Introduction

• Participant(s): Conan Osiris
• Song: "Telemóveis"
  
• Writer(s): Conan Osiris
  
• Composer(s): Conan Osiris
• Broadcaster: RTP 
• Social media:   
  
• Team review: 

Last year Portugal hosted its first ESC ever! It was a fabulous show which will be well remembered. The host city Lisbon was a great place to follow the Eurovision Song Contest and the Portuguese were very proud of that. Last year’s beautiful entry “O Jardim” by Claudia Pascoral could not convince and only made a 26th place.

With a lot of new energy the Portuguese broadcaster RTP has produced a national final Festival da Canção with three live show with a lot of extraordinary songs with new singing talents. At the end Conan Osíris could convince the Portuguese TV spectators with his unusual song “Telemóveis” with an even more interesting stage show.

Conan Osíris, whose real name is Tiago Miranda, a 30-years-old singer, is born in Lisbon 1989. Conan studied graphic design in Castelo Branco where he met Rúben de Sá Osório, who became is personal stylist, he has also created his image, therefore his last name is Osriris. His first artist name Conan origins from Egyptian mythology and the animated series Future Boy Conan, the symbol of rebirth and resurrection.

Conan has release three albums already and he was invited by RTP to compose a song for the Festival da Canção 2019. In the national final he could win with his own composition, receiving the maximum points by jury and televoters. Immediately, after winning the national final, the song “Telemóveis” topped the Portuguese charts.

The song “Telemóveis” is a very unusual and special song can’t be put in certain category. Maybe world music or art pop. The way Conan sings sounds like a meditation melody in India, there are strange arrangements of rhythm mixes and instruments. Conan underlines the otherness of this entry with his uncommon outfit and the dancer João Reis Moreira. The lyrics are a bit weird as well:

“What if I break the cell phone?
I only break what’s mine
Let's see if 'saudade' dies
Or if in the end I'm the one who dies”

Unfortunately, this song does not have a memorable melody. This is a piece of art and needs to be taken like this. It’s great to see such unusual entries in the ESC world. But it’s unreal to grant high chances, as it will polarize too much. Hence a qualification for the Grand Final is visionary.

History

• Debut: 1964
• Participations: 51
• Victories: 1
• Finals: 42 (5 since 2004)
• Top 10: 9
• Chances for Top 10: 18%
• Chances for Final: 36%

Last year Portugal hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time in the history, thanks to the great victory of Salvador Sobral singing “Amar Pelos Dois” the year before. Due to the fact that Portugal has never been really successful, it was considered as a miracle. So this year it’s the 51st participation of Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Portugal has joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 with the debut song “Oração” by António Calvário and came last with zero points unfortunately. This should not been taken as a bad omen, but Portugal is a country which has never won the ESC before. Portugal has made it 42 times in the Grand Final, out of 51 participations, and reached the Top10 only 9 times. So there is a chance of 18% chance to reach the Top10 for Portugal.

It’s a pity that Portugal seldomly made it in the Top 10. There were so many great and outstanding songs in the past. Especially the 80’s were packed with outrageous songs, which would probably have shaped higher nowadays, because 50% of the votes comes from the public via televoting. Especially the juries have always been strict with the points for Portuguese entries and Portugal has always been so eager to shape up well. The songs from Portugal have often been very folkloristic and became more modern in the recent years. Sometimes the Portuguese even send traditional Fado to the ESC, which is a great cultural enrichment, but often brought not enough points. But a lot of emotion and drama can mostly be found in the Portuguese entries even in the more contemporary songs. Salvador Sobral is the best example that calm and emotional music will also be heard and awarded.

Let’s hope that the general interest and the enthusiasm received a great kick due the wonderful presentation of Lisbon as a host city. This should also encourage other countries, which never won to choose really good songs of high quality. Unfortunately, last year’s host entry “O Jardim” by Claudia Pascoral made the 26th place only.

Biggest successes

1x 1st place

• Salvador Sobral | "Amar Pelos Dois" (2017)

1x 6th place

• Lúcia Moniz | "O Meu Coração Não Tem Cor" (1996)

2x 7th place

• Carlos Mendes | "A Festa Da Vida" (1972)
• José Cid | "Um Grande, Grande Amor" (1980)

2x 8th place

• Dulce | "Lusitana Paixão" (1991)
• Sara Tavares | "Chamar A Música" (1994)

Video Nostalgia

• “Sobe, Sobe, Balão Sobe“ | Manuela Bravo , Rank 9, 1979, Jerusalem
  
• “Penso Em Ti, Eu Sei” | Adelaïde , Rank 18, 1985, Gothenburg
  
• “Como Tudo Começou” | Rui Bandeira , Rank 21, 1999, Jerusalem