For this year’s Festival da Canção, RTP made an open call for singers and songwriters, to submit their songs. Out of 693 submissions, only two won a ticket to the biggest music contest in Portugal. One of them is Miguel Marôco, a singer-songwriter who studied at several Portuguese music schools and sang in a choir, with which he participated in many musical contests already. In Festival da Canção, Miguel will sing his self-written song “Girassol”. We got the chance to interview him about his participation.

Hello Miguel and thank you very much for taking your time to answer my questions. You submitted your song through an open call and out of 693 submissions, you are one of only two who got into the big competition!

How did you feel when you found out, that you were chosen to be in this year’s Festival da Canção?
I was entirely surprised. I had no idea my song had been submitted so when I got the call I had no clue what was going on…

Who submitted your song?
It was my dad 🙂

What was your motivation for entering the competition?
It was a surprise but I think it will allow my music to reach audiences it would never reach otherwise

Your song is called “Girassol”, which means “Sunflower” in English. Could you explain what your song is about in a few words, for non-Portuguese speakers?
The word Girassol just popped in my mind while I was writing the chorus so I can’t say it had a premeditated meaning, really. I suppose, if you really wanted to, you could think of what sunflowers do that sets them apart from other flowers and see it as a metaphor for a certain way of looking at life.

What does the Festival da Canção mean to you?
There’s a big feeling of tradition around it. It is something which has a existed for such a long time now, it is easy to feel like it is something much bigger than myself.

Have you watched the Eurovision Song Contest in the past?
Yeah, I normally know what’s happening in it every year, even if I don’t watch it very closely.

What do you expect of Rotterdam if you get chosen to represent Portugal?
I’m not sure, actually, with the pandemic and all. I think it would still be a lot of fun but certainly with a lot more caution.

You wrote “Girassol” completely by yourself. Do you write all of your music yourself?
Yes, I’m a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to writing. I guess I enjoy doing everything myself, even if at times it all becomes a bit unbearable.

Have you listened to other songs from this year’s Festival da Canção already? What do you think of them and who do you consider your biggest competitor?
I’ve listened to some other songs, yes. I think there’s a lot of good ones and some are already getting really hyped up but I can’t say for sure which would be my biggest competitor. In the end, I just don’t really see it as a competition.

What is it, that you are looking forward to the most, when you think of the upcoming days?
I think I’m going to enjoy working with the crew and meeting the other musicians, it certainly will be a whole new experience for me. Seeing what the other folks have planned is what I’m most looking forward to, I think.

 Thank you so much, Miguel and I wish you the best of luck for the first semi-final on February 20^th. Boa sorte!

Listen to Miguel’s “Girassol” here:

If you want to support Miguel, you can vote for him in our poll of the first semi-final of Festival da Canção 2021 below.

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