married Belgian actress
Jenna Thiam Jenna Thiam (born 19 December 1990) is a Belgian actress. She is known for the French series '' The Returned''. Early life Thiam was born in Brussels. She wanted to be an actress from the age of four. She took a course in acting in New York at ...
in a small ceremony in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
on 29 December 2018. He took his wife's surname, placing it before his own.


Health

On 5 September 2017, Sobral announced that he would go on a temporary hiatus due to health concerns, following a last concert on 8 September, in the gardens of
Casino Estoril The Estoril Casino ( pt, Casino do Estoril) is a casino in the Portuguese Riviera, in the municipality of Cascais, Portugal. Today, it is one of the biggest working casinos in Europe. History The first stone was laid on 16 January 1916 by then-P ...
, in
Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...
. "It is not a secret that I have a fragile health; I have a problem. It is, unfortunately, time to hand over my body to science and to abandon my life of concerts and music; time to leave for a while from this civilian world and go to another where, certainly, my problem will be fixed. Unfortunately, I do not know how long this will take." On 8 December 2017, Sobral underwent a successful
heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common proce ...
. He left hospital in January 2018, with doctors telling him to "take life quietly" and "keep away from crowds." In October 2020, Sobral was diagnosed with
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
after attending one of his sister's concerts but, by his own account, made an easy recovery having self-isolated for 20 days.


Activism

Sobral drew attention to the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...
by attending the first semi-final winners' press conference in an 'S.O.S. Refugees' shirt. "If I'm here and I have European exposure, the least thing I can do is a humanitarian message," he said. "People come to Europe in plastic boats and are being asked to show their
birth certificates A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuin ...
in order to enter a country. These people are not immigrants, they're refugees running from death. Make no mistake. There is so much bureaucratic stuff happening in the
refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...
in Greece, Turkey and Italy and we should help create legal and safe pathways from these countries to their destiny countries," he added, earning a round of applause. The
EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...
banned him from wearing the shirt for the remainder of the contest. The EBU argued that Sobral's shirt was being used as a "political message," violating the rules of the contest. Sobral argued at his winners' press conference, however, that it held a humanitarian message, not a political one. During a concert in
Ourém Ourém (), formerly known as Vila Nova de Ourém, is a municipality in the district of Santarém in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 45,932, in an area of 416.68 km2. The municipality of Ourém contains two cities: Ourém (about 12,000 r ...
, Sobral announced on 19 June 2017 that he would donate all the profits from the sales of his CDs sold to the people of
Pedrógão Grande Pedrógão Grande (; cel-x-proto, Pendraganum) is a municipality in the district of Leiria in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,915 in an area of . The town itself has fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, with the remaining population living in sev ...
and the relief efforts in the town after it was severely damaged by wildfires the previous day.


Discography

;Studio albums * '' Excuse Me'' (2016) * '' Paris, Lisboa'' (2019) * '' BPM'' (2021) ;Live albums * '' Excuse Me (Ao Vivo)'' (2017) ;EPs * '' SAL'' (2022)


Orders

* Commander of the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
(23 April 2018).


References


Notes


Sources


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobral, Salvador 1989 births Living people Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Portugal Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2017 Musicians from Lisbon 21st-century Portuguese male singers Idols (franchise) participants Portuguese nobility Heart transplant recipients Eurovision Song Contest winners Portuguese people of Dutch descent Portuguese people of Italian descent Commanders of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Golden Globes (Portugal) winners