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. After going on hiatus to attend the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

, she released her debut album, ''The Cherry on My Cake'', in 2011. She later composed " Amar pelos dois", which was performed by her brother Salvador Sobral and 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" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) an ...

for Portugal.

Life and career

Early life and career

Luísa Sobral was born and raised in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, and also lived in the United States for a period of time as a child. Her younger brother is Salvador Sobral, who is also a singer. Through her father, she is related to Hermano José Braamcamp de Almeida Castelo Branco, a 19th-century Portuguese nobleman and politician of Italian and Dutch descent. In 2003, at the age of 16, Sobral auditioned for season one of '' Ídolos'', the Portuguese version of '' Idols''. She eventually came third in the competition. After ''Ídolos'', Sobral took a break from her musical career in order to focus on her education. She moved to the United States to study music at the

in Boston, graduating in 2009. Her move to the United States made her compositions more distinct, a mixture between Portuguese, Brazilian, French and North American musical traditions, reflecting her musical influences in her classic soft-spoken singing style.

2011–present: Professional career

Luísa Sobral returned to the music industry in 2011, releasing her debut studio album, ''The Cherry on My Cake''. The album peaked at No.3 on the Portuguese albums chart. In 2012, she performed with

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

and Melody Gardot. She went on tour with Gardot. Her second studio album, ''There's a Flower in My Bedroom'', was released in 2013, and her third, ''Lu-Pu-I-Pi-Sa-Pa'', the following year. In 2016, Sobral released her fourth studio album, ''Luísa'', recorded in Los Angeles at United Recording Studios with Joe Henry and Greg Leisz. During the same year, she wrote " Amar pelos dois" for Portuguese national broadcaster RTP1's '' Festival da Canção 2017''. At the invitation of the broadcaster, wanting to change the public perspective in which Portugal had never gotten past sixth place, Luísa and Salvador Sobral represented musicians who were unknown outside of Portugal. Salvador Sobral, her younger brother, sang "Amar pelos dois", a bossa-nova-inspired jazz ballad that was written by Luísa Sobral. It clearly won ''Festival da Canção'', and was thus chosen to represent Portugal in the

. Because Portugal is not included in the Big 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) that are able to reach the final without participating in the semi-finals, the song had to go through the semi-final stage before reaching the final. Luísa and Salvador Sobral learned that the song had risen to the top of betting agencies' polls, beating such as Francesco Gabbani's "Occidentali's Karma". During rehearsals for the contest in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Sobral had to stand in for Salvador as a performer due to his health issues. During the final on 13 May 2017, the song was declared the winner, becoming the first victory for Portugal and the record-holder for the most points received by a song in the final. Sobral performed the song with Salvador during his winner's encore performance, as she did after he won ''Festival da Canção 2017''. The song and the winning performance in Kyiv made Luísa and Salvador Sobral household names overnight in Portugal. They were received like heroes by hundreds of fans upon their arrival at

Lisbon Airport Humberto Delgado Airport , informally Lisbon Airport and previously Portela Airport, is an international airport located northeast of the Baixa Pombalina, historical city centre of Lisbon, Portugal. With more than 35 million passengers per yea ...

. In April 2018, Sobral and her brother were given the Portuguese

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

, both receiving medals of Commanders (ComM). This award was given by Portuguese president

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic who is the president of Portugal since 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the ...

Personal life

Sobral is married and has four children: José (born 29 June 2016), Rosa (born 13 May 2018), Camila (born June/July 2020) and Salvador (born June 2022).

Awards

Commander of the

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobral, Luisa 1987 births Living people Singers from Lisbon Berklee College of Music alumni Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters Idols (franchise) participants Portuguese expatriates in the United States 21st-century Portuguese women singers Portuguese people of Italian descent Portuguese people of Dutch descent Portuguese women songwriters Portuguese nobility