In 2017, he won Eurovision with the highest score ever achieved. But Salvador Sobral stirred controversy with some anti-Eurovision remarks in the years since. Nowadays, however, the Portuguese crooner sees the song contest in a different light, according to an interview with blitz.pt.
Salvador Sobral’s interview for BLITZ
The Kyivv 2017 winner started off by talking about his initial reluctance towards his newfound fame. “The biggest learning was to deal with fame. I had a black period. A very dark period of not dealing well with things. There was a time when I only lived the worst part of fame,” he said.
His remarks against Eurovision during his time in the hospital came as a surprise to many. In the interview, the Lisbon musician supplied an unofficial apology to Eurofans.
“When I was in the hospital I didn’t have that part which I’m going to play in Macau, in Poland and Germany. Now, that finally, I’m living the good things about Eurovision, I’m very thankful. I don’t have hard feelings anymore. I’m grateful to Eurovision and for all the good things it brought to me.”
Salvador Sobral’s past comments on Eurovision
In a June 2018 interview, Salvador critiqued the musical content at Eurovision.
“[Eurovision] is an entertainment show, an audiovisual one rather than a musical one. Music is not really important there. It’s a small detail of the show.”
Also, he was left unimpressed by Netta’s “Toy” — the act that succeeded him as Eurovision champion.
“YouTube thought I would like the Israeli song. I opened it and a horrible song came out of it. Luckily this year I do not have to hear anything.”
Salvador Sobral after Eurovision
Salvador Sobral has gone through a lot since Kyiv. Having recovered from his health problems, Sobral performed at Eurovision 2018 as an interval act, got married and returned to music.
The “Amar Pelos Dois” hitmarker is currently on tour in Spain. He was supposed to hold a recital in Palace of Congresses of Cáceres on Saturday but has apparently cancelled it. The reason is unknown as of now, with rumours circulating that the it didn’t meet the minimum capacity. Thankfully, the tour should go on uninterrupted.
What do you think of Salvador Sobral’s interview? Is his feud with the Eurovision family over for good? Sound off in the comments below.
Along with Loreen and Duncan he is the best winner of the decade and of Eurovision history. The fact that we are still talking about him and that he steers so many people’s emotions (bad or good) just proves that. The more you demonstrate your hate of him the more he will excel, as he his doing right now in his musical career. BTW he has a full concert agenda. Also he is making more people aware of Eurovision, who would not be.
So then Jamala is also one of the biggest Eurovision winners because fans hate her and talk sh^t about her. That’s such a dumb way of thinking
Take it easy. Why are you so upset anyway? You are making a spectacle of yourself. Don’t you see it? And yes, you have freedom of speech, as we all do, but bashing directly other fans like you do goes way beyond your freedom and is plain lack of respect.
I’m bashing whoever come against my right to freely speak my mind. Tons of hypocrites are gathered here to celebrate the freedom of speech of one person and shut up evrybody else. And I had enough of it. And I will make whatever spectacle I want. It’s not like i’m in a restaurant or in a wedding. So what are you so upset about?
Who is upset? Certainly not me. I am just amused of how foolish one can be and a little bit said to see that there troubled fans… but that is life. Anyways, nobody said you don’t have freedom of speech. Everybody has it even I to say that you sound like a crazy person
Anyway this analogy is completely misplaced
Please note that Jamala is my favourite of 2016…..
My ranking of the winners in this decade
1. Salvador
2. Duncan
3. Loreen
4. Jamala
5. Conchita
6. Emmelie
7. Lena
8. Mans
9. Netta
10. Ell & Niki
Excellent ranking. I think it coincided with mine!
honestly i’m not even sure that makes sense. just bc he didn’t enjoy fame doesn’t mean it’s ok to blame eurovision? i still see him as rude because this sounds more like an excuse than a change of heart.
I guess it’s more the little things that comes with the expectations of having to do/having done Eurovision. He wasn’t particularly in a good physical state that year to fully enjoy the experience either so that may have played with his initial thoughts following his win.
Either that or have him fake it til he make it the following year.
I still think it’s amongst the worst winning songs of the decade , but he’s grown as a person ,so something positive. Yay
Horrible and pretentious personality with an underwhelming and very unoriginal song. It’s like he was grown up in a jungle and never been taught basic manners. One of the worst winners indeed. Feel sorry for Portugal that this is their only winner.
Embarrassed yes. Butthurt I don’t think as he has no reason for that. He won the previous year with a much larger margin and was quite sure that his music and career is better than Netta’s. And he is rights of course
And i feel sorry for you…758 points…
Finally
He didn’t deserve to win. This is the worst winner ever.
Worst posting evvvvvvva
Shut the f^ck up and respect people’s opinions. That’s what you, Salvador lovers, like. Brutally honest opinions. So shush now.
Relax your tities, girl
You are making a fool of yourself…
Shut up and please care about your behaviour. I don´t like to read some primitives dirty words and insults.
And yet his song was ranked first by the public and the jury. In a year where there no clear frontrunners (except for probably Italy) Portugal and Bulgaria ending up to where they eventually placed is both unexpected and pleasantly surprising.
Sadly, Markus Riva gets 1000% more coverage than Salvador
But just here, outside of the Eurovisión bubbl he Is a Mr Nobody
That isn´t true – he did a lot of sold-out concerts all around Europe.
It was part of his charm. Not many artists manage to go beyond the songcontest. He’s the only one I still listen to outside of #Eurovision season# .. His sister’s albums are the most played on my playlist.
Thank you. Besides the song being nice, I think we won because we had a lot of accumulated good will in Europe, for so long having poor results.
I mean…I get that he didn’t have the best attitude back then, but I can understand why he might’ve acted that way. I really don’t think he actually wanted to do Eurovision. He only agreed to I bet because he loves his sister enough to do her the favor of singing the song for her. He probably didn’t expect to represent Portugal, let alone win the contest. So like…being in poor health and having to do something you don’t want to when you much prefer a quieter life, only to have that thing turn into you winning and never getting… Read more »
Muito obrigado. querido Salvador !!!!!!
Thank you Salvador … from this Guiri ;p
How did his opinion change excactly? I only read he had bad feelings but doesn’t have them anymore? What is his new opinion on Eurovision then? Does he still think it is more an visual show and the music doesn’t play a big role? Does he say anything in the interview about his prostitution statement?
The prostitution thing was a joke ffs. Did you actually watch that interview? Also, the show is very important in Eurovision. Do you really Russia would have won the televote in 2016 with normal staging?
I like it how his fans defend his right to publicly say sh#t about others but they get so angry when we do the same about him. Guys, this freedom of speech goes both ways. If he’s allowed to publicly talk trash about whoever he wants, then everybody has the right to express any opinion about him. So relax and enjoy it. Everybody has the right to have an opinion, right?
I totally agree with you and we are relaxed as they are so many much more worriesome things in the world right now. But please do not ask us to enjoy it, especially if you are targeting not only him, which is your right, but all of us that love his music. And again, Ana, many of us did not like it one bit all the things he said. So calm down.
It’s funny that you wrote “his fans don’t tolerate criticism when the eurofans were the people that made Mikaela Minga close her Instagram because the harrasment for not voting on “Me Tana”
The harassment was not because she didn’t vote for me tana but because it was deliberate sabotage . She rated it as the second worst song on the night . She said the genre and beats were not Albanian enough , when she rated other uptempo songs much higher . Did she deserve death threats ? No Did we deserve more professionalism from her ? Yes She probably didn’t expect that her votes/sabotage will be made public but rather than three people having to face false accusations(the three international jurors who people were calling out earlier ) . But fans… Read more »
He could have just stayed quiet and thanked everyone who liked his song without bringing everybody down, including the fans of the contest which brought him the win to begin with.
He won an entertainment program, not something earth shattering. He’s not better than anybody else for winning something that doesn¨t matter in the long run..
There are bad losers and there there are bad winners. Salvador is just that..
I think he has realised that by now. For example, his opinion on Conan Osiris´song last year, much different from what he likes and does, was much more mature. I believe in redemption. 🙂
Didn’t you hear when he gave the thanks to his sister and to the arranger before the reprise? The speech it wasn’t about Eurovision, it was about the radio-friendly music based on payola, hooks and millennial woohs
Our boy is growing up… So glad… And for the record, many of us that are fans of Salvador (his vocal and interpretative ability is a marvel of nature) did not like one bit what he has said in many instances. I hope this will take out a bit the edge of the harsh criticism he and his fans (and Portugal, for that matter) has received since he has won.
Never liked his entry, liked him even less when he made all the arrogant statements about what music is and isn’t. A basic hipster douche.
And so do I. He’s a pretentious, arrogant unoriginal musician that got tons of pity vote for his health issues and the horrible record of Portugal in the contest.
Your opinion isn´t really important, I´m sorry…
Salvador is the king of ESC !
If God wouldn´t invented the excuses….. Why don´t you accept that a lot of People did like Salvador and his perfomance in Kyiv and that amount of points were very outstanding ?
My opinion is as important as yours (or who the heck you think you are exactly?). That’s my truth. Portugal was the biggest failure in the contest (fact), the media was hyping about the possibility that poor Portugal might finally win (fact). And then there were all those rumours about his health condition (fact). The result – A LOT of pity voting for this underwhelming entry. Tons. I’m just saying the truth. Why don’t you accept my truth?
Absolutely !
You’re totally right, his statements were full of hatred
Time mellows you out. He never struck me as overly pretentious, but passionate to a degree that when circumstances were heightened, he spoke very broadly since he didn’t know how to handle it. Now he’s matured a bit more, and I’m happy for it. Still an amazing song and performer.
It was really dissapointing when he made those remarks about Netta, but he seems to have changed his tune. Still love his (sister’s) wonderful song… one of the best in ESC history
and we’re thankful for u, sal !
I thought you hated him and his song 🙂
Really? What worse things have been said exactly?
For the people that are still pressed about Salvador: When he participated in Eurovision he was in a very difficult situation in his life (the health issues, you know) and winning Eurovision gave him more difficulties because the Portuguese tabloids speculating about him all the weeks (also he used to spoke without filters). Now he is recovered and enjoys the good things that fame brings (like touring around the world -actually the concert in Cáceres is the only cancelled concert, the rest are sold out- and recording), he is grateful with Eurovision but is not mandatory to being an eurofan… Read more »
I always liked him, I always liked his song – and I wish him much success.
Me too….
Never liked him, his entry or attitude but I’m glad he’s slowly changing and is more thankful for ESC even if he’s not a fan of huge international public events. His sister is the one that should be thanked for bringing Portugal’s first ever victory after 49 appearances in 54 years. Festival da Cancao has finally become an interesting national selection however, I look forward to hearing potentially more dreamy, melancholic and indietronic songs like last year!
His sister was an important part for that beautiful song but Salvador was the one who made magic on stage to reach people’s heart and smash that televoting. Its not something easy to do as we see with Duncan this year for example. Salvador was such an important factor to win that.
Well, I guess the fact that he was going through some hard moments had its impact here. Some people tend to criticize everything and everyone more, when they are unhappy. It’s okay to have your own opinion but some of his comments were rude.
I never liked him, nor the song. The only thing I really enjoyed was his sister’s beautiful reaction to winning. But as a rule, I like candor. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, why should he pretend to like ‘Toy’? The fact that his harmless comments caused any outrage at all shows how humorless, touchy and detached from reality so many Eurovision fans are. Now everyone who knows they fall into that category go ahead and give your dislikes to prove my point. 😉
Yes indeed everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But it’s the way things are said. He could have said that “Toy” is not his type of music, instead he chose to use absolutely degrading description of the winning song and he showed absolutely no humbleness towards his fellow artist colleagues. Of course he is grateful now… But did he hear the winning song from 2019 yet? Is he going to hear any songs this year since he has changed his opinion or is he still as blunt about this still? I guess that whatever song that win or take… Read more »
You can say “I didn’t like this song” and say “this is a horrible song”. He chose always to say thing in a hurtful way which absolutely doesn’t respect fellow musicians. And combining that sh#tty attitude with how sensitive and fragile he pretends to be on stage, you get one fake sh#t show that I simply can’t stand.
He coukd have just say it’s not my favourite song. But congratulations!
Instead he had to degrade both song and artist, while pretending to be sensitive
he should do podcasting, he was born to do that
His statements were totally rude and arrogant, you can’t blame a contest, watched by millions, for being fast food while YOU WON IT! if it wasn’t for eurovision he would still be In the piano bars, so its nice to be thankful.
It’s weird Salvador’s position on Eurovision. It’s not like the Portuguese have turned on him or cut him down like a tall poppy. He gave their country a victory after so many years and on their own terms too, one of the funny little old fashioned songs in their own language. It’s not like Portugal had to turn to a Lordi style circus for victory. Salvador should be a hero.
Salvador should of just been quietly glad he won on his own merits without bringing everyone down.
Lordi style victory!! Sorry but Lordi was pure hardrockmusic and very different than other winners!! Next year Verka came second and that pure eurovision style schlager circus….. so? Or malta’s vodka song, there is plenty circus style music in esc but because of that esc is so popular. Everybody have something to lissen. Big love from Lordi land, Finland!! <3
Lordi was a band before Eurovision and stayed true to their image also for Eurovision. They didn’t change into monsters just for the show. Also the style of music, hard rock, is absolutely massive in Finland so Finland definitely stayed true to what is considered their biggest genre of music as well!!! In that way Finland stayed as true to their musical heritage as Portugal did when they won.
So please, when u want to support whoever u like don’t bash the others out of ignorance.
But bashing other music styles is Salvador’s heritage! His lovers simply must do that.
Common now… You had a point above and you are free to not like him. But bashing all his fans go a little bit too far, especially because many of us also don´t like what he has said. So take it down a noch, will you?
Roo’s comment is ignorant .
When you don’t have enough information , you shouldn’t comment
It’s like Salvador was wrong in saying netta’s song is horrible. He should have said the song isn’t his taste.
I hate his song. But I don’t go around calling it horrible. I just say it isn’t a good winner for me .
Don’t get me wrong. I loved Lordi. But it was completely different from previous Finnish entries and anything else entered into the contest previously. That had made me think that Portugal would get their best result if they went all out with an English language contemporary entry. But instead they won with a lovely little song in their own language. It’s like they won without trying.
If Salvador had been a little more subtle in his comments he could of been a fan favourite winner.
Unfortunately, there were many fans that hated him saying that such a song had no bussiness competing in the contest even before his first anti-Eurovision statements (even in Portugal where he was not all consensual). His subsequent remarks and victory speech just fueled even more those sentiments giving perfect reasons to disppaly all this hate.
Sorry, English doesn´t fit to Portugal. Normally should it be self-evident for every country to sing in native language.
He became wiser since he got married. I’m sure his wife has something to do with his changed attitude. It was not only the hospital. He was nasty to Netta after hospital.
Actually, it helps when you know that your significant other can be affected by your mistakes.
But he just said that he didn’t like the song and that is NOT an unpopular opinion (actually “Toy” is the most disliked Eurovision song of all time in YouTube)
“Toy” is for me one of the worst winner ever and I don´t like the childish behaviour of the “singer”. But I never would call it “hate”
Indeed ?