António Calvário

1957–1963: Debut in show business, Emissora Nacional, and first releases

In 1957, a group of Calvário's friends signed him up for an audition at the Emissora Nacional. He was eventually chosen, beating out more than 30 competitors with his performance of the song "Canta Brasil", earning him an exemption from training at the Centre for the Preparation of Artists for Radio (Portuguese: Centro de Preparação de Artistas para a Rádio).^[6] The singer started working the following year.^[11]

Having performed with the Tavares Belo Orchestra [pt] and participated in various shows since joining the Centre, in 1960, Calvário competed in the second edition of the Festival da Canção Portuguesa in Porto with the song "Regresso", written by Resende Dias and Maria Almira. In the end, he won the competition.^[3] The artist's victory was so overwhelming that he ended up going on tour both in Portugal and beyond.^[6] That same year, he signed a contract with the Portuguese record label Valentim de Carvalho, which was an obligation under the rules of the contest.^[1][11]

Calvário's first fee was 50 (escudos) for singing with Os Franceses on the radio programme Vozes de Portugal in Barreiro,^[2] and later each performance at the show Serões para Trabalhadores on the Emissora Nacional brought him 500 (escudos).^[5][6]

In 1961, Calvário won the title of King of Radio (Portuguese: Rei da Rádio) at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. He repeated it in 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1972.^[6][12]

1963 was a breakthrough year for Calvário, as he acted in the revue Chapéu alto, staged at the Teatro ABC in Lisbon, marking his debut in this industry.^[6]

1964–1977: Eurovision Song Contest, Festival da Canção, and expulsion from the stage

In 1964, Calvário was one of the six singers chosen by the Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) to take part in the inaugural edition of the Festival da Canção, the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1964. Competing with two songs, "Oração", written by Rogério Bracinha, Francisco Nicholson, and João Nobre, and "Para cantar Portugal", by Tavares Belo [pt], Jaime Filipe [pt], and Artur Ribeiro [pt], in the final on 2 February at the Estúdios do Lumiar [pt] in Lisbon, the former was declared the winner of the competition with a total of 79 points, while the latter scored only 11 points and finished sixth. Consequently, the artist earned the opportunity to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 in Tivolis Koncertsal in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "Oração". It was the country's debut in the contest.^{[5][13][14][15][16]} However, his entire journey was difficult, as the participation of Spain and Portugal had been criticised due to the dictatorships of Franco and Salazar; students had been demonstrating outside their embassies in Copenhagen as soon as the nations were announced to compete. As a result, only the singer himself went on behalf of the country's delegation. He was received in the host city by the Portuguese consul. The entry's conductor was Kai Mortensen, who approved of Nobre's arrangement, although there was a report from 7 March indicating that Belo would perform the role.^[17] On 21 March, the day of the contest itself,^[18] the organisers received alarming phone calls threatening anti-Franco strikes if Spain and Portugal appeared on stage. The panic reached its peak an hour before the broadcast began at 22:00 CET, when a report of a hidden time bomb was received, prompting the Copenhagen police chief to immediately mobilise an army of officers and firefighters to find it. The alarm turned out to be false, but a decision was made to deploy police during the festival; most of the officers were ordered to wear disguises to blend in with the crowd. In the Eurovision live show, Calvário performed eleventh^[19] and finished in thirteenth, last, place with "nul points",^{[20][21][22][23]} alongside entrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.^[6][24][25] The boycotters still managed to make their mark during the event: a man trespassed onto the stage after the Swiss contestant's performance holding a banner that read "Boycot [sic] Franco & Salazar".^[26] At that moment, viewers were shown a shot of the scoreboard, and once the protester was removed by a television technician, the programme went on.^[27] The intruder was later arrested. Calvário also attended the aftershow party at the restaurant Ambassadeur and was awarded a silver trophy, along with the other fifteen competing acts.^{[28][29][30][31]} The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 is infamous for the fact that no complete video recording is known to have survived due, according to host broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), to the lack of tape machines at the studio, leaving the artist's performance available only in audio format.^[32] At the same time, a French record company showed interest in recording "Oração" and some of his songs in French, but Valentim de Carvalho did not give permission.^[3][10]

Despite his unsuccessful participation in Eurovision the previous year, Calvário decided to enter the national selection Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa again in 1965. This time, he was the main performer of a total of three songs during the final on 6 February at the Estúdios do Lumiar [pt] in Lisbon, including "Por causa do mar" by Manuela de Moura Sá Teles Santos and José Pereira Mesquita, "Você não vê" by João Andrade Santos and Moura Sá Teles Santos, and "Bom dia" by Moura Sá Teles Santos and Pereira Mesquita. After the results sequence, none of them escaped the bottom three of the evening, while his workmate Simone de Oliveira emerged victorious and became the Portuguese entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 in Naples, Italy, at a later date.^[33][34][35]

Following negotiations between Calvário and Dutch cabaret performer Wim Ibo [nl], the artist, accompanied by two guitarists, travelled to the Netherlands in April 1965 to participate in his show called Cabaretkroniek, broadcast via the Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO).^[36] Greek singer-songwriter Kostas Hatzis also appeared on the same episode of the programme.^[37] According to Ibo, he invited them because he was "impressed by their singing" and wanted the Dutch people to "get to know them".^[38]

1966 saw another appearance for Calvário on the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa. At the show of the third edition held on 15 January at the Estúdio C da Tóbis in Lisbon, his entry "Encontro para amanhã", created by Jerónimo Bragança [pt] and Carlos Nóbrega e Sousa [pt], received 26 points and finished fifth. Instead, his close colleague Madalena Iglésias won the right to compete for Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.^[39][40]

In 1968, Calvário took part in the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa for the last time, with the song "O nosso mundo", written by Fernando Poitier and Fernando Vieira [pt]. He was not originally included in the final line-up that year, but eventually made it in after agreeing to replace Maria de Lourdes Resende [pt], who was forced to withdraw due to a commitment in Mozambique.^[41] Ultimately, the artist finished last with two points at the festival on 4 March at the Estúdios do Lumiar [pt] in Lisbon; Carlos Mendes was chosen to perform for Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 in London, the United Kingdom, at the end of the voting.^[42][43]

Calvário was reportedly stated to represent Portugal among men at the inaugural edition of the Festival de la Canción Latina en el mundo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 3 April 1968,^[41][44] but it was subsequently cancelled and postponed due to a dispute between its organiser Piero Bonino and TV companies. Nevertheless, RTP selected the performer again to compete for the country. At the rescheduled event, held at the Teatro Ferrocarrilero [es] in Mexico City, Mexico, from 19 to 23 March 1969, he sang "Canção da juventude", written by Pedro Jordão and Joaquim Pedro Gonçalves, and "Terra de flores", accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Franck Pourcel.^[45] The former took fourth place with 201 points in the competition, making Calvário the best singer from a European country that year.^{[6][10][46][47][48][49]}

Also in 1969, Calvário co-produced and starred in Constantino Esteves' film O diabo era outro. However, it suffered a major financial setback, as it was severely delayed, reducing the original budget of 2,000–2,500 to 4,000 contos. The singer had to take out a bank loan for 2,000 contos, which he later repaid by performing "wherever they would give me work", including circus shows.^{[3][6][10][12][50][51]}

Calvário's career took a sharp decline after the overthrow of the Estado Novo regime, sparked by the Carnation Revolution across continental Portugal on 25 April 1974, shortly before which the artist himself attended the premiere of a revue in Porto. The coup led to his association with the Salazar era. He was no longer invited to perform in shows and revues, forcing him to survive by singing in dubious cabarets, bars, and circuses.^[1][52]

1978–2007: "Mocidade, mocidade", grand return, and local activity

After four years of the exile, Calvário made a comeback in 1978, appearing in the revue Põe-te na bicha at the Teatro ABC in Lisbon, where he performed the song "Mocidade, mocidade".^[12] It was written the previous year by Nuno Nazareth Fernandes [pt], a significant figure in Portuguese music known for his leftist views, and Carlos Coelho, in an attempt to shed the stigma he had acquired.^[52] The return was successful and grandiose, as by the end of the 1970s, the artist had been featured in as many as two revues: Direita volver and A invasão at the Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon.^[6]

In 2003, journalist Luis Guimarães published a biographical book about Calvário called António Calvário: a canção de uma vida through the Garrido Editores.^[6][53]

Calvário participated in an episode of TVI's programme Circo das Celebridades [pt], which was aired on 19 March 2006.^[6] The show features local celebrities testing their circus skills,^[54][55] and the performer later said that "it was an unexpected invitation, but one I would never refuse".^[3]

2008–present: Histórias da minha vida, guest appearances, and later years

In March 2008, Calvário celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of his professional music career: he released the CD Nos palcos da vida with two previously unreleased songs "Cheguei estou aqui" and "Só a cantar", written by Ondina Santos and Vítor Talhadas (the challenge was proposed by Carlos Pacheco, president of the Boa Esperança community),^[56] and his autobiography Histórias da minha vida, through the Editora Guerra & Paz, to mark the occasion.^{[5][6][8][10]}

Calvário and Simone de Oliveira made an appearance on stage during the final of the Festival da Canção 2014, which took place on 15 March 2014.^[57]

The following year, on 3 March 2015, Calvário and Suzy opened the first semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2015.^[58][59] In September of that same year, he concluded in an interview with ESC PORTUGAL that the festival should prioritise famous names, explaining that in its early years, "the big names caused a great stir", unlike in the later era.^[16]

2018 marked the launch of a two-hour revue titled Volta a Portugal em revista, directed by Renato Pino and featuring Calvário and Natalina José [pt]. The show has been performed throughout Portugal, including in cities such as Caldas da Rainha,^[60] Estremoz,^[61] and Lavradio.^[2]

Calvário appeared as a guest in the first semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2024 on 24 February 2024.^[62][63] Later, on 30 October, the radio station Antena 1, owned by RTP, premiered the episode of the podcast Postal do Dia, dedicated to the singer's life.^[52]

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Single albums

Collaborations and other appearances

Film

Revues