Our next contestant to come up on the Eurovision 2024 stage is Iolanda from Portugal singing her song “Grito“ (Scream).

Who is Iolanda?

Iolanda Costa was born on November 4, 1994 in Figueira da Foz, in the Coimbra district, Portugal. She demonstrated a passion for music since an early age, which brought her to study at the conservatory. When she was seventeen she enrolled in the faculty of communication sciences in Lisbon, and a few years later she moved to London to study musical composition at the British and Irish Institute of Modern Music of the University of Sussex.

She made her first debut in Festival da Canção in 2022, when she co-wrote the entry “Mar no fim”, sung by Blacci. In 2023 she released her first EP, Cura, that she wrote during the COVID pandemic.

Iolanda won Festival da Canção 2024 with the song “Grito” (Scream), obtaining the maximum score from the juries and second place from the televote and gaining the right to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

The Rehearsal

Grito is a song that really builds over the three minutes, and even though it’s a ballad, it still has a underlying bass that vibrates through the floor. A song you feel through your feet and into your chest.

Portugal Second Rehearsal 2024. Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU

The staging is similar to iolanda’s win at Festival da Canção, with five white-clad dancers with covered faces performing a contemporary dance routine. They’ve also lowered the middle cube, which makes the space feel more intimate and adds to the artistry.The whole act is creative and hypnotic.

Portugal Second Rehearsal 2024. Credit: Alma Bengtsson/EBU

After all today’s second rehearsals a recap video will be published on the official Youtube channel! Stay tuned!

The Dress Rehearsal for Portugal and the rest of Semi Final 1 will be held on the 6th of May.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest about Eurovision 2024!

Source: eurovision.tv

Hello Portugal! Mimicat can’t wait to entertain us with her folklore song. Her Portuguese heart is about to beat, and her rhythm influences us already.

“Diz-me lá se és meu”

(Tell me if you are mine)

Mimicat

Mimicat, whose real name is Marisa Isabel Lopes Mena, is a singer and songwriter from Portugal known for her pop and soul music. She will be representing Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with her song “Ai coração”. Mimicat had previously participated in Festival da Canção 2001 under the stage name Izamena but did not make it past the semi-finals. She started singing and recording at the age of nine and gained recognition in 2014 with her debut album “For You”. This year, she is set to release a new album featuring “Ai Coração” which she co-produced with Luís Pereira. In addition to her music, Mimicat is a cat owner and her pet’s name is Brownie.

The second rehearsal

The second rehearsal is just as impressive as the first one. Mimicat’s dress, made entirely of feathers, stands out as the only one of its kind in this year’s Eurovision, with the color red being a recurring theme. The opening piano glissando gives a strong impression of the song “I Will Survive”, but this performance is pure musical theatre extravagance.

Chloe Hashemi / EBU

Compared to her Festival da Canção performance, the staging has been simplified, but the four backing dancers still bring plenty of energy. The lighting and costumes all follow the same red theme. Vocally, Mimicat sounds stunning, and the overall performance is a sophisticated and crowd-pleasing cabaret act, with the final note being particularly impressive.