Our most recent interview was with the lovely iolanda! She is set to represent her home country of Portugal at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö next month!

Her song Grito (Scream) won the 58th edition of Festival da Canção in March, and she’s been extremely busy preparing her Eurovision performance. This was her first FdC as a performer, having previously written on Blacci’s Mar no fim (End of the sea) in 2022.

As the title Grito suggests, there is a moment in the song where iolanda lets out a boisterous scream. As it turns out, there is a lot of emotion behind that part of iolanda’s performance:

“You know that moment happened in the studio, actually,
because I was obviously looking for a part C, and I really wanted to,
to have a moment of self-release and something very strong, and I thought,
why am I not getting this? What is missing? And then, all of a sudden […] I was so angry that I wanted to have something for the part C […] and I was like, what am I going to do now? And then, I did the scream, and it stayed. It was the first take I ever did. […] I never had done it, so well as I did in the studio, because the studio was the first time. It’s like, you are with all the energy and all the anger, so it’s very difficult to replicate that, but it’s something that I’m working on not in terms of notes, but in terms of intensity, and passion, and feeling.”

— Iolanda Costa

As Portugal was one of the last countries to choose its Eurovision act, we asked iolanda if that causes any stress or pressure, as she has less time than other countries to submit her staging plans to the EBU:

“When I went to Festival da Canção, I went ready to win and to represent Portugal in Eurovision. There was something that was, very, very clear in my mind, especially because I knew that the time was short, so [if we win] how can we do this in Sweden? How can we represent Portugal in Sweden? So I thought, okay, let’s prepare this, the best we can, with something that we would love to see in Eurovision. So I did that job, I prepared myself, because if something happens, at least I’m prepared, because I hate to do stuff on a pressured schedule.”

— Iolanda Costa

Be sure and check out the full interview with iolanda (above) to find out her thoughts on the Madrid pre-party, her plans for after Eurovision, and her favourite Portuguese Eurovision entries of all time! The episode is available now wherever you get your favourite Eurovision podcasts!

How do you like Grito? How will Portugal do at Eurovision 2024? Let us know in the comments and on our social media profiles @buildingbridgespod !