For the first time in 60 years, the Festival da Canção, a competition that selects Portugal's representative at Eurovision, will have a Brazilian among the finalists. Leo Media, 28, from Rio de Janeiro, won the jury prize Sweet puzzlea piece full of references to MPB (Brazilian popular music), has secured a place in the final next Saturday, March 9.
However, the fame that the song received also brought racist and xenophobic attacks against the Brazilian on social media. After publishing the offensive content of some messages, the artist also received a wave of solidarity, including from many Portuguese.
“The attacks started when music It was launched in January. “But after I became the first Brazilian to reach the final of the Festival da Canção, things took another dimension,” he said. “People talk about my accent as if it was something disgusting, as if it was something that was not good at all.” . To listen. Really, really mean things.
The singer-songwriter reported that the situation had reached a level that he could no longer ignore. “I wasn't sure about exposing this situation, but then it felt good. Now I've received so many messages of support. I didn't know what was going to happen, but there was a wave of love that was so beautiful to follow.” “.
Leo Media has been based in Lisbon since 2017, and has always maintained strong references to Brazil in his work. Therefore, when he was invited by the organizers of the Cancao Festival to submit a composition for the competition, he said he did not think about changing the style.
“When they invited me, I decided to play music as I always do, without any adaptation. Brazilian music combines everything, as I have always done here in Portugal“.
selected song, Sweet puzzle, was completed the day before the invitation. “I thought it was a great coincidence and decided to take a chance,” Medea says. With a sunny feel of summer love, the song fell in love with the audience and judges.
Before devoting himself to the marathon of commitments with the Portuguese festival, the Brazilian held a series of shows in European cities, almost always with sold out tickets.
He states that the audience tends to be quite diverse. “There are always a lot of people from Brazil, I would say about 40%, but the rest is quite mixed. Many Portuguese, Italians and Spaniards.” Despite keeping Brazilian influences alive, many of the artist’s compositions also include references to Portugal. like Lisbon, Lisbon that it Arroyos Parish. “I love creating with what I experience, and I love capturing moments through music.”
Since he started participating in the song festival, the Brazilian's work has expanded. “In addition to the Portuguese, there are also a lot of people from abroad. They are people who follow Eurovision closely and therefore follow the selection in Portugal.”
The competition now has 12 finalists, who will perform live on Saturday night in a special RTP broadcast. Participants' scores consist of the sum of the judges' rating and the audience vote. In the event of a tie in the final, the opinion of the spectators prevails.
Given the weight of the popular vote on the result, the artists paid great attention to interacting with the audience. Brazilians make up the largest foreign community in Portugal, and on social media, many of their compatriots have shown their willingness to raise support to boost Leo Media's results in the competition.
The data as of December 2023 represents about 400,000 Brazilians legally residing in Portugal, which has a population of 10.3 million. However, the real numbers are higher, because the statistics do not include those with dual citizenship from Portugal or another EU country.
The winner of the competition will be the representative of Portugal in the 68th Eurovision Festival, which will be held next May in Sweden, the winning country in 2023.
Last year, Portugal's representative, Mimicat, came in 23rd place. So far, Portugal has won the title only once, in 2017, with the song love for both, Played by Salvador Sobral.
Exclusively PÚBLICO/Folha de São Paulo
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