Time for me to review the Portuguese entry this year
Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa
Status: not bad
Song: I never know what to expect with Portugal and with the tons of bad comments I've read here and elsewhere, I started fearing this would be really bad (like their 2011 entry
) but not at all! Actually, I was surprised by this rock-ish/pop-ish/electro-ish mix of a song. First of all, kudos for keeping on singing in your language, I love it, and as everyone now is selling their souls to the devil, it's even more worthy. This is a mid-paced song that has a linear structure but in that case, I don't feel this is an issue since it works for me. However, I like the verses but I find the chorus rather generic and underwhelming, that's a shame because with a stronger melody for that part, it would have been really nice. The chorus is indeed an important element in any song, and it falls flat there imo. Nonetheless, I enjoy listening to the song from time to time, but it lacks that extra hook for it to remain in my head.
Voice: I like Leonor's voice! Actually, I think she has a special one, her way of singing seems unusual to me too and I like it. It's very smooth, yet very rich and melodious. Her performance in the semi was amazing and as it was, she deserved to get through. It was much much stronger and appealing than the studio version imo. Great job girl!
Staging: Nothing too special but I liked it. I liked her outfit. Some people said it was too dark... Well, what did you expect? It's a sad song, they couldn't go for colours like "Todas As Ruas Do Amor"
Personally, I liked it, nothing more to say about it.
Outcome: Non-qualification was expected because Portugal is underrated forever. Based on her performance, I would have made her qualify had I been the jury, it's nice song overall even if the chorus is less memorable than the rest imo. It was so much better than at least half of the qualifiers to me, so nothing to be ashamed of Portugal! In my personal ranking, the song is ranked in the 15th-20th places, simply because there are songs that I like more, but it didn't deserve to fail. I agree with [MENTION=11240]musicfan[/MENTION] it would have been worshipped had it been sent by Denmark or Sweden
Anyway, better luck next year Portugal, I hope you'll send something good