António Calvário

António Calvário da Paz (born 17 October 1938) is a Portuguese singer, actor, and writer. He is best known for winning the first edition of Festival da Canção and representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 with the song "Oração", which was the country's debut entry in the contest.

Calvário was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique (now Maputo, Mozambique), on 17 October 1938.^[1][2][3][4] His parents were António da Paz (29 January 1890 – TBA), who was a mechanic from Estômbar, Portugal, and Adelaide Nunes Calvário (1913 or 1914 – 2004).^[5] He has a younger brother, Rui (born October 1942).^[6]

His father worked in Portimão and Setúbal, until he decided to sneak into the hold of the ship that brought him to Portuguese Mozambique, where he owned a small truck that transported goods between Lourenço Marques and Catembe and managed two sawmills in the interior of Marracuene. He eventually returned to Portugal, where he met and fell in love with Nunes Calvário. However, her family opposed their future marriage due to differences in social status, so the couple fled to Africa.^[6]

After moving to Vila Luísa at the age of five, Calvário began his studies at the Roque de Aguiar School (Escola Roque de Aguiar).^[7] There, he performed two songs, one from The Merry Widow and "Maria Helena", with his classmate, after the institution's headmaster asked him to participate in the final concert.^[6]

When Calvário was eight years old, he moved to Portugal with his family.^[7][8] After a month-long voyage aboard the Pátria, acquired by the National Navigation Company (Companhia Nacional de Navegação), which ended on 10 April 1949, they disembarked in Lisbon and then traveled to and stopped in Portimão, where the household reunited with the rest of its members.^[6]

Calvário completed his primary education with his aunt Rudolfa, then went on to the municipal high school and a college in Portimão. According to the singer, he had to perform at a party, because the school principal mistook him for another student, but he was supported by his piano teacher, Elisa Dutra, who appreciated his voice.^[8][9] As a result, he began studying singing at the age of fifteen, although his initial priority was the piano. In his fifth year of high school, the artist attended the Academic College (Colégio Académico) in Lisbon. There, the artist continued his music studies under the guidance of his grandmother's first cousin, Corina Freire,^[3][10][11] although his parents were originally opposed, as they planned for him to complete his studies, study law, and become a lawyer. The defining moment in his career was "a coin toss" that resulted in his musical ambitions prevailing.^[1][6]

In 1957, a group of Calvário's friends signed him up for an audition at 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 (Centro de Preparação de Artistas para a Rádio).^[6] The singer started working the following year.^[11]

Having performed with the Tavares Belo Orchestra and participated in various shows since joining the Centre, in 1960, Calvário competed in the second edition of 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 at Os Franceses on the radio programme Vozes de Portugal in Barreiro,^[2] and later each performance at the show Serões para Trabalhadores on Emissora Nacional brought him 500 (escudos).^[5][6]

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

1963 was a breakthrough year for Calvário, as he debuted in the revue industry. His first play was Chapéu Alto, staged at Teatro ABC in Lisbon.^[6]

In 1964, Calvário was one of the five singers chosen by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) to take part in the inaugural edition of Festival da Canção, I Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa 1964. Competing with two songs, "Oração" and "Para cantar Portugal", in the final on 2 February at the Lumiar Studios in Lisbon, the former was declared the winner of the competition with a total of 79 points, and the artist earned the opportunity to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 in the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the country's debut in the contest.^{[5][13][14][15]} However, his entire journey was difficult, as the participation of Spain and Portugal had been criticised due to the dictatorships of Franco and Salazar. As a result, only the singer himself went on behalf of the Portuguese delegation. The entry's conductor was Kai Mortensen, who approved of João Nobre's arrangement. On 21 March in the Eurovision live show, Calvário finished in thirteenth, last, place with "nul points",^{[16][17][18][19]} alongside entrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.^[6] 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".^[20] 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.^[21] Calvário also attended the aftershow party at the restaurant Ambassadeur and was awarded a silver trophy, along with the other fifteen competing acts.^[3][22] At the same time, a French record company showed interest in recording "Oração" and some of the artist's songs in French, but Valentim de Carvalho did not give permission.^[10]

The participation in Festival da Canção in 1964 was not the performer's only attempt. He later competed in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968.^[6]

In March 1969, RTP selected Calvário to represent Portugal at the first edition of Festival de la Canción Latina en el mundo at Teatro Ferrocarrilero in Mexico City, Mexico, with two songs, "Canção da Juventude", written by Pedro Jordão and Joaquim Pedro Gonçalves, and "Terra de Flores". The former took fourth place in the competition, making him the best singer performing for a European country that year.^{[6][10][23][24][25]}

That same year, 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][26][27]}

However, 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 performer 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][28]

After four years of the exile, Calvário made a comeback in 1978, appearing in the revue Põe-te na Bicha at Teatro ABC in Lisbon, where he performed the song "Mocidade, mocidade".^[12] It was written the previous year by Nuno Nazareth Fernandes, a significant figure in Portuguese music known for his leftist views, and Carlos Coelho, in an attempt to shed the stigma he had acquired.^[28] 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 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 Garrido Editores.^[6][29]

Calvário participated in an episode of TVI's programme Circo das Celebridades, which was aired on 19 March 2006.^[6] The show features local celebrities testing their circus skills,^[30][31] and the performer later said that "it was an unexpected invitation, but one I would never refuse".^[3]

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 community Boa Esperança),^[32] and his autobiography Histórias da minha vida, through 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 Festival da Canção 2014, which took place on 15 March 2014.^[33]

The following year, on 3 March 2015, Calvário and Suzy opened the first semi-final of Festival da Canção 2015.^[34][35] 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.^[13]

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. The show has been performed throughout Portugal, including in cities such as Caldas da Rainha,^[36] Estremoz,^[37] and Lavradio.^[2]

Calvário appeared as a guest in the first semi-final of Festival da Canção 2024 on 24 February 2024.^[38][39] 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.^[28]

Calvário, who is a Catholic, expresses tolerance towards same-sex marriage, stating that "homosexuality can be an option, a way of life that dates back to the dawn of humanity". Speaking about abortion, the artist calls it a "necessary evil". He also distrusts the Internet, adding that it is a "double-edged sword that has allowed for very serious situations, dangerous encounters, kidnappings, child pornography, undue exposure of privacy, truly criminal fabrications", but believes that cloning and artificial insemination "do not contradict the laws of the Bible" and approves of organ transplantation.^[6]

In May 2025, over 70 past Eurovision participants, including Calvário, signed an open letter to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) demanding that Israel be banned from the contest, accusing the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), the country's participating broadcaster, of being "complicit in Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza", referring to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's actions in the Gaza war.^[40]

Calvário has never been married, but he has had girlfriends.^[1][41]

Credits adapted from Spotify, Inverso.pt, and Fonoteca Municipal do Porto.^[42][43][44]

• Guimarães, Luis (2003). António Calvário: a canção de uma vida. Garrido Editores. ISBN 978-9728738969.
• Calvário, António (2008). Histórias da minha vida. Editora Guerra & Paz. ISBN 978-9898014993.

• António Calvário discography at Discogs
• António Calvário at IMDb