Given the random nature of the themes attributed to Eurovision each year by the host broadcaster, it is at best a coincidence if any of the songs competing in it reflect them. Nothing really captured the spirit of Helsinki’s ‘true fantasy’ in 2007; the conceit of some of the performers and anyone who thought Switzerland would vie for the title arguably came close, but it did produce two songs - the semi-final and final openers Water and Rijeka Bez Imena - which would perhaps be more at home in Belgrade as part of 2008’s ‘confluence of sound’. If so, they would be joined not only by Latvia’s Pirates of the Sea, but also this year’s Portuguese entry, the aptly titled Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas).Although as unlike Wolves Of The Sea as is musically possible, Senhora Do Mar does share one thing in common with the Latvian entry: a foreign composer. For the first time in Portugal’s Eurovision history (to the best of my knowledge) it is being represented by a song exclusively produced by someone with no connection to the country. Andrej Babić, responsible for recent entries from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, has branched out and written a pan-Mediterranean power ballad that could come from just about anywhere, despite the melodramatic Balkan overtones. While it is not not Portuguese, it makes Vânia Fernandes’ (or perhaps RTP’s) decision to sing the song in her native language all the more understandable. The result is a true confluence of sound that should, or at least could, see the song going down well from Ibiza to Izmir.
While next to no one is foolhardy enough to predict a maiden victory for Portugal in 2008, there seems to be fairly widespread consensus that Senhora Do Mar is the country’s strongest entry in a long time and that it will see them qualify for the final for the first time in five years. I would agree; while neither the arrangement nor the orchestration are the most imaginative we’ve heard in the contest, they remain effective, and the vocal performance Ms Fernandes puts in is likely to be as substantial as she herself is. The gravitas of her delivery occasionally makes her a little frightening, but that didn’t stop Serbia winning last year with a not altogether dissimilar song (and similarly ponderous staging). It is a song she simply needs to belt out, and that is something she clearly knows how to do.
Portugal’s relative isolation in Eurovision means that Senhora Do Mar is unlikely to have the same pulling power as Molitva, but if it were to get a good draw in the final I wouldn’t be surprised to see it providing the nation with its best result to date, at least in terms of points. The country has never cracked three figures in the contest, but this year may be different. It brings Thursday night’s proceedings to a powerful close, and though I can’t see it giving them their first ever top five finish in the final, the top ten might not be beyond their reach if there is a dearth of ballads in the Saturday night line-up after the ten qualifiers from the second semi-final are revealed. There is a confluence of more than just sound about the Portuguese entry this year, and their hopes, quite rightly, will be high.
1 comment:
Rather like Cyprus, this is not timeless, purposefully retrospective or knowingly nostalgic - it *is* a Portuguese ballad from 1974. Us fans seem to be quite taken with it, but then we always tend to be more forgiving of songs that hark back to the mythical golden age of Eurovision. And many of us are fairly gagging to see Portugal make the final just because they're the ultimate sympathetic ESC underdog in need of a decent break. More than a handful think that break has finally come now that Ms Fernandes has the honour of bringing down the curtain on the second Semi. I'm by no means sure that the wider televoting audience will be prepared to indulge us in our righteous sentimentality, however.
Vania has a very good voice and provided she's on song she may well be able to leave viewers with some sense of climax. It's not going to be a spectacularly convincing one though, and I have my doubts as to whether a rousing delivery of a very dated song will be enough to see her through. And should she make the final, she will be effortlessly eclipsed by Serbia in any case. If Vania had even half of Norwegian Maria's winsome charms, I might be more inclined to be optimistic. And for the record, I'd just like to state that if I'm proven wrong, I'll be grinning from ear to ear.
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