"Amar pelos dois" (Portuguese pronunciation:[ɐˈmaɾpɨluʒˈðojʃ]; English: "To Love for the Both of Us") is a song recorded by Portuguese singer
Salvador Sobral. The song was written and produced by his sister
Luísa Sobral and released for
digital download as a single on 10 March 2017 by Sons em Trânsito. It premiered on 19 February of that year, when it was performed during the first semi-final of
Festival da Canção 2017.
"Amar pelos dois" is a
jazz waltz with the lyrical theme of
heartbreak after a breakup. The track received praise from
music critics. The song earned the Sobral siblings various awards, including two
Marcel Bezençon Awards. The track achieved commercial success, particularly in Europe, reaching the top ten in several countries. It was certified
platinum by the
Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP). Sobral has performed "Amar pelos dois" at his international tours. It is included in the
European Union Songbook as the all-time top
Portugueselove song, and it is listed in the Guinness World Records. The song has been covered by several artists.
"Amar pelos dois" represented
Portugal in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in
Kyiv, Ukraine. The song gave Portugal its first ever win in the contest since their debut in
1964. 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 background
LED screens displayed an
enchanted forest.
Background and release
"I wanted to write a song that represents me, that could be on a record of mine, a song that I could be proud of and that's what I did".[1]
"Amar pelos dois" was one of 16 songs commissioned by
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) for
Festival da Canção 2017, Portugal's national selection for the
Eurovision 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 for
digital download and
streaming as a single on 10 March 2017 via Sons em Trânsito.[2] On 16 June 2017, it was released as a
CD single by
Sony Music.[3]
Composition
"Amar pelos dois" was written and produced by
Luísa Sobral. The song is a
jazz waltz[4] with a length of three minutes and five seconds (3:05),[2] that moves at a
tempo of 92 beats per minute.[5] It is composed in the
key of
F major and written in
triple metre, with Salvador Sobral's vocals spanning from D4 to G5.[6] Without
background vocals, the song has an instrumentation consisting of
strings and
piano. Sobral stated that "Amar pelos dois" is "influenced by those old songs from the
Great American Songbook, and it also has a touch of the beautiful
bossa nova melodies".[7] The song's lyrical theme is
heartbreak after a breakup:[8] "Meu bem / Ouve as minhas preces / Peço que regresses / Que me voltes a querer".[nb 1] Sobral described it as "a
love song. A sad one".[7]
Critical reception
"Amar pelos dois" was met with positive reviews from
music critics. Fabien Randanne of 20 minutes described it as a "superb melancholic song" with a "delightfully anachronistic sound".[9] Francisco Chacón of ABC noted that the song's jazz-pop tempo distinguished it from the "outlandish proposals in the otherwise
kitsch music scene".[10] The staff of Paris Match listed the song as one of their ten favourite entries of 2017, and noted a "great vocal mastery".[11] Chris Zeiher of the
Special Broadcasting Service noted the "simplicity" of the song, adding that "there's something refreshing and reflective" in it.[12] Benny Royston of the Metro named the song "Portugal's best ever
Eurovision entry", and commented that "sticking to
Portuguese maintains the charm and charisma of this song that pulls at the heartstrings through musical composition".[13] Christopher D. Shea of The New York Times described it as an "unexpectedly earnest
ballad" that "has earned a loyal following for upending over-the-top Eurovision expectations",[14] while Richard van de Crommert of De Telegraaf considered it Portugal's all-time best Eurovision entry.[15] Jens Maier of Stern called the song a "surprise", adding that it "enchanted" the contest.[16] Charlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph described it as an "artistic, beautifully crafted" and "sophisticated" song.[17] Silvia Fumarola of la Repubblica wrote, "beautiful voice, romantic music. A ballad that breaks the mold: no choreography, no technological oddity".[18]
Awards
"Amar pelos dois" earned the Sobral siblings two
Marcel 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 since
Sweden'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 thirty-eight after winning
Festival 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 the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[26] The track debuted at number four on the Portuguese
digital chart. The following week, it climbed to number three,[27] and ultimately topped the chart.[28] It received a
platinum certification by the
Associação 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 forty in other countries.[37][38][39][40][41]
In the United States, "Amar pelos dois" peaked at number seven on the BillboardWorld Digital Songs chart, as one of the best-performing international digital singles.[33]
Live performances
Salvador and Luísa Sobral, the latter of which composed "Amar pelos dois", first appeared on radio stations
RFM and
Rádio Comercial on 8 and 14 March 2017, respectively.[42][43] On 2 May of that year, Salvador Sobral's performance for Spain Calling International became available on
RTVE's website.[44] On 25 May 2017, the Sobral siblings performed on
RTP1's
talk showAgora Nós.[45] Sobral performed alongside Brazilian singer
Caetano Veloso at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018, on 12 May of that year.[46] On 31 October 2018, Sobral performed the song at the aRi[t]mar Awards in
Santiago 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 of
Festival da Canção 2017, Portugal's national selection for the
Eurovision 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]
In Kyiv
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at the
International Exhibition Centre in
Kyiv, 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 from
Azerbaijan and preceding the entry from
Greece.[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 from
Denmark 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, overtaking
Ukraine's "
1944", which had scored 534 points the
year 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 since
Serbia's "
Molitva" (
2007). With 382 points awarded by the national juries, "Amar pelos dois" broke the record of most jury points ever, surpassing
Sweden's "
Heroes", which had received 353 points from the juries in
2015.[66] Additionally, the song achieved the biggest winning margin of the decade, outscoring the
runner-up by 143 points.[67] Under the
1975-2015 voting system, "Amar pelos dois" would have scored 417 points, would have become the only entry to score 400 or more points, and would surpass
Norway's "
Fairytale" which scored 387 points in
2009.[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 by
Sweden's "
Euphoria" in
2012.[69]
Points awarded to Portugal
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 the
European Union Songbook as the all-time top
Portugueselove 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]
^
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