Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest performing a jazz-style ballad written by sister Luisa, beating second-place Bulgaria.
“Music is not fireworks, music is feeling,” Sobral said after the winner was announced.
Italy and Portugal had been the bookmakers’ favourites going into the 62nd edition of the Eurovision contest, which was hosted in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
This is the first time Portugal won since it first entered the contest in 1964.
The commentator on the Portuguese state broadcaster RTP shouted “we have, we have won, this is amazing, it is absolutely incredible.”
Sobral, who has a serious heart condition that saw him miss the first week of rehearsals, reprised his song at the end of the show and was joined by his sister Luisa for a duet.
Their song, which translates as For the Both of Us, won top marks from both from the televoters and the countries’ professional juries, getting 758 points altogether. This dwarfed Jamala’s win last year for Ukraine with 534 points.
It wasn’t all about the singing, though – last year’s winner Jamala had her performance briefly interrupted by a man flashing his bottom.
BBC Monitoring reported that Ukrainian TV identified him as “scandalous” Ukrainian prankster Vitaliy Sedyuk. Jamala continued to sing “unfazed”, the broadcaster 1+1 TV said.
The stage invader, wrapped in an Australian flag, was swiftly wrestled off the stage by a security guard.
The WINNER of the #ESC2017 is Portugal! CONGRATULATIONS Salvador Sobral!!! #CelebrateDiversity pic.twitter.com/uMvU4fFf9Z
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 13, 2017
The contest this year took place in the Kiev International Exhibition Centre in Ukraine. The host country could only manage 23rd place out of 26 this time round.
Portugal will now host the contest next year.
Salvador Sobral is The WINNER of the #ESC2017!! #POR🇵🇹 #CelebrateDiversity pic.twitter.com/HMLsAhkF4u
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 13, 2017
