Maro – Saudade Saudade
Final Thoughts:
Maybe, I’m just a bit crabby today, but this song did not move me at all. I might have to rewatch this performance with a “fresh mind”. I do not know why, but I was expecting more of an uptempo song from Portugal (maybe because they sent a slow song last year). For me, her voice seemed a bit weak, and to keep it real, I felt that her backup singers were stronger than she. The hubby and I listed to the recap of all the other songs/contestants in Portugal’s national selection (or Festival da Canção) and 90% of the songs seemed better than this one. . . at least to us. Getting upset that song A won instead of song B is one of the reasons why I decided not to watch all of the country’s national selections. Plus, who has that much time to review all of these music festivals/contests. I think there were like 31-35 national selections.
Portugal in last year’s Eurovision
THE BLACK MAMBA – LOVE IS ON MY SIDE
Semi-final results: 4th place out of 17 performances (239 total points – 128 national juries and 111 public votes)
Final results: 11th place out of 26 performances (153 total points – 126 national juries and 27 public votes)
I will honestly say that I was really surprised with how well The Black Mamba performed in the final. Actually, I’m also surprised with how well the group did in the televote in its semifinal round. Actually II, I take most of that back. Based on the musical arrangement and the simplicity (not saying that’s a bad thing), I can see how the national juries would give this song high marks. But, the low televotes for the final makes complete sense. I have a feeling that many of the televotes for ballads went to Switzerland and France. I think this one of the few songs that did not grow on me after Eurovision. This probably is due to the lead singer’s voice. His voice is not bad, but the high-pitch male singing voice (unless the singer is hitting a high note) is not my thing so much. Singing aside, the lead singer and the rest of the group look like they would be so much fun to hang with.