In little over six weeks, he’ll be performing for his country at Eurovision 2018. But at the moment Iceland’s Ari Ólafsson has been looking back to Eurovision 2017.
He recently performed an English-language cover of Salvador Sobral’s winning song “Amar pelos dois”. Ari shared the cover with fans on his Facebook page.
How do you like my cover of Amar Pelos Dois?
Posted by Ari Ólafsson on Thursday, March 22, 2018
The performance takes place in a music studio. Ari stands wearing a white shirt, surrounded by musical instruments. He delivers a delicate yet powerful vocal performance of Luisa Sobral’s composition.
While most of the lyrics of Ari’s version are in English, the final verse is in Portuguese, which shows off Ari’s multilingual ability.
The English lyrics were written by Eurovision 2009 winner and 2018 act Alexander Rybak, who also covered the song last year, soon after Salvador’s win.
The performance highlights Ari’s vocal talent and demonstrates why he was Iceland’s favourite at Söngvakeppnin 2018.
And the video was a hit with viewers. Fan Ólafur exclaimed, “Beautiful!!!! Abrigado!”, while another fan, Kroyz, reckoned “omg this is perfect”.
The positive reaction follows the backlash Ari received after shedding tears of emotion after his Söngvakeppnin performance. After being criticised in local media, soon support grew in defence of his emotional display. A video campaign, featuring the hashtag #WeAllCry, was launched in support of Ari.
While there’s no doubt that Ari is one of the strongest vocalists at Eurovision 2018, there’s less support for Iceland’s entry. Iceland is still the bookies’ least favourite country to win in Lisbon.
“Our Choice” is not a hit with wiwibloggs readers either. In our current wiwibloggs polls, Iceland is the least favourite act in both the polls for the first semi-final and for the overall win.
But, as we’ve seen in previous years, at this stage, nothing is certain. There’s still pre-party season and the possibility that Iceland may bring some magical staging to Lisbon that will win over sceptics.
What do you think of Ari’s cover of “Amar pelos dois”? Do you like it more than “Our Choice”? Share your thoughts below!
To Fan Ólafur: It’s ‘Obrigado’. ‘Abrigado’ means sheltered. 😛
I’ll pray for you…. to be intelligent and such a human being as Salvador is!
ARI dont LISTEN TO BAD COMENTS
IF YOU WHANT TO SING IN Portuguese go ahead.
IM GOING TO LISBON
SO YOU BETER DO WELL ON STAGE.
Very nice version from Ari!!! I don’t understand why Iceland is so under rated this year? Melody is very beautiful and he has so beautiful voice. He is my number one
this year. Good luck Iceland!!!
Wow, you just don’t miss an opportunity to s#it on Sobral, now don’t you? *eyeroll* He’s probably smart enough to not say anything that could cause controversy again, after seeing what happened the first time (which btw, was likely directed towards the music industry in general and NOT his competitors. He just worded it poorly). The people organizing this year’s show will probably even warn him of being careful of what he says and he may even be instructed to behave a certain way. This is a large-scale contest and his country is hosting. Or course he’s going to be… Read more »
Eurovision has a show format, you have a song and a performance and because it is a competition, countries doesn’t take the risk to send something different because they are affraid of flop.
God! What an obsession!!!!
Whoever it was that WROTE his song for esc this year screwed him over. Problem is though…his type of song is right up Iceland’s alley. Power ballad songs like his and Dagur’s made it to the superfinal because Icelandic people like those types of songs. Therefor, …Ari’s song song was written and choosen to win the NATIONAL FINAL based on what Icelandic people LIKE, …rather then what would be thought of as doing well in EUROVISION. And obviously, since Iceland can’t vote for itself and since other countries have different tastes than the Icelandic public, …this will not be good… Read more »
Tottaly agree with your comment!
Ari don’t let the portuguese fanatics bullies hurt you.
You have a good voice, but portuguese bullies will hunt you.
Why did you needed that song after all?
”Amar Pelos Threesome” is just for fanatics.
About that comment, I can only say this: “Quem diz, é quem é”. :thinking_emoji:
Dear Ari, if you are reading this, I cried listening to your performance, especially when you sang in Portuguese, and I am not ashemed of it!
Ladies and gentlemen, here you see the strength and the so-called staying power of a song, not in the charts!
Just to make it very clear. My last comment was not a bit ironic, as aparently someone think it is ! I really enjoyed your interpretation of the song and I really shed tears when you Ari was singing in Portuguese! Great job!
Bravo
ARI YOU ARE FULL O LOVE DONT LET PEOPLE HURT YOU.
NEVER CHANGE.
LOVE from SPAIN.
You are not “enough with that” you are “I am that bad”……of course Ari has tried and has beautifully managed it…..there are lots of lovely songs….I still vote for the magical song of the Portuguese Claudia…
Ari Ólafsson has a beautiful voice. He was my pick to win Songvakeppin, and I’m quite dismayed by how badly he has been treated by some of the fans since then. This little go at karaoke speaks for itself. I wish Ari all the best at ESC.
What an amazing voice Ari has
The clarity and power is second to none in this competition.
It’s such a shame that the Icelandic song entry is so poor. It’s dated and bland.
Come back Ari in another year and slay the pack!!
Elina Netšajesus says hi.
Thorunn Erna Clausen must be very proud of ruining this guy’s career before it even began.
What?
I already thought like, how could she write this kind of dated ballad for him?
Love it! 😀
Please don’t sing this song in english. Thank you.
you just prove this song doesn’t deserve fame.
so to be famous…you must sing in english? Or you must be a radio friendly songs lovers??? Poor darling…
To be famous you must be open minded and let people sing it the way they want. Fame = covers in any language.
Sennek did it too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6RzSCDjgw
nobody wants to hear it in portuguese, deal with it
really??? 378points!!!! eheheheheheh
points were for his lamentation about his heart transplant
LOL do you think everyone its a fanatic like you? Most people didn´t knew anything about his heart issues. He didn´t talk about it!
People loved “amar pelos dois” Deal with that!!!
by the way “lamentation”?? Really? Whres his lamentation? You´re a hater and a buthurt 🙂
@enough with that
The majority of the audiences had no idea about Salvador’s heart issues. Stop using that same excuse to justify your criticism towards Salvador’s victory you dumb ****!
enough with that
I loved Ari’s version. He has a very powerful and beautiful voice. Having said this, as a Portuguese, I have to tell you that Salvador never spoke about his heart problems. We knew there was a problem, we heard rumors about being a heart related problem, but he always refused to speak about that. Only in September, when he went to the hospital, we were sure about was the problem. Therefore, saying he won because of his health problems is a big lie. He won because the song is very beautiful and because his interpretation of it was amazing. Maybe… Read more »
I sing when I’m alone at home for fun and when I want to sing Amar Pelos Dois, I sing it fully in Portuguese pretty much everytime
As well as when I’m listening to it, it’s his performance
Not everyone is able to sing in another language that easily, especially Portuguese and it’s fine they will sing it in English
Tanta coisa que “música e emoção “… E a emoção é só em português, é?
Because the lyrics aren’t the official translation? Let the guy singing the languages he wants, don’t be rude!
Desfolhada, was your post for me? I also think that translate litterally is impossible, cause a language is a “logic”, a certain way of build and assemble ideas. I like Ari’s voice/accent and these english lyrics. I’m very happy when people make an effort to speak a foreign language… Perhaps some Portuguese so much consider “Amar pelos Dois” as a little treasure, that seeing it translated is like losing it. … Guys, a song is like a baby: suddenly it’s not just ours anymore, it has its onw destiny. The only thing we can hope is that other people in… Read more »
no, it was for @vangelis vt