In the spotlight: Elisa

11 April 2020 at 10:05 CEST

In the spotlight: Elisa Photo: André Madeira

With her song, 'Medo De Sentir', Elisa was chosen to represent Portugal in 2020. In light of the unfortunate cancellation of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, we wish to highlight the impressive acts that were set to appear. This is 'In the spotlight', our feature honouring the artists that would have made up this year's edition of the world's largest live music event.

Qualifying from the first semi-final show, Elisa went on to win Portugal's national selection, Festival da Canção 2020, securing her position as the delegate to her home country in 2020.

Who is Elisa?

Elisa was born in 1999 on the island of Madeira and started singing at the early age of 7. From her childhood, she remembers her father playing records from the great classics like The Beatles, Ray Charles, Queen, ABBA and The Eagles, among others. It was there that she fell in love with music.

In 2018, she moved to Lisbon to continue her studies and, there, began to compose her own songs. Today, she studies at the Music Academy of Lisbon and she has joined the Great Dane Studios as an artist.

Portugal's Eurovision 2020 representative Elisa André Madeira

READ MORE: Elisa's participant profile

Elisa was invited by Marta Carvalho to be the singer of her song Medo de Sentir (Fear of Feeling) for Festival da Canção 2020. In February 2020, Elisa signed a record deal with Warner Music Portugal and anticipates the release of her original songs soon.

Recently, Elisa posted to Facebook with regard to the COVID-19 crisis and how fast plans can change, recounting her experience through the national selection process: "Don't forget that we're all in this together. Meanwhile, I leave you this little recap of the adventure we had."

You can follow Elisa on the following social media platforms:

LISTEN: Stream Medo de Sentir and other Eurovision 2020 songs on Spotify

Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest

Portugal joined the Eurovision family in 1964 and held the record for the most appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest without a win until 2017 when Salvador Sobral lifted the trophy in Kyiv.

Portugal is the most westerly country in mainland Europe and has only missed 5 contests since joining Eurovision; 1970, 2000, 2002, 2013 and 2016. In 2008, Portugal won the Marcel Bezençon Press Award with Vânia Fernandes and the song Senhora do mar (Negras águas). In 2017 Salvador Sobral won the Marcel Bezençon Artistic Award and the Marcel Bezençon Composer Award with his song Amar Pelos Dois. The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon following Salvador Sobral's victory in the 2017 competition.

READ MORE: Portugal's country page

Last year, Portugal was represented in Tel Aviv by Conan Osíris with Telemóveis. He finished in X position in the Grand Final.