Portugal’s Sobral Wins Eurovision Contest With Tender Ballad

Portugal’s Sobral Wins Eurovision Contest With Tender Ballad

KIEV, Ukraine — Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with a gentle romantic ballad that challenged the event’s decades-long reputation for cheesy, glittery excess.

Sobral sang his Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both) in a high, clear tenor accompanied by quiet strings and a piano. Unlike the 25 other competitors who performed on a wide stage backed by flashing lights, bursts of flames and other effects, Sobral sang from a small elevated circle in the middle of the crowd, an intimate contrast to others’ bombast.

“Music is not fireworks, music is feeling,” he said while accepting the award.

Runner-up Kristian Kostov of Bulgaria wasn’t short on feeling — his power-ballad “Beautiful Mess” was awash in melodrama, the singer appearing almost wrung out by romantic turmoil.

Image: Grand Final - 62nd Eurovision Song Contest
Salvador Sobral from Portugal performs during the Grand Final of the 62nd annual Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine, 13 May 2017.

Moldova’s Sunstroke Project finished a surprising third, with a bouncy, jazzy song called “Hey Mama” that featured a clever stage routine in which the female backup singers hid their microphones in bridal bouquets.

Francesco Gabbani of Italy had led bookmakers’ tallies for most of the days leading up to the final, but he ended up placing…