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Portugal: Warm colours and feelings

04 May 2009 at 15:20 CEST

Colourfully sketched spring flowers, rainbows and clouds were the theme of the background LED screens throughout the Portuguese rehearsal today, adding to the cheerful atmosphere of the song Todas As Ruas De Amor. The lead singer of Flor-de-Lis sang alone without any backing vocals, while all other members of the band Flor-de-Lis were playing traditional instruments: a flute, an accordeon, a guitar and drums. Altogether, their stage act created a very warm atmosphere in the hall, full of harmony, and the people watching the rehearsal seemed to truly enjoy their performance. In the Semi-Final, the lead singer will wear a black dress and a pink tulle skirt, while the other band members will be dressed in black, red and white.

    

The beginnings of Flor-de-Lis are closely linked to Pedro Marques' participation as a percussionist in the Adufe project, first conceived by José Salgueiro as an attraction for Expo 98, and which focussed on traditional Portuguese instruments.The resulting success led to several national and international events being held between 1999 and 2000, unearthing musician Pedro Marques' desire to explore the vast wealth of Portuguese music in conjunction with musical elements from other parts of the world. The current repertoire consists not only of original lyrics by Pedro Marques and Daniela Varela, but also poems by famous Portuguese writers. The sound is based on popular Portuguese music, from fado to folk, but the end result also stems from the fusion of music from other continents.

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In the press conference, Pedro Marques, the percussionist of Flor-de-Lis, introduced the band members to the journalists and showed a Cavaquinho, a small traditional Portuguese guitar which has been 'touring' the world together with the band. When they were asked about the message of the lyrics of Todas As Ruas De Amor, Flor-de-Lis replied that they talk about happiness and friendship and they want to give the same feelings to the public. The lead singer of the band confirmed that their entry included elements of traditional Fado music, and when she was asked about her favourite singer from Brazil, she named Vanessa da Mata.

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