Portugal No Coração: Amar Pelos Dois

Eurovision is alive and well and living in Lisbon, no news there. It was Salvador Sobral who brought the victory to the country with his lovesong Amar Pelos Dois.

It may not have been a worldwide super hit but it’s a winner Eurovision can be proud of.

Of course we were all delighted with the success of Loreen’s Euphoria like it was our own song taking over the world, but I guess that was a fluke. Eurovision and world domination don't really match.

Spotify, who decide what's in the charts, can not be arsed to put any Eurovision tunes in their industry sponsored playlists and radios only play them for a week but Eurovision delivers us some pretty awesome and original music. 

There seems to be no place for it anywhere else but we have learned to live with that, even like it that way and I wouldn’t change a thing.

And note to Salvador: for every Amar Pelos Dois or 1944 there’s a Dai Li Dou or Shady Lady. We love them all!

Back to Amar Pelos Dois

Salvador Sobral and his sister Louisa have inspired several artists to record their versions of the song and we’ll take a look at a few of them here. Relevant links are in the list at the end of this post.

First up there’s Alfred García’s version from Operacion Triunfo. Heartthrob Alfred performed his version of Amar Pelos Dois in the 4^th Gala of this years OT extravaganza series.

More about Alfred and Operacion Triunfo releases here at the Lisbon Collection.

Another Eurovision 2018 hopeful, Ari Olafsson from Iceland performed APD even dragging up as Salvador, but that wasn’t released as a single or anything. (but you can still watch the videoclip).

I quite like the versions that were made for the Ballroom dance album Oversway. Amar Pelos Dois is a lovely floaty slow waltz.

Anarita sings on two versions, one in Portuguese and one in English  titled Both Of Us.

The same arrangements (at a lower pitch) were also used by the two versions released by BrunoM.

Banana Pealos Dois

Berliner Donato Plögert is no stranger to the occasional Eurovision cover. In his 20+ year career he has recorded many Eurovision tunes in German including Rapsodia (Italy 1992), Waar Is De Zon (Netherlands 1994) and Talking To You (Denmark 2005). I really should do a Eurocovers special about him some day….

Anyway, he recorded Amar Pelos Dois in German for his new album Banane (also on CD) as Mein Herz Liebt Für Zwei.

A Swedish version För Oss Båda was recorded by Svenska Lyxorkestern. 

Several other artists have recorded APD and since it’s not too difficult anymore to release a digital single, they all did just that. Below is a list of all the covers I know of that have been officially released. There’s probably more and I’m sure you’ll let me know.  

A List: Amar Pelos Dois.

Alfred García (half of the Spanish duo for 2018)

- on CD Operación Triunfo: Alfred García: Sus Canciones, live video)
Anarita (Both Portugese and English)

- digital singles, video’s at R&B Universal, from the album Oversway
BrunoM (Both Portugese and English)

- digital singles, video’s at R&B Universal
Svenska Lyxorkestern - För Oss Båda (Swedish)

-  digital single, video, Swedish lyrics by Anders Forsslund
Donato Plögert - Mein Herz liebt für Zwei (German)

- CD Banane, available through Donato’s shop

And then some...

Marina Damer (digital single, video)

Elaine Brackin (digital single, video)
Sam Darris (digital single, video)
Gerson Galvan (digital single. video)
Spell Choir (acapella, digital single, video)
Mercuzio Pianist (Piano instrumental, digital single)
Leon Noel (Piano instrumental, digital single)
David Matevosyan (Violin instrumental, digital single)



The latest updates at the Lisbon Collection:

Like every year we’ll be bringing you all the release info on entries of this years Eurovision stars.

You'll find all official releases (physical and digital), promo info (as much as possible) and the odd coverversion, chart position and important trivia.
Always more to come, the latest updated pages are at the top of this links list.

Israel - Netta Barzilai wins HaKokhav HaBa and comes a'cluckin'.  single version, remixes released. Winner Eurovision 2018.

Cyprus - Eleni Foureira is on Fire!, Fuego revealed, Spanish version out now. 2nd place in Final.
Austria - Cesar Sampson to Lisbon, listen to Nobody But You, updates, 3rd Place and winner of the Jury Final.
Germany - Michael Schulte's Lied Für Lissabon. Dreamer album info, cdsingle on May 4.
Lithuania - Ieva Zasimauskaitė wins Eurovizijos Atranka, English and Lithuanian versions released, Jovani remixes out now
Slovenia - Lea Sirk wins EMA 2018, Thanks, No! Yes! Final! Great! Music Please!
Macedonia - Eye Cue Lost and found and Lost again, but a new remix is out now, without the reggae bits!
Moldova - O melodie pentru Europa won by DoReDos, New version, Russian version. More remixes out now

Portugal No Coração: Dias Do Vinil

Portugal. the country, won Eurovision in 2017, you all know that and it goes to show that perseverance pays off. It took them over 50 years and almost as many entries to finally get the trophy.

Portugal's Eurovision history is a rich one. Some of the country's greatest singers have entered the contest, some entries are associated with political history and some have been total duds.
It didn't seem like Portugal was on a course to glory in recent years. Only four songs reached the final since 2004 and the last time they ended in the top 10 was in 1996.
And then came Salvador Sobral and the rest is history.

To celebrate the contest being held in Lisbon five classic entries are re-released on glorious vinyl on April 21. The re-issues are a part of the Dias Do Vinil (Days of vinyl), a yearly celebration of the black gold organized by FNAC.
Update: Three of the five re-issues have already been sold out in the online store, but copies are still available at the Fnac stores, so if you're heading to Lisbon....

The re-issued entries are
1974 E Depois Do Adeus - Paulo De Carvalho
1976 Uma Flor De Verde Pinho - Carlos Do Carmo
- His LP Uma Canção Para A Europa (with all preselection songs) also gets a vinyl re-issue.

1978 Dai Li Dou - Gemini
- Their 1977 LP Pensando Em Ti also gets a vinyl make-over. This includes their version of the 1977 entry Portugal No Coração. 
1982 Bem Bom - Doce
1985 Penso Em Ti, Eu Sei - Adelaide

All five have their original b-sides, so no other language versions on the b-sides. Bem Bom has the first version with drum intro, not the later recording that appeared on the other European releases.

Paulo's Duetos
E Depois Do Adeus was re-recorded in 2017 for Paulo De Carvalho's CD Duetos. The album features classic Paulo tracks re-recorded with a range of Portuguese singers including Eurovision singers Rita Guerra, José Cid, Carlos Do Carmo,
Paulo performs E Depois... with Marisa Liz.
The CD and 2LP were released in May 2017, a 2CD re-issue from November also includes a duet with Dulce Pontes.

Links and sources:
Paulo De Carvalho: Facebook
Adelaide Ferreira: Facebook
Carlos Do Carmo: Facebook
Related Eurocovers post:
E Depois Do Adeus - José Calvario (2009)

The Lisbon Collection

Our 2018 website, The Lisbon Collection,  has everything you need to know on the releases, versions and other trivia of this years Eurovision Song Contest.

Here are a few of the just updated pages
Belarus - Еўрабачанне-2018, Alekseev wins, new version out now, The Forever EP, remix
United Kingdom - Eurovision you decide, songs out! SuRie Storms to Lisbon. New version released, 7th Heaven remixes out now! calm after the Storm: Acoustic version out now
Let's Get Physical - Quick list of physical releases, Portuguese book and more stuff
Lithuania - Ieva Zasimauskaitė wins Eurovizijos Atranka, English and Lithuanian versions released, Jovani remix out now
Hungary - A Dal 2CD out now, Let's get loud with AWS, Listen to the English version
Finland - Finland sends Monsters. Again! WWW album info, Remixes out now
Albania - The first song for Lisbon, new Eurovision version remains in Albanian, promo info update
Spain - Operación Triunfo revived, Alfred & Amaia to Eurovision, Eurovision Gala CD on February 23. New version of the Cancion and even more OT CDs, cdsingle(s) out now, updates

Colé and her mates sing Eurovision tunes.

South African singer Colé Van Dais has been featured at Eurocovers before as she created several interesting coverversions of Eurovision tunes.

Now there’s a new album for all to enjoy. 

Colé and Friends collects ten Eurovision tunes old and young plus two national final gems. Colé's Friends include the mighty Katrina and Great Latvian Bake Off Joran from Aarzemnieki. 
Among the others are some well known African artists like Marc Rantseli of 80's hitsters MarcAlex and up and coming singer Sisana Kubheka.

Next to Afrikaans you get to hear some languages not often (never) associated with Eurovision: Tsonga, Thai, Xhosa, Yoruba and Zulu.

Colé and Friends is available from iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.

Here's a track-by-track of the album.

1. Love Shine A Light (Africa Version, in English) with Katrina Leskanich.

The 1997 Eurovision winner by Katrina and The Waves gets a sunshiny makeover and Katrina guests on her own classic. The pair met at the 80's Rewind Festival South Africa in 2015.
This track was already released as a digital single in 2016.

2. Kom Saam Met My (Come with me) with Righardt Greyling (in Afrikaans)

The original, Dziesma Par Laimi (Latvia 2004) gained fame for being released in nine languages by the originals artists Fomins and Kleins. 

3. Spirit Of The Night with Sergey Sysuev (English/Russian)

San Marino 2017 by Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson. Sergey is from Ukraine.

4. Op Die Dansvloer (On the dancefloor) with Lia Chabane (Afrikaans/Tsonga)

Glorious by Cascada (Germany 2013)

5. Dear Friend with Organ Prawang (English/Thai)

Nostalgia by Magazin and Lydija (Croatia 1995). Organ Prawang is a classical singer from Thailand.
Colé and Organ made a videoclip of this one.

6. One Gift Of Love with Keith McFarlane (English)

Runner up U.K. national final song by Dear John from 1995. Keith McFarlane was a member of Dear John when they entered the U.K. competition.

7. City Lights with Wendy Oldfield and Sisana Kubheka (English/Xhosa)

Belgium 2017 by Blanche, the biggest European hit of the Kyiv contest.

8. Molayo (I have joy) with Gbenga Adenuga from Nigeria (Afrikaans/Yoruba)

Solayo (Belarus 2013 by Alyona Lanskaya) This version was already released as a digital single in 2015. It apparently won The Voices for Charity Award for Best International Collaboration. (but I have no clue what that is...)

9. Ek’s So Lief Voor Jou (I'm in love with you) with actor Emmanuel Castis (Afrikaans)

U.K. 2015 Still In Love With You by Electro Velvet. This one didn’t fare too well at the contest but it's a typical guilty pleasure tune: You think it's not very good but when you hear it makes you happy. This could well be my favorite track on the album.

And Electro Velvet had a #1 hit on the physical singles chart in the U.K.. So there!.

10. Dinge Dong with Joran  (Afrikaans/Latvian)

Joran was the Cake Baking singer from Aarzemnieki who represented Latvia in 2014. But the tune is Ding A Dong, the Dutch 1975 winner by Teach In.

11. Peace Will Come with Marc Rantseli (English/Afrikaans/Zulu/Spanish)

Georgia’s entry by Diana Gurtskaya (2008). Colé also recorded a full Afrikaans version which can be heard here at Colé's Youtube channel.

12. Ware Vriend (True friend) with Yolundy Amanzi (Afrikaans)

Heaven by Contrazt, a 2015 song from the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix.

Links and sources

Thanks to Roy and to Colé.

Find out about more Colé van Dais Eurovision covers in these Eurocovers articles

Colé van Dais: Facebook, Youtube channel (updated links 2020)

Support the artists: buy Colé and Friends from iTunes or Amazon.

Some other Eurocovers by Colé van Dais are:

You Don't have To Say You Love Me is a coverversion of Dusty Springfields famous hit which is originally Io Che Non Vivo from the 1966 Sanremo contest. 

Wanneer Die Musiek Verdwyn is a cover of Azerbaijan 2012. (When The Music Dies by Sabina Babayeva) (digital single)
Dink Aan My is a coverversion of Haegt Og Hljot (Halla Margret, Iceland 1987) (Album Daai Tipe Meisie)
Glans Prinses (Shiny Princess) is Danish 2007 entry Drama Queen. (Album Daai Tipe Meisie)
Die Eiland (The island) is Aspro Mavro (Άσπρο-μαύρο), Cyprus 1987 entry by Alexia. (Album Daai Tipe Meisie)
Waar In My Wereld Is Jy (Where are you in my world) is the 2013 winner Only Teardrops by Emmelie De Forest. (Digital single)
The album Daai Tipe Meisie (That kind of girl) was released in 2013.