Her Eurovision 2022 song “Saudade, Saudade” may be all about missing someone. But MARO doesn’t have to miss her fellow Festival da Canção 2022 artists. Portuguese broadcaster RTP has confirmed that she’s bringing five backing vocalists with her to Turin, and all of them were on the Festival da Canção stage.
MARO has invited Beatriz Fonseca, Beatriz Pessoa and Carolina Leite, all of whom supported her at the national final. And she’s adding fellow FdC competitors Diana Castro and Milhanas.
Diana placed fourth in the final with her song “Ginger Ale”, while Milhanas came seventh with “Corpo de mulher”.
Beatriz Pessoa may also be a familiar name to you. She competed in FdC in 2018 with “Eu Te Amo”, though she didn’t make the final.
Do you think their voices will blend on the Eurovision stage? Do you love that MARO reached out to her fellow national final artists? Let us know down below!
I barely voted for Portugal until 2017….I voted again in 2018 and 2021, And guess what? Im gonna vote for them again! Its my current nº 2 🙂
Now, this is getting interesting…
I fell in love with MARO and their song.. currently my number one, and I don’t think that it will change. Thank you Portugal for serving quality each year
The more I hear about Portugal’s entry this year, the more I fall in love.
WOW! I love love love this news!
Maro, please make sure that your voice is the loudest all the time and the others are clearly in the back.
All my love for countries that use mostly live vocals in Eurovision, especially for those that don’t hide the backing vocals. In this specific case, “Saudade, Saudade” grows a lot with them and I hope the juries (and also televoters, why not?) will be impressed by the harmonies. As Jake pointed, I agree that it’s important to let clear to the audience that Maro is her and not a group, but this is for sure a luxurious group of women to accompany her on the stage. And a nice treat to fans of “Corpo de Mulher” and “Ginger Ale”, of… Read more »
Looks pretty delusional but hey, if they don’t cheer themselves, who’d you expect to do so? XD
Oh, that’s so sweet to invite Two of the FdC Contestants to join Maro as part of her backing singer group So they get a chance to experience eurovision as well.
Really liked the song since first hearing it and still do. However, I do hope that Maro will not now be just one of a group of singers. She needs to be to the forefront with the backing singers in the background. A guitarist on stage would also really add to the presentation and the atmosphere imo!
I think it’s really interesting in lots of YT reactions people keep saying “it’s a girl group” and compare it to Denmark and Iceland. I actually don’t know if that’s good or bad. But hopefully the postcard will make it clear that she is a soloist that wrote both music and lyrics and this is her backing chorus. The staging needs to differentiate that too. What bothered me about O Jardim was that it was Claudia’s song but then Isaura (the songwriter) shows up on stage and turns it into a duet. And if you don’t understand the lyrics you… Read more »
I think it is a beautiful song. I hope it gets to the final and does really well there.
I know this will be an extremely unpopular opinion but I think that Portugal this year could be a potential shock NQ. It feels like the type of song that the fandom obsesses over but then fails to resonate with the wider public. I remember O Jardim in 2018 also got a positive reception with the fans yet it came dead last in the grand final.
That’s always a risk, but looking at the results of the FdC final (both televote and jury winner despite a lot of competition from emotional songs, many of them with bigger vocals) gives me hope that it will have impact despite being quiet.
(I still think O Jardim was robbed though – it wasn’t a winner but I was very offended it came LAST)
They will qualify becuase the juries will do their best to push Portugal to the final. But then in the final, there will be another cold shower for Portugal when the votes of the televote will be announced.
I don’t think O Jardim was as popular with eurofans or with the Portuguese people as Saudade, Saudade. It never had the same success on Spotify as this song has had. And never was that impactful in the odds. I also think O Jardim had confusing staging and they failed to convey the story of the song. I think in general, staging is always Portugal’s downfall. Also, there’s very few host countries that do well as most people (including juries) don’t want to vote for countries that just won unless the song is truly out of this word. Also—the post-Salvador… Read more »
I wouldn’t say shock tho, SF1 has plenty of solo female singers and this is not among the strongest entries.
portugal has been my biggest grower this year just like last year. MARO is my 4th place currently, her song is one of my favorites to drive to
Yesss girl bring all your friends! I hope the audience joins in too, that would be so powerful. The lyrics are sad but singing together brings a sense of community support, that’s what gets us through hard times.
That’s exactly the mood the song gives me as well. Emotionally it reminds me a lot of Jeangu Macrooy’s 2020 song “Grow”. It’s beautiful, I really hope Portugal will be rewarded for this choice.
The fact that both Portuguese juries and televoters strongly supported MARO gives me hope though that the song has impact even though it is quiet.
Portugal is probably the most respectable country in Eurovision (since Festival da Canção was introduced)
They constantly send quality. I really think we’ll be back in Portugal for Eurovision within the next few years.
I think the same, Portugal is among the countries that have been upping their game lately 🙂
I think Maro may donreally well compare to what we except
This is such an exceptionally sad song that it feels wrong to be excited about it, if you know what I mean?
One thing I am sure of is that the performance in Turin will be beautiful and it will probably make me cry.
I don’t think it’s wrong to get excited to watch a performance of a sad song : )
This song brings up difficult emotions for me. It does it so beautifully and there is something comforting in experiencing the song, like a warm embrace, but nonetheless it is still a difficult emotion, so I can’t say i am excited to experience it.
I understand. I think it’s beautiful how music invokes such strong emotions in people : )
Your comment is a great compliment to MARO’s songwriting skills 🙂
As a wise drag queen once said: Delusion, CONVINCE YOURSELF
Winner
Good but at the same time pre-recorded vocals are still allowed even if back vocalists are there like Russia last year when it was clear the back singers were in most parts lyp-syncing or still covered by some pre-recorede vocals.
Wash your easr if you are not conviced! Re-listen to the Russian NF last year, just focus on the backsingers not Manizha. Now listen the ESC performance. You will hear a huge difference. Then listen to the studio version and you’ll see the ESC backvocals are more closed to the studio version than the 100% live NF !
Tone deafs you can stil downvote lol
This can only get better and better for Maro!
maro said: LIVE vocals only <3
It was really made clear during the semis that Maro needed backing vocalists. Comparing her performance there and the one she had in the GF was like night and day.
I’m super excited! Diana and Milhanas, along with Maro were the best singers at Festival da Canção – these 6 women will rock at Eurovision. With a perfect staging that I know is being very well prepared, I’m totally confident for a great score ???
Yawn, boring song and silly lyrics.
True. It’s my last place this year. I don’t know why everybody says Bulgaria will be last when it’s much more likely to be Portugal.
Poll : what is this year most boring song ?
Bulgaria or Malta is the right answer.
I am actually pleased for you that you think the lyrics are silly, because it means that you can’t have experienced the pain that these lyrics really tap into. And why would I ever want anyone to experience that pain, so I’m happy for you.
The Portuguese act is underestimated. And now even stronger with Diana Castro and Milhanas added to the team. Maro is 3 material if the voices blend and if the staging improves.
May Portugal set an example to everyone else – LET’S GET RID OF THE PRE-RECORDED BACKING VOCALS! It has ruined so much of the Eurovision fun!
How exactly? Doesn’t exactly benefit your act if your backing vocals make yours sound awful. (Doesn’t apply to Maro here, just a general reply) Remember Denmark 2017? Spain 2016?
it shouldn’t be too hard to choose decent live singers, but in denmark 2017 and spain 2016’s cases, the vocals were overprocessed in studio to the point the live wasn’t going to sound the same.
How? Simple ansswer: Eurovision is live show – that’s the whole charm of it!
Gee, I didn’t know Eurovision was a live show lol. Of course there’s charm in live singing, but that should be the responsibility of the main singer(s) themselves. There is no reason why the lead singer should burden themselves if they can avoid it.
I’d like the backtrack back vocals to stay as well personally, but I understand why some people don’t.
Most artist these days don’t really perform live. Some vocals will be live, but it’s a rarity if there’s no backing track. I don’t like it, but if it happens everwhere why not do it at Eurovision.
You can hear the difference though, if Maro brings some really good vocalists this will only lift her performance. You can’t beat the proper live chemistry of good singers.
It sets apart the contest from all generic music shows where backing tracks often hide the vocal talent. It also allows for excitement to hear what a song sounds like truly live. We all love some good backing vocals like Albania 2010 or Sweden 2019. But also the flops like Poland 2011, Bulgaria 2009, and Montenegro 2017.
Ah, two of my favorites are going to Eurovision along with my top favorite Maro! This is amazing!! I think the ESC performance is going to be beautiful!!!