Let the Portuguese children sing! Ten years after their last Junior Eurovision appearance and just months following Salvador Sobral’s victory at the adult Eurovision, Portugal is back in the game.

After two difficult experiences at JESC, RTP is ditching the old Festival da Canção Junior and launching a new format, which consists of five invited singers and one internally selected song called “Youtuber“.

“YOUTUBER” (Portugal’s JESC 2017 song)

Duarte Valença, Filipa Ferreira, Margarida Lima, Mariana Venâncio and Matilde Leite will sing their hearts out in the hopes of getting to hold the coveted ticket to sing in Georgia, in November.

All the juniors will have the chance to sing “Youtuber” and impress judges and televoters. The winner will come from a combination of both results.

TV host Jorge Gabriel presented the song on the daytime tv show A Praça earlier this week. He apologised for his singing, which will, no doubt, make the talented kids sound even better by comparison.

On Thursday both Jorge and TV host Sónia Araújo will present “Júniores de Portugal“, which will take place in the northern capital of Porto.

San Marino: Valentina Monetta Releases “Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh”

“YouTuber” lyrics

The song has created quite the buzz on social media, with Jorge’s colourful performance leaving fans scratching their heads.

The tune, which may remind you of elevator music from the 1980s, is built around themes of love, social media and the pursuit of fame.

Chasing the limelight isn’t an end in itself — it’s an attempt to snag the singer’s crush.

“YouTuber, YouTuber, I wanna be a YouTuber. I wanna see everything and share everything with never-ending shares. I wanna be viral, cuz in the end I just want him to look at me.” We’ve all been there!

The overt reference to YouTube may pose a problem for Portugal. As you’ll recall, San Marino’s Valentina Monetta had to remove the word “Facebook” from her Eurovision 2012 entry “Facebook, Uh, Oh, Oh” because of its reference to the technology company.

PEDRO MADEIRA — DEIXA-ME SENTIR (JESC 2006)

Back in 2006, Portugal entered the Junior Eurovision family. In a competitive Festival da Canção Júnior, Pedro Madeira — now 24 — won the trophy and flew to Bucharest, Romania with his uptempo song “Deixa-me Sentir” (Let me feel).

Even though expectations were high in Portugal at the time, Pedro only managed to secure 24 points, coming next to last on the scoreboard.

After Junior Eurovision, Pedro released four albums. “Relógio” (Clock), a heartfelt, mid-tempo ballad, is one of his most successful tracks.

JORGE LEIRIA — SÓ QUERO É CANTAR (JESC 2007)

Jorge Leiria experienced a similar fate the next year. He came second to last with his tender ballad “Só Quero É Cantar” (I just want to sing).

The 16 points left him far behind the winner that year. Belarus won the entire competition with 137 points.

Will Portugal’s fate in JESC change this year? “Júniores de Portugal” is live on RTP this Thursday at 18:00 CET — long before your bedtime.

What do you think of “Youtuber”? Does Portugal have a chance at winning Junior Eurovision this year? Tell us in the comments section below!

READ MORE PORTUGAL EUROVISION NEWS

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L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago

It’s not good, but it’s not that bad… it was sung by Jorge Gabriel who is a disaster, which is to be expected as he is not a singer. But I am not at all an expert on Junior ESC,so…

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

OMG, this song is so annoying…

beccaboo1212
6 years ago
Reply to  Héctor

But it won’t be annoying with whoever sings it in Tbilisi! 😀

desfolhada
desfolhada
6 years ago

*cries in portuguese*

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

Sorry RTP, but this song is pure child abuse. Scrap it, now.
(It’s also an obvious product placement, and that’s unfair to other songwriters.)

West
West
6 years ago

Even if it was the best song ever made (and to be honest it isn’t, even though I don’t get the hate it gets – it’s not THAT bad either) it would be far from fun to listen to it 5 times in a row! Seriously – who want’s to do that? (I mean besides German nf)

Tiago S
Tiago S
6 years ago

Ok. I liked ESC while it lasted. It’s time for me to go back and ignore it as I always did. (Why are we paying salaries for these mediocre people?)

Anonymous
6 years ago

Way to embarrass yourself, Portugal.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

Will they allow the name? It seems EBU is up to break the rules lately.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
6 years ago

This will definitly be better with the singer selected, but it still is bad. Will 100% finish bottom 3 and I already feel bad for the singer. I hope they stay around and redeem themselves next year.

Hada
Hada
6 years ago

“YouTuber, YouTuber, I wanna be a YouTuber. I wanna see everything and share everything with never-ending shares. I wanna be viral, cuz in the end I just want him to look at me.”

Out of context these lyrics sound so depressing

Juka
Juka
6 years ago
Reply to  Hada

yeah because eurovision, specially junior, is known for having smart, inspirational lyrics. They’re always cliche.

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  Juka

@Juka that’s not the point being made. It sounds depressing because the lyrics suggest an early teen so obsessed with social media that they are desperate to be seen…which is a depressing state to be in. The lyrics are actually kinda depressing and sad in terms of being desperate to be liked, which is all too common nowadays. It’s kind of an interesting lyric statement on paper, which is lost in the song due to the embarrassing melody/music.

Juka
Juka
6 years ago
Reply to  James

James it’s only depressing if you think it is. Have you ever thought that not every song is describing the singer? she is actually playing a character, like many acts on eurovision do. In fact, as you said, it’s common to see people like that in our daily lives, so it fits and should be showed cause it’s part of our reality too. At least it’s different, if you hear the other ballads they give us the same old cliches about being hurt or narcissistic, sad lyrics about the singers feelings. We’ve all heard it, at least this youtuber thing… Read more »

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  Juka

@Juka The comment said “out of context”, which means if you read the lyrics flat on paper with nothing else regardless of the singer or the song, just reading it like a teenage poem, it can read very depressing and sad.
If course it is only if you think it is, it’s called a viewpoint.
Nothing was said about the singer so your comment just shows you missed the point and don’t know what the phrase “out of context” means.

Blaziker from SG
Blaziker from SG
6 years ago

I’m so conflicted at which is worse: this or Switzerland ESC 2004…

Anyway, I feel sorry for whoever is representing Portugal in JESC 2017. This is the polar opposite of Portugal’s ESC 2017 entry in terms of song quality…

Tony
Tony
6 years ago

Portugal wants to do a Croatia 2014 and come back as last

Ariso Light
Ariso Light
6 years ago

Maybe.

beccaboo1212
6 years ago

Hopefully Portugal does better at Junior Eurovision next year. Besides, Portuguese kids shouldn’t be left out!

beccaboo1212
6 years ago

If Portugal is stuck having to stay away from Junior Eurovision in the future, they’ll be in big trouble. Portuguese kids shouldn’t be left out! 🙁

Poison
Poison
6 years ago

Just – no. Non. Nien. Nyet. . . . .

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

woo a bop

beccaboo1212
6 years ago

Did you guys NOT read any but of the article? It says that “YouTuber” may get these talented kids to sound even BETTER by comparison.

new york
new york
6 years ago

still better than amar pelos dois.

Per Zoso
Per Zoso
6 years ago
Reply to  new york

I guess you ate bitter gourd for breakfast earlier today.

beccaboo1212
6 years ago
Reply to  Per Zoso

Why would anyone wanna eat bitter gourd for breakfast? That’s disgusting! 🙁

Blaziker from SG
Blaziker from SG
6 years ago
Reply to  beccaboo1212

Confession time: I did. Stir-fried bitter gourd with scrambled eggs but since I’m used to it…

The reason: the bitter gourd was close to drying up so the gourd had to be stir-fried straight away.

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

Oh my… This is bad even for portuguese standards.
Portugal should have stayed out of JESC instead of embarassing itself.

Gorilla716
Gorilla716
6 years ago

I highly doubt Portugal would be participating in JESC if Salvador didn’t win.

Erasmus
Erasmus
6 years ago

Again, this is the worst song we have heard in JESC since 2014. Even the title is so off for me. I pity the child who will have to sing this mess. My 16/16 even tho we don’t know all the songs. I do not know if RTP is making fun of JESC or they just don’t have the idea how to makena good JESC song.

Food
Food
6 years ago
Reply to  Erasmus

2014 was great. Even Josie was good, especially since she wrote the song.

beccaboo1212
6 years ago
Reply to  Food

Yeah, right. I was devastated when Croatia came last back then. I’m even more upset that they’re not in the complete list of participating countries this year either. Hopefully Croatia does better at JESC next year.