He won The Voice of Portugal back in 2016 before taking part in Festival da Canção 2017, where he placed fifth with his power ballad “Poema a Dois”.

And on July 11 Fernando Daniel made waves in the Portuguese music scene yet again with the release of his first single “Espera” (Wait).

The Portuguese star may have fallen short of expectations in his Festival da Canção bid, but his debut is taking him back to his musical roots and reminding the world he’s a hot up-and-comer who can do contemporary music with the best of them.

FERNANDO DANIEL — “ESPERA” (WAIT) MUSIC VIDEO

“Espera” does more than showcase the clarity and power of Fernando’s vocals. It also channels a modern string production that conjures up Ed Sheeran. We sure hope that signals success.

Backed by Universal Portugal, Fernando delivers a story about how love can empower a person and how dependent we are on others to make us better.

The music video may focus on Fernando and his loved one, but everyone can relate to the message. Forget about the niche market of Eurovision. Mr. Daniel is going wide.

FERNANDO DANIEL IN THE VOICE OF PORTUGAL 2016

Few can take on Adele’s songs and do them justice. But Fernando’s blind audition on The Voice of Portugal went viral in one day, and now has over 22 million views. It even made headlines in Spain.

It only took one second for two mentors to turn their chairs and face Fernando as he belted out Adele’s “When We Were Young”. Powerful, emotional and moving — his voice delivers 100% and 24/7 while transporting you to another world. Fernando gets it.

He teamed up with Portuguese-Latino star Mickael Carreira, and it soon became clear this season was checkmate for Mr Daniel. Olé!

Fernando enjoys a growing fan base in Portugal with more than 116,000 likes on Facebook and more than 74,400 followers on Instagram — and we’re only at the beginning of his road to stardom. He’s already won hearts from Aveiro to Lisbon. Could slaying around the world be next?

What do you think of Fernando’s first single? Do you think he’s on the right track? Or did you prefer the big ballad, operatic stylings of his FdC entry? Let us know in the comments section below!

READ MORE OF OUR PORTUGAL EUROVISION NEWS

2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
7 years ago

I like the singer but this song is nothing special. Just repetitive

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

I really hope he’ll fly the Portuguese flag one day.