"Amar pelos dois" (Portuguese pronunciation:[ɐˈmaɾp(e)luʒˈðojʃ]; English: "To Love for the Both of Us") is a song recorded by Portuguese singerSalvador Sobral. The song was written and produced by his sisterLuísa Sobral and released fordigital download as a single on 10 March 2017 by Sons em Trânsito. It premiered earlier that year, on 19 February, when it was performed during the first semi-final ofFestival da Canção 2017.
"Amar pelos dois" is ajazz waltz with the lyrical theme ofheartbreak after a breakup. The track received praise frommusic critics. The song earned the Sobral siblings various awards, including twoMarcel Bezençon Awards. The track achieved commercial success, particularly in Europe, reaching the top ten in several countries. It was certifiedplatinum by theAssociação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP). Sobral has performed "Amar pelos dois" at his international tours. It is included in theEuropean Union Songbook as the all-time topPortugueselove song, and it is listed in theGuinness World Records. The song has been covered by several artists.
"Amar pelos dois" representedPortugal in theEurovision Song Contest 2017 inKyiv, Ukraine. The song gave Portugal its first ever win in the contest since their debut in1964. It amassed 758 points, setting the record for the highest score in the history of the competition, and is the only entry to top both the televoting and jury voting in the second half of the 2010s. Salvador Sobral performed the song alone on stage B, close to the audience, while the backgroundLED screens displayed anenchanted forest.
"Amar pelos dois" was one of 16 songs commissioned byRádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) forFestival da Canção 2017, Portugal's national selection for theEurovision Song Contest 2017. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry. Luísa Sobral composed "Amar pelos dois" specifically for her brother, Salvador: "I never thought about singing this song myself because when I wrote it I already had my brother's voice in mind. I was very fond of seeing him playing my song, because I think he is an extraordinary singer and because it gives me great joy to see him at the song contest and also that it turned out to be a family thing".[1] Salvador Sobral stated that even though "Amar pelos dois" was created by Luísa, she gave him freedom to perform the song according to his artistic personality.[1]
"Amar pelos dois" premiered on 19 February 2017, when it was performed for Festival da Canção 2017. The song was released fordigital download andstreaming as a single on 10 March 2017 via Sons em Trânsito.[2] On 16 June 2017, it was released as aCD single bySony Music.[3]
"Amar pelos dois" was written and produced byLuísa Sobral. The song is ajazz waltz[4] with a length of three minutes and five seconds (3:05),[2] that moves at atempo of 92 beats per minute.[5] It is composed in thekey ofF major and written intriple metre, with Salvador Sobral's vocals spanning from D4 to G5.[6] Withoutbackground vocals, the song has an instrumentation consisting ofstrings andpiano. Sobral stated that "Amar pelos dois" is "influenced by those old songs from theGreat American Songbook, and it also has a touch of the beautifulbossa nova melodies".[7] The song's lyrical theme isheartbreak after a breakup:[8] "Meu bem / Ouve as minhas preces / Peço que regresses / Que me voltes a querer".[nb 1] Sobral described it as "alove song. A sad one".[7]
"Amar pelos dois" was met with positive reviews frommusic critics. Fabien Randanne of20 minutes described it as a "superb melancholic song" with a "delightfully anachronistic sound".[9] Francisco Chacón ofABC noted that the song's jazz-pop tempo distinguished it from the "outlandish proposals in the otherwisekitsch music scene".[10] The staff ofParis Match listed the song as one of their ten favourite entries of 2017, and noted a "great vocal mastery".[11] Chris Zeiher of theSpecial Broadcasting Service noted the "simplicity" of the song, adding that "there's something refreshing and reflective" in it.[12] Benny Royston of theMetro named the song "Portugal's best everEurovision entry", and commented that "sticking toPortuguese maintains the charm and charisma of this song that pulls at the heartstrings through musical composition".[13] Christopher D. Shea ofThe New York Times described it as an "unexpectedly earnestballad" that "has earned a loyal following for upending over-the-top Eurovision expectations",[14] while Richard van de Crommert ofDe Telegraaf considered it Portugal's all-time best Eurovision entry.[15] Jens Maier ofStern called the song a "surprise", adding that it "enchanted" the contest.[16] Charlotte Runcie ofThe Daily Telegraph described it as an "artistic, beautifully crafted" and "sophisticated" song.[17] Silvia Fumarola ofla Repubblica wrote, "beautiful voice, romantic music. A ballad that breaks the mold: no choreography, no technological oddity".[18]
"Amar pelos dois" earned the Sobral siblings twoMarcel Bezençon Awards: Salvador Sobral received the Artistic Award, whereas Luísa received the Composer Award.[19]
At the ESC Radio Awards, "Amar pelos dois" won Best Song. It marked the first time sinceSweden's "Euphoria" (2012) that a Eurovision Song Contest winning entry also topped the ESC Radio Awards poll. Additionally, the song earned Salvador Sobral the Best Male Artist award.[20]
"Amar pelos dois" achieved commercial success, particularly in Europe. In Portugal, the song entered the singles chart at number 38 after winningFestival da Canção 2017[24] and remained on the chart for two weeks. Later, it re-entered the chart at number three.[25] It climbed to number one the following week, after its victory in theEurovision Song Contest 2017.[26] The track debuted at number four on the Portuguesedigital chart. The following week, it climbed to number three,[27] and ultimately topped the chart.[28] It received aplatinum certification by theAssociação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP) for selling over 10,000 units.[29]
Elsewhere in Europe, "Amar pelos dois" appeared on several digital charts, peaking at number one in Finland, the Netherlands and Spain,[30][31][32] while peaking inside the top ten in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden.[33][34] The song also appeared on various singles charts, reaching the top ten in Hungary and Switzerland,[35][36] as well as the top 40 in other countries.[37][38][39][40][41]
In the United States, "Amar pelos dois" peaked at number seven on theBillboardWorld Digital Songs chart, as one of the best-performing international digital singles.[33]
Salvador and Luísa Sobral, the latter of which composed "Amar pelos dois", first appeared on radio stationsRFM andRádio Comercial on 8 and 14 March 2017, respectively.[42][43] On 2 May of that year, Salvador Sobral's performance forSpain Calling International became available onRTVE's website.[44] On 25 May 2017, the Sobral siblings performed onRTP1'stalk showAgora Nós.[45] Sobral performed alongside Brazilian singerCaetano Veloso at theEurovision Song Contest 2018, on 12 May of that year.[46] On 31 October 2018, Sobral performed the song at the aRi[t]mar Awards inSantiago de Compostela, Spain.[47] Sobral has performed "Amar pelos dois" at his international tours.[48]
On 5 December 2016,Luísa Sobral was announced as a participating songwriter ofFestival da Canção 2017, Portugal's national selection for theEurovision Song Contest 2017.[49] On 18 January 2017,Salvador Sobral was announced to be performing her song, titled "Amar pelos dois".[50] After being sent two songs by Luísa that she had written for the competition, Salvador selected "Amar pelos dois" as the song that he would like to perform. Luís Figueiredo, who did the string arrangement, also chose "Amar pelos dois" as the song to go through the competition's various phases. Salvador Sobral competed in the first semi-final on 19 February 2017, placing second with 20 points after winning the jury vote and coming third in the televote.[51] In the final, held on 5 March of that year, he won the jury vote and came second in the televote, placing first overall with 22 points, becoming the Portuguese representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[52][53]
Sobral performing "Amar pelos dois" during a dress rehearsal for the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at theInternational Exhibition Centre inKyiv, Ukraine, and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, followed by the final on 13 May 2017. Portugal was drawn to compete in the first half of the first semi-final, with the running order for the semi-finals being decided by the producers in order to avoid similar songs being placed next to each other.[54] Portugal was set to perform in position nine, following the entry fromAzerbaijan and preceding the entry fromGreece.[55] For the grand final, Portugal was drawn to compete in the first half. Portugal was subsequently placed to perform in position 11, following the entry fromDenmark and before the entry from Azerbaijan.[56] Sobral was one of the favorites to win the contest, according to bookmakers.[57] With its tool, the "Eurosearch Song Contest",Google correctly predicted his victory.[58] For the winner's encore, Salvador and Luísa Sobral sang the song as a duet, as they previously did in the national final.[59]
By earning 758 points overall in the grand final, "Amar pelos dois" became the highest-scoring entry in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, overtakingUkraine's "1944", which had scored 534 points theyear before. The former is the only entry to top both the televoting and jury voting in the second half of the 2010s.[65] In the grand final, "Amar pelos dois" received at least five televote points from every participating country.[66] It is the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language sinceSerbia's "Molitva" (2007). With 382 points awarded by the national juries, "Amar pelos dois" broke the record of most jury points ever, surpassingSweden's "Heroes", which had received 353 points from the juries in2015.[66] Additionally, the song achieved the biggest winning margin of the decade, outscoring therunner-up by 143 points.[67] Under the1975-2015 voting system, "Amar pelos dois" would have scored 417 points, would have become the only entry to score 400 or more points, and would surpassNorway's "Fairytale" which scored 387 points in2009.[68] Also under the same voting system, the song would have received a record of 20 combined sets of 12 points, from televotes and jury votes, overcoming the 18 maximum scores collected bySweden's "Euphoria" in2012.[69]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Portugal in the first semi-final and the grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the televoting and jury voting conducted during the two shows. The country finished in first place on both occasions. In the semi-final, Portugal was ranked first with 370 points overall, garnering 197 from the televote and 173 from the jury vote.[70][71] In the end, the country won the contest with 758 points overall; 376 from the televote and 382 from the jury vote. In the grand final, Portugal earned a total of 30 sets of 12 points and 7 sets of maximum 24 points.[66]
"Amar pelos dois" is included in theEuropean Union Songbook as the all-time topPortugueselove song. The song was the most voted by the public in a field of ten songs pre-selected by music industry professionals, thus representing Portugal in the category Love.[73]
^abAmar pelos dois (Liner Notes) (Compact Disc). Salvador Sobral. Sons em Trânsito. 16 June 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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