Salvador and Luísa Sobral have been presented with the prestigious Order of Merit awards by Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the siblings have also received the Personality Of The Year 2017 Award by the AIEP (Associação da Imprensa Estrangeira em Portugal, Association of the Foreign Press in Portugal).
Epic success
Salvador Sobral and Luísa Sobral were honoured with the Ordem do Mérito because of their epic success at Eurovision 2017, winning the contest with the song Amar pelos dois, Portugal’s first victory in the contest ever.
The head of the Portuguese Republic, president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated:
This is the appropriate moment to announce the distinction with the Order of Merit attributed on behalf of Portugal.
The prestigious Ordem do Mérito is given in honour of meritorious acts or services practiced in the exercise of any functions, public or private, that reveal self-denial in favour of the community.
The Sobral siblings received the honour after also being awarded with the Personality Of The Year 2017 Award by the Association of the Foreign Press in Portugal. The ceremony was held at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon.
Salvador Sobral shared on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/salvadorsobralmusic/photos/a.1485656081707256.1073741833.1484043168535214/2027306390875553/?type=3
More money for culture
Salvador Sobral took the opportunity to address the government’s funding for the arts and culture in Portugal. The outspoken singer expressed:
I also hope that these prizes, these decorations will be an incentive to increase the share in the State Budget a little bit, for future state budgets for culture, because this is a bit shameful.
No doubt president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the attending Minister of Culture, Luís Filipe Castro Mendes, will take due note of Salvador Sobral’s solid advice.
Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with the ballad Amar pelos dois, composed and written by his sister Luísa Sobral, an accomplished singer-songwriter herself.
Following his victory, Luísa joined Salvador on stage to perform the winning entry together:
