Luísa Sobral

Last week he made headlines by announcing that he couldn’t attend his first rehearsals at Eurovision 2017 due to an ongoing health condition.

And today Portugal’s Salvador Sobral could rest assured that his staging is in good hands, as his older sister Luísa Sobral performed at the first rehearsal in his place.

Luísa — who also composed “Amar Pelos Dois” — earned rave reviews from wiwibloggs for the purity of the staging, its tight camera angles and the pristine forest in the backdrop.

Speaking to our Portuguese correspondent Bernardo afterwards, she confessed to feeling good. “I think there’s no reason to change anything,” she said.

Luísa Sobral (Salvador’s sister) | Interview in Kyiv

Luísa is not only the composer, but also, the braind behind Portugal’s staging.

Salvador’s sister explains that the staging is a point of convergence between what she likes and “what makes sense in Eurovision”.

She told us that she wanted it clean and simple, but not “naked” as her ideal performance would have been. That could have been scandalous, y’all!

Portugal’s Luísa Sobral first rehearsal review

“The most important thing is that the audience could look at his eyes through the camera, and that they could feel what he is feeling,” she says. Luisa (and, by virtue, Salvador) stands on the island stage alone, much like Anouk at Eurovision 2013. There, all she had to do was sing direct to the camera.

Behind her producers lit the LED with an enchanted forest. It matched the tenderness and softness of the song with its inviting hues — more enchanting than Ferngully, more tame than a jungle and pitched perfectly for Salvador’s vocals.

Luísa Sobral’s press conference

Salvador will arrive in Kyiv on May 7, right in time for the Opening Ceremony. Until then Luísa will fly the Portuguese flag. She arrived a day ahead of rehearsals with her baby boy, who is just ten months old.

A four-hour flight with such a young baby sounds like our idea of a nightmare! But apparently Salvador’s nephew behaved well and he’s being looked after in the hotel whilst Luísa performs. Luísa may have had the most unique experience in Kyiv of all the contestants yet: She had to buy diapers at the supermarket!

What did you make of Luísa’s first rehearsal? Do you think Salvador will be able to match her sister’s performance? Let us know in the comments box below!

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

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34 Comments
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Hi
Hi
6 years ago

@Diego. People have right to say what they do. Thats in My contry, maybe its not in Portugal. IF i Love a Song i say IT, IF i dont like IT i say IT to.

Diego
Diego
6 years ago

So many bad People im here.
I understand that you dont like the music.. Só please dont come to comment Portuguese entry and please do not kidding with Salvador health.
Si many bad energies…

Hi
Hi
6 years ago

This song its soon befor Sweden in odds. Thats a shame. In topp 10, its only 2 spngs who should be ther. Sweden and Belgum. The rest is crap

Rui Azevedo
Rui Azevedo
6 years ago
Reply to  Hi

lol you´re everywhere to hate everyone right? LOL such a poor soul….there nothing you like right?

anonymous91
anonymous91
6 years ago

Portugal, love the magical forest, it makes the song sound so youthful like a fairytale 🙂

rather than the music video being so dull

i called him Dullvador, i take those words back, i really think the song has got some personality thanks to the forest, i can see this winning tbh 🙂

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  anonymous91

LOL…Waw! What a change of heart! Good to know. 😉 It won’t win, though…

bxsrbv
bxsrbv
6 years ago

Luisa has her small baby with her in Ukraine, but Salvador could not come. Why? If a heart transplant will appear, he can go back to Portugal in any moment. I still don’t understand this arrangement, unless he wanted to help his sister to give her the 15 minutes of fame.

Blackbird
Blackbird
6 years ago
Reply to  bxsrbv

It’s not just that. I think it is more due to the fact that he can’t be away from his medical team that long. ESC is a two-week event! And Ukraine isn’t exactly Portugal’s next door neighbour.

Sophie
Sophie
6 years ago

It’s a lovely song but I don’t know if it will do well with televotes.

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

I am in wonder at how Portuguese/Brazilians can speak English so well, when (normally and by personal experience) Spanish people, who are so close, struggle half of the time.

Tiago S
Tiago S
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

Two words, Pablo: subtitled films. Our exposure to american tv shows/films in their native language is big, and almost from the crib. Nowadays cartoons are dubbed (live action will never be though), but when I was growing up in the eighties/nineties I would better know english (or read portuguese) if I wanted to understand Bugs Bunny. 😉

Tiago S
Tiago S
6 years ago
Reply to  Tiago S

Talking from a Portuguese perspective here (not quite what the Brazilian trick is).

sorin
sorin
6 years ago
Reply to  Tiago S

i am from romania and we also have subtitles. so portugal, romania…what other european countries have subtitles instead of dubbing?

Joe
Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

English is a basic subject at Brazilian schools, but very few people speak it fluently, mostly because of the internet, movies, tv shows, music, etc.

lacrymea
lacrymea
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

(As a portuguese) It has a lot to do with the fact that in Portugal we subtitle movies/series/tv shows/whatever instead of dubbing them (as it happens in Spain). So we’re much more in touch with english language.

Kai
Kai
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

not only the subtitles..the portuguese phonetic helps a lot too. They really have good accent

Andrea
Andrea
6 years ago
Reply to  Kai

This I can vouch for. I’m a ESL teacher, and I have two wonderful Portuguese coworkers. Their pronunciation is fantastic.

R
R
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

The portuguese language has a lot of vowels and dithongs.

fun fact: in the year that the first Disney movie that was dubbed in Portugal (before that, the movies were dubbed in brazilian studios), Ireland won for the third time in a row a sixth overall

Hi
Hi
6 years ago

Its the worst song ever

Avstriya
Avstriya
6 years ago
Reply to  Hi

No, your comment would be the worst song ever. It has no melody and the lyrics are terrible.

Timo1962FI
Timo1962FI
6 years ago
Reply to  Avstriya

Thanks! You made my day 😀

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Avstriya

Fantastic!

Rui Azevedo
Rui Azevedo
6 years ago
Reply to  Avstriya

lol you´re everywhere to hate everyone right? LOL such a poor soul….there nothing you like right?

Rui Azevedo
Rui Azevedo
6 years ago
Reply to  Avstriya

let´s be happy for Hi! he his happy hating everyone! lol

Mquel
Mquel
6 years ago
Reply to  Hi

Tu opinion es irrelevante, como la mia

God-Emperor
God-Emperor
6 years ago
Reply to  Hi

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

just a second…

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hi = The Biggest Troll of Wiwibloggs. Always with laughable comments. Please continue.

Tom
Tom
6 years ago
Reply to  God-Emperor

He might me troll, but there are many people who share no enthusiasm and love towards this song. Sorry bout it.

Grete Paia
Grete Paia
6 years ago

I don’t want him to die on stage

Thales
Thales
6 years ago
Reply to  Grete Paia

Omg xD Stay calm! He will be in the Ukraine with his medical team as well!

Elle
Elle
6 years ago
Reply to  Grete Paia

Neither do I…
What a catastrophical attitude! 😉

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Grete Paia

(Purple cynicism alert)
If he collapses in the Grand Final, do you think he would go on to win the contest? 😛

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Dark (purple?) humour…. 🙂 I guess that would be the ultimate gimmick… Just kidding… Salvador will live and stay well for many year!

Anton
Anton
6 years ago
Reply to  Grete Paia

I had such thought too. What if he wins and gets heart attack as he’ll be getting on stage. Oh my, that’s very bad

Pedro
Pedro
6 years ago

Thanks to Luísa for making the things so great!! And thanks to wiwibloggs for all the support! Give us a chance Europe :p