Salvador Sobral

Salvador Vilar Braamcamp Sobral is a Portuguese singer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for Portugal with the song "Amar pelos dois", written and composed by his sister Luísa Sobral. In doing so, he gave Portugal its first ever win in the contest since its debut in 1964, ending the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history (53 years). Sobral and his entry hold the Eurovision record for the highest-scoring winner, having earned a total of 758 points under the current voting system, after winning both the jury vote and televote.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, which previously hosted the competition in 2005, as well as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and 2013. The right to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest came after Jamala won the 2016 edition in Stockholm with her song 1944.

“Júlio Resende has the profound ability to reinvent Portugal’s trademark deep, emotional music through the piano,” says the respected world music magazine Songlines of the Portuguese pianist/composer. Resende’s concept of Fado Jazz is a perfect example of how jazz has become a global language for free musical expression – a concept which has been fundamental to ACT ever since its foundation over 30 years ago. The freedom of the Portuguese people is closely associated with the Carnation Revolution of 1974, and Júlio Resende has dedicated “Sons of Revolution” to it. The peaceful overthrow of dictator Salazar not only paved the way for democracy but also marked the end of colonial wars in Mozambique and Angola. “Without the revolution, I wouldn’t even exist,” says Júlio Resende. “My father is from Angola, he emigrated to Portugal after the revolution, and met my mother.”