António Calvário da Paz (born 17 October 1938) is a Portuguese singer, actor, and writer. A five-time winner of the national title of King of Radio, he is best known for winning the first edition of the and representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 with the song "", which was the country's debut entry in the contest. The artist has also made a significant contribution to the local revue scene.
Early life Calvário was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique (now Maputo, Mozambique), on 17 October 1938. His parents were António da Paz (29 January 1890 – ), who was a mechanic from Estômbar, Portugal, and Adelaide Nunes Calvário (1912, 1913 or 1914 – 2004). He has a younger brother, Rui (born October 1942).
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.
After moving to Vila Luísa at the age of five, Calvário began his studies at the Roque de Aguiar School (). 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.
When Calvário was eight years old, he moved to Portugal with his family. After a month-long voyage aboard the , acquired by the (), 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.
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. 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 () in Lisbon. There, the artist continued his music studies under the guidance of his grandmother's first cousin, Corina Freire, 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.
Career 1957–1963: Debut in show business, , and first releases In 1957, a group of Calvário's friends signed him up for an audition at the . He was eventually chosen, beating out more than 30 competitors with his performance of the song "", earning him an exemption from training at the Centre for the Preparation of Artists for Radio (). The singer started working the following year.
Having performed with the and participated in various shows since joining the Centre, in 1960, Calvário competed in the second edition of the in Porto with the song "", written by Resende Dias and Maria Almira. In the end, he won the competition. The artist's victory was so overwhelming that he ended up going on tour both in Portugal and beyond. 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.
Calvário's first fee was (escudos) for singing with on the radio programme in Barreiro, and later each performance at the show on the brought him (escudos).
In 1961, Calvário won the title of King of Radio () at the in Lisbon. He repeated it in 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1972.
1963 was a breakthrough year for Calvário, as he acted in the revue , staged at the in Lisbon, marking his debut in this industry.
1964–1977: Eurovision Song Contest, , 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 , the . Competing with two songs, "", written by Rogério Bracinha, Francisco Nicholson, and João Nobre, and "", by , , and , in the final on 2 February at the 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 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "". It was the country's debut in the contest. 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. On 21 March, the day of the contest itself, 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 and finished in thirteenth, last, place with "nul points", alongside entrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. 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 Franco & Salazar". 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. The intruder was later arrested. Calvário also attended the aftershow party at the restaurant and was awarded a silver trophy, along with the other fifteen competing acts. 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 (DR), to the lack of tape machines at the studio, leaving the artist's performance available only in audio format. At the same time, a French record company showed interest in recording "" and some of his songs in French, but Valentim de Carvalho did not give permission.
Despite his unsuccessful participation in Eurovision the previous year, Calvário decided to enter the national selection again in 1965. This time, he was the main performer of a total of three songs during the final on 6 February at the in Lisbon, including "" by Manuela de Moura Sá Teles Santos and José Pereira Mesquita, "" by João Andrade Santos and Moura Sá Teles Santos, and "" 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.
Following negotiations between Calvário and Dutch cabaret performer , the artist, accompanied by two guitarists, travelled to the Netherlands in April 1965 to participate in his show called , broadcast via the (VPRO). Greek singer-songwriter Kostas Hatzis also appeared on the same episode of the programme. According to Ibo, he invited them because he was "impressed by their singing" and wanted the Dutch people to "get to know them".
1966 saw another appearance for Calvário on the . At the show of the third edition held on 15 January at the in Lisbon, his entry "", created by and , 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.
In 1968, Calvário took part in the for the last time, with the song "", written by Fernando Poitier and . He was not originally included in the final line-up that year, but eventually made it in after agreeing to replace , who was forced to withdraw due to a commitment in Mozambique. Ultimately, the artist finished last with two points at the festival on 4 March at the 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.
performances and results (1964–1968) Year Date Venue Song Songwriter(s) Final Points Semi Points 1964 2 February 1964 , Lisbon, Portugal 1 "" 1 79 colspan="2" rowspan="6" 10 "" 6 11 1965 6 February 1965 , Lisbon, Portugal 1 "" 6 13 4 "" 8 ◁ 2 8 "" 7 6 1966 15 January 1966 , Lisbon, Portugal 6 "" 5 26 1967 11 February 1967 (Semi-final 1)18 February 1967 (Semi-final 2)25 February 1967 (Final) , Lisbon, Portugal 4 "" colspan="2" rowspan="2" 4 44 6 "" 6 ◁ 8 1968 4 March 1968 , Lisbon, Portugal 7 "" 10 ◁ 2 colspan="2"
Calvário was reportedly stated to represent Portugal among men at the inaugural edition of the in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 3 April 1968, 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 in Mexico City, Mexico, from 19 to 23 March 1969, he sang "", written by Pedro Jordão and Joaquim Pedro Gonçalves, and "", accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Franck Pourcel. The former took fourth place with 201 points in the competition, making Calvário the best singer from a European country that year.
Also in 1969, Calvário co-produced and starred in Constantino Esteves' film . 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.
Calvário's career took a sharp decline after the overthrow of the 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 take part in shows and revues, forcing him to survive by singing in dubious cabarets, bars, and circuses.
In September 1976, Calvário performed at the Portuguese restaurant in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, to celebrate its opening.
1978–2007: "", grand return, and local activity After four years of the national exile, Calvário made a comeback in 1978, appearing in the revue at the in Lisbon, where he performed the song "". It was written the previous year by , a significant figure in Portuguese music known for his leftist views, and Carlos Coelho, in an attempt to shed the stigma he had acquired. The return was successful and grandiose, as by the end of the 1970s, the artist had been featured in as many as two revues: and at the in Lisbon.
In 2003, journalist Luis Guimarães published a biographical book about Calvário called through the .
Calvário participated in an episode of TVI's programme , which was aired on 19 March 2006. The show features local celebrities testing their circus skills, and the performer later said that "it was an unexpected invitation, but one I would never refuse".