[Archive 2017-05-15] Salvador Sobral wins Eurovision for Portugal
Historical Wikinews report from 2017-05-15. On Saturday, Portugal won its first victory at the Eurovision song competition, held this year at Kiev's International Exhibi
Historical archive — originally published 2017-05-15. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.
On Saturday, Portugal won its first victory at the Eurovision song competition, held this year at Kiev's International Exhibition Centre in Ukraine. Salvador Sobral's song Amar Pelos Dois won 758 points from public and professional judges. Bulgaria and Moldova came second and third respectively. Sobral called it "a victory for music".
Out of 42 countries participating this time, 26 countries including hosts Ukraine and the Big Five — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — competed in the finals. The competition began on May 9. Sobral, who has a serious heart problem, did not perform during early rehearsals. Ukraine, Germany and Spain ended up at the bottom of the vote ranking winning collecting respectively 36, six and five points.
UK representative Lucie Jones secured fifteenth place with 111 points. Sobral's ballad was written by his sister, who joined the 27-year-old winner on the stage during the reprise. Winner of the second semi-final Bulgaria's Kristian Kostov secured 615 points from the voting and Moldova won 374 points. Last year, Ukrainian singer Jamala scored 534 points, then highest in the competition, but this year won only 36 points.
Kasia Moś, representing Poland, said that she dedicated her performance to animal rights and added "I just hope that after this in Poland we’re going to change the law and we will not have dogs on chains".
As the winner of this edition of the competition, Portugal is to host next year's competition. Two-time winner of the competition Ukraine previously hosted the 2005 contest.
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Text adapted from Salvador Sobral wins Eurovision for Portugal by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.
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