EUROVISION ADDICT: Joana Alegre: My sound as an artist comes from all the things I ever listen to that moved and inspired me.

Ever since Portugal won Eurovision, Festival da canção has become in one of my favorite NFs, getting to interview and get to know more about those acts participating in it is such a pleasure. Our next interview is one of those that made me very happy while I was reading it so I hope it creates that same effect on all of you, here are Joana's answers:

Name: Joana Alegre

Birthday: 12/09 September creature

Height: 1,68 cm

Favorite color: Impossible to name one single color...maybe Blue.

What’s your strangest talent? I have a really good eye for measurements

What is the strangest thing you have in your room? a salt crystal lamp my friend Tainá offered me as a birthday gift.

What are you really good at? mediation, music, and baking sweets.

What are you really bad at? Cutting things, I always end up cutting myself

Childhood memory: playing on the beach for long hours or in the countryside

Celebrity crush: humm divided between Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender!

Who would you cast to play you in a movie about your life? probably Maggie Rogers although I am not sure if she has any acting skills

What would the title of that movie be? Echoes

Favorite movie: ohhh tough one! Song of The Sea (animated fantasy film)

Favorite TV series: Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials, Outlander

Dish/Snack/Beverage/Candy we should try if we ever visit Portugal: You should definitely try seafood - Barnacles, clams à bulhão pato, codfish or octopus à lagareiro as well, and for dessert.... I would say sweet rice (arroz doce) or camel slobber (baba de camelo). To drink... a nice white wine or a super cold beer :)

What is your guilty pleasure? Food! :)

Can you recommend us a song (old or new) from a Portuguese artist? There is a female singer songwriter, self producer and also a visual artist I find wonderful and she should have a wider audience! Emmy Curl

Can you teach us some interesting words in Portuguese? Otorrinolaringologista ahah! toughest one!

HI Joana, welcome to the Eurovision universe. How are you doing?

Hi! I am doing well I supposed, given my family and I remain safe and healthy in the midst of this pandemic conjecture

How would you describe yourself as an artist?

Well I hate describing myself but I think poetry had a big influence on me, since an early age and opened up my senses towards music. My sound as an artist comes from all the things I ever listen to that moved and inspired me. Somehow all of those influences were impregnated in me making me who I am today.

You were one of the composers that RTP invited to take part in FDC 2021. How did it all begin?

I competed in the 2019/20 The Voice Portugal edition and ended up 3rd place. Luisa Sobral, the composer of “Amar pelos Dois”, reached out and we started working together on my next album, she is the producer. As we were recording the album the invitation to participate in the Portuguese Song Festival popped up, and of course I accepted!

"Joana do mar” is the title of your song, what's the story behind it?

The song was originally written for a well known portuguese singer Ana Bacalhau, we share the same love of the Atlantic and Ana has a beautiful powerful voice, so I wrote about the things we share as women and as ocean lovers, and put them into a song I thought would fit Ana’s strong voice. Ana loved the song and she even recorded a demo version. As the song grew in me, Ana would later decide to sing pop ballad wise songs in her next album, and so, for my great relief the song boomeranged back to me! And now I can sing out loud who I am as a songwriter, as a singer, as a woman, as an ocean creature.

What was the process of selecting which song to submit like? What made you pick Joana do mar?

It pretty much picked it self... although there were some second thoughts about another song “O Castelo”, but then Luisa sent me a voice message with Salvador Sobral saying I HAD to pick Joana do Mar, and so I did, ahaha, but also bearing in mind that in this time of hardships, people need some vital force and inspiration, rather than falling into the same sad and longing feeling of portuguese ballads.

How do you feel about the reaction your song has been getting from the fans?

I am super thrilled and very, very grateful!

What can we expect to see on stage for the performance?

Something simple but I hope it will be impactful, I hope people like it!

Have you heard any of the other songs in the competition? Any favorite?

Yes of course! I love Tainá’s song Jasmim, and also Neev’s song Dancing in the Stars.

The use of pre recorded backing vocals in the Eurovision performances will be allowed this year and that has set some kind of debate since some find it great but others think it could hurt the contest, as a singer what are your thoughts on this topic?

I think the pandemic context was always going to bring changes. Now the number of people on stage as to be limited, as such, I think the solution should always take in consideration what is best for the song itself, whether that means having live backing vocals, or pre recorded backing vocals.