Saudade, saudade

2022 song by Maro
"Saudade, saudade"
The official cover for "Saudade, saudade"
Live version cover
Single by Maro
Language
  • English
  • Portuguese
Released21 January 2022
GenreIndie pop
Length3:01
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)Mariana Secca
Producer(s)
  • Maro
  • John Blanda
Music video
"saudade, saudade" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2022 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Maro
Composer(s)
  • Mariana Secca
  • John Blanda
Lyricist(s)
Mariana Secca
Finals performance
Semi-final result
4th
Semi-final points
208
Final result
9th
Final points
207
Entry chronology
◄ "Love Is on My Side" (2021)
"Ai Coração" (2023) ►

"Saudade, saudade" (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɐwˈðaðɨ sɐwˈðaðɨ]) is a song recorded by Portuguese singer Maro. She collaborated on the song with American musician John Blanda. It was released for digital download and streaming on 21 January 2022 via Universal Music.

It is an indie pop track with the lyrical theme of saudade. The song became commercially successful on home soil, peaking inside the top 5.

"Saudade, saudade" represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. The song finished in ninth place with 207 points. Maro performed on stage B accompanied by five backing vocalists forming a circle in a dark setting.

Background and release

"It's about loss, but it's also celebration. It's crazy how impactful our grandparents can be, and how it's a reference to so many values, including unconditional love. Music is what gets us closest to that connection."[1]

—Maro

"Saudade, saudade" was one of the 20 songs that competed in Festival da Canção 2022, Portugal's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Maro was one of the songwriters invited by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry.[2] Maro decided to be the performer due to the song's personal nature: "[it] is about and for my grandfather who unfortunately is no longer with us, but who continues to be an essential part of me and who is and always will be greatly missed. That is why, I thought it would not make sense not to sing such a personal song."[3] Maro and American musician John Blanda, one of her best friends, composed the song during a trip to Brazil.[4] The whole song originated from a Blanda's guitar riff. Maro thought it was beautiful and wanted to use it. She then wrote the lyrics over the melody.[5]

"Saudade, saudade" was released for digital download and streaming as part of the Festival da Canção 2022 compilation album on 21 January 2022 via Universal Music.[6][7] A piano-driven version titled "Saudade, saudade (Live in Studio)" was released on 7 March 2022.[8]

Composition

Maro collaborated on "Saudade, saudade" with John Blanda. It is an indie pop track with a length of three minutes and one second (3:01)[9] that moves at a tempo of 83 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of B♭ minor and written in triple metre.[10] With background vocals, the song has an instrumentation consisting of strings, percussion and clapping. The track is influenced by Spanish flamenco, in addition to African and Brazilian music.[4] The song's lyrical theme is saudade, a Portuguese word with no direct English translation. Dictionary.com defines saudade as a "deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent".[11] The character in the song focuses on the uniqueness of the word to express her true feelings: "Saudade / Saudade / Nothing more that I can say / Says it in a better way".[12]

Commercial performance

"Saudade, saudade" entered the Portuguese singles chart at number 176, before moving up to number 4.[13] The track debuted at number 3 on Billboard's Portugal Songs chart.[14]

Live performances

On 16 February 2022, Maro uploaded to her YouTube channel an acoustic version recorded in Avinyó, Spain.[15] Maro appeared on radio station RFM on 17 March, singing a portion of the song during the interview.[16] On 29 April 2022, the third episode of Eurovision House Party 2022 featuring Maro premiered, and her stand-alone performance became available on 5 May of that year.[17][18] On 7 May 2022, Maro's interview and performance became available on radio station TSF's website.[4] On the same day, Maro's Wiwi Jam at Home acoustic performance was uploaded to Wiwibloggs' YouTube channel.[19]

Eurovision Song Contest

Festival da Canção 2022

On 4 November 2021, Maro was announced as a participating songwriter of Festival da Canção 2022, Portugal's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.[20] On 21 January 2022, Maro was announced to be performing her song, titled "Saudade, saudade".[21] She competed in the first semi-final on 5 March 2022, placing first with 22 points after winning the jury vote and coming second in the televote. In the final, held on 12 March of that year, she won both the jury vote and the televote, placing first overall with 24 points, becoming the Portuguese representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.[22][23]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place at the PalaOlimpico in Turin, Italy, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, followed by the final on 14 May 2022. Portugal was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[24] Portugal performed in position ten, following the entry from Moldova and preceding the entry from Croatia.[25] For the grand final, Portugal was drawn to compete in the first half. Portugal was subsequently placed to perform in position 3, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Finland.[26]

Maro wore an outfit with a gradient color scheme and performed on stage B accompanied by five backing vocalists forming a circle in a dark setting.[27][28] During the performance, the background LED screens displayed the word saudade.[29]

Track listings

  • Digital download / streaming[6]
  1. "Saudade, saudade" – 3:01
  • Live in studio[8]
  1. "Saudade, saudade (Live in Studio)" – 3:10

Credits and personnel

  • Maro – lead vocals, production, songwriting
  • John Blanda – production
  • Alan Silverman – mastering
  • Pedro Calloni – mixing

Charts

Chart performance for "Saudade, saudade"
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[30] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[31] 93
Lithuania (AGATA)[32] 3
Netherlands (Single Tip)[33] 6
Portugal (AFP)[34] 3
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 68
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 79
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[37] 51

Release history

Release history and formats for "Saudade, saudade"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 21 January 2022 Universal Music
Various 7 March 2022 (Live) Secca & Co. / Venice Music

References

  1. ^ "Portugal: MARO and her friends demystify 'saudade' for us". eurovision.tv. EBU. 3 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. ^ "São estes os 20 autores do Festival da Canção 2022" (in Portuguese). RTP. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Postcard: MARO - saudade, saudade / 1.ª Semifinal / Festival da Canção 2022" (in Portuguese). YouTube. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "MARO trouxe "Saudade, Saudade" à TSF antes da partida para a Eurovisão" (in Portuguese). TSF. 7 May 2022. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Maro. Dos vídeos com Eric Clapton e Salvador Sobral à vitória no Festival da Canção (Blitz Posto Emissor)" (in Portuguese). Spotify. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Festival da Canção 2022". Apple Music. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  7. ^ Granger, Anthony (13 January 2022). "🇵🇹 Portugal: Festival da Canção 2022 Songs to be Released on January 21". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Saudade, Saudade (Live In Studio) - Single". Apple Music. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Indie Lusitano". Spotify. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Eurovision 2022 Track Analysis". TellyStats. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Saudade Definition & Meaning". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  12. ^ "MARO – saudade, saudade (Lyric Video) / Festival da Canção 2022". YouTube. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Portuguese Charts: Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Portugal Songs (Week of March 26, 2022)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  15. ^ "MARO - "saudade, saudade" (Live in Avinyó)". YouTube. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  16. ^ "MARO - SAUDADE SAUDADE". RFM. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Eurovision House Party 2022: Episode 3 - EXCLUSIVE PERFORMANCES". YouTube. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  18. ^ "MARO - Saudade Saudade (Acoustic) - Portugal 🇵🇹 - Eurovision House Party 2022". YouTube. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  19. ^ "MARO "saudade, saudade" acoustic (Portugal Eurovision 2022) / Wiwi Jam at Home". YouTube. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Já são conhecidos os compositores do Festival da Canção". Jornal i (in Portuguese). 4 November 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Portugal: RTP unveils Festival da Cançao 2022 acts and entries". ESCToday. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  22. ^ "MARO wins 'Festival da Canção': will represent Portugal in Turin 🇵🇹". Eurovision.tv. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Festival da Canção 2022 Voting Results" (PDF) (in Portuguese). RTP. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Eurovision 2022: Which Semi-Final is your country performing in? 🇮🇹". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". EBU. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  26. ^ "Eurovision 2022: The Grand Final running order". EBU. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  27. ^ "[DIA 2] ESC2022: Continuam os ensaios no palco eurovisivo de Turim" (in Portuguese). ESC Portugal. 1 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  28. ^ "[DIA 5] ESC2022: Acompanhe connosco a segunda ronda de ensaios em Turim" (in Portuguese). ESC Portugal. 4 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  29. ^ Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Turin, Italy. 10–14 May 2022.
  30. ^ "Streymi, spilun og sala viku 20 – Listarnir gilda til 28. maí 2022" (in Icelandic). lötutíðindi. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  31. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  32. ^ "2022 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  33. ^ "Dutch Single Tip 21/05/2022". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  34. ^ "Maro+%5BPT%5D – Saudade, saudade". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 2 June 022.
  35. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 20". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  36. ^ "Maro+%5BPT%5D – Saudade, saudade". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  37. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  • v
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ParticipationArtistsSongs
  • "Ai coração"
  • "Amar"
  • "Amar pelos dois"
  • "Amor d'água fresca"
  • "Antes do adeus"
  • "Baunilha e chocolate"
  • "Bem bom"
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  • "Há sempre alguém"
  • "Há um mar que nos separa"
  • "O jardim"
  • "Love Is on My Side"
  • "Lusitana paixão"
  • "A luta é alegria"
  • "Madrugada"
  • "Medo de sentir"
  • "Menina do alto da serra"
  • "O meu coração não tem cor"
  • "Não sejas mau para mim"
  • "Neste barco à vela"
  • "Oração"
  • "Penso em ti, eu sei"
  • "Playback"
  • "Portugal no coração"
  • "Quero ser tua"
  • "Saudade, saudade"
  • "Se eu te pudesse abraçar"
  • "Senhora do mar (negras águas)"
  • "Silêncio e tanta gente"
  • "Só sei ser feliz assim"
  • "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe"
  • "Sol de inverno"
  • "Telemóveis"
  • "Todas as ruas do amor"
  • "Tourada"
  • "O vento mudou"
  • "Verão"
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  • "Voltarei"
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