Number 2 | A countdown of Portugal's best at Eurovision
We here at Eurovoxx have been counting down our all-time favourite Eurovision entries from Portugal in celebration of the upcoming contest in Lisbon. Competing since 1964, Portugal has an extensive history in Eurovision. added up all of our own personal Top 10's and our second place is the Portuguese entry from 2008, Vânia Fernandes with "Senhora do mar".
"Senhora do mar" was written by Carlos Coelho together with Croatian Andrej Babic, who has also written many other Eurovision songs and national final entries for various countries. The title of the song translates as "Lady of the sea". The song gives us a dark and mysterious vibe and it is sung in the traditional Portuguese style of fado.
Vania began her singing career at twelve years old. She would enter singing competitions so she would have the opportunity to sing in front of audiences. In 2007, at the age of 22, she competed in Portuguese talent show, Operação Triunfo 3, which she went on to win. Her next contest was Festival da Canção in 2008 where she won the ticket to Eurovision in Belgrade with more than double the amount of votes than the runner-up.
Prior to Eurovision, Vania released an instrumental version of her song, a remix version by DJ Rui da Silva, and a version partly sung in Serbian together with Beauty Queens, who sang backing vocals for Marija Šerifović at Eurovision 2007.
In the lead up to the 2008 contest, Portugal was a huge fan favourite. At semi final 2, after nine of the ten qualifying countries had been announced, the crowd began to chant "Portugal, Portugal".
"That meant the world to us, to all the team and especially to me because I felt like, when we realized people screaming 'Portugal', I was like, okay, even if it's not us, I feel like we already won. It's wonderful"
said Vania in an interview with Eurovision Radio International in 2013.
Portugal was in fact, chosen as the last qualifier to go to the final, the first time this had happened since the introduction of the semi finals in 2004. Portugal had placed in 2nd in semi final 2, only behind Ukraine. At the final, Portugal would go on to finish in a respectable 13th place, receiving 10 points from both Andorra and Switzerland. Until 2017, this was Portugal's best result since 1998.
After returning home to Portugal from Belgrade, Vania and her team were disappointed not to be greeted by any press at the airport.
"I'm sorry that the press didn’t realize that we gave our best then", she said.
However a group of fans did greet her at the airport and "Senhora do mar" is highly regarded among the fans as one of Portugal's very best songs.
Portugal's 2008 entry is our 2nd all-time favourite from Portugal. Which entry deserves to be our winner? Let us know what you think and check out or list so far!
The Top 10 so far:
10. 2009 - "Todas as Ruas do Amor" - Flor de Lis
9. 2014 - "Quero Ser Tua" - Suzy
8. 2005 - "Amar" - 2B
7. 2007 - "Dança comigo (Vem ser feliz)" - Sabrina
6. 1996 - "O meu coração não tem cor" - Lúcia Moniz
5. 1993 - "A cidade (até ser dia)" - Anabela
4. 2017 - "Amar pelos dois" - Salvador Sobral
3. 2010 - "Há dias assim" - Filipa Azevedo
2. 2008 - "Senhora do mar" - Vânia Fernandes
