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 the and representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 with the song "", which was the country's debut entry in the contest.
Early life
Calvário was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique (now Maputo, Mozambique), on 17 October 1938. His parents were António da Paz (born 29 January 1890), who was a mechanic from Estômbar, Portugal, and Adelaide Nunes Calvário (1913 or 1914 – 2004). 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,
Calvário's first fee was (escudos) for singing with on the radio programme in Barreiro, 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 Nobre's arrangement; however, there was a report indicating that Belo was originally supposed to perform the role. On 21 March in the Eurovision live show, Calvário finished in thirteenth, last, place with "nul points", alongside entrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. 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. Calvário also attended the aftershow party at the restaurant Ambassadeur and was awarded a silver trophy, along with the other fifteen competing acts. At the same time, a French record company showed interest in recording "" and some of the artist's songs in French, but Valentim de Carvalho did not give permission.
That same year, 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.
However, 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 perform in shows and revues, forcing him to survive by singing in dubious cabarets, bars, and circuses. 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.
Calvário participated in an episode of TVI's programme , which was aired on 19 March 2006. and the performer later said that "it was an unexpected invitation, but one I would never refuse".
2008–present: , guest appearances, and later years
In March 2008, Calvário celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of his professional music career: he released the CD with two previously unreleased songs "" and "", written by Ondina Santos and Vítor Talhadas (the challenge was proposed by Carlos Pacheco, president of the community), and his autobiography , through the , to mark the occasion.
Calvário and Simone de Oliveira made an appearance on stage during the final of the , which took place on 15 March 2014.
The following year, on 3 March 2015, Calvário and Suzy opened the first semi-final of the . 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.
2018 marked the launch of a two-hour revue titled , directed by Renato Pino and featuring Calvário and . The show has been performed throughout Portugal, including in cities such as Caldas da Rainha, Later, on 30 October, the radio station Antena 1, owned by RTP, premiered the episode of the podcast , dedicated to the singer's life.
Personal life and political views
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.
Calvário has never been married, but he has had girlfriends.
Legacy
On 4 April 2021, Simão Oliveira performed Calvário's hit "" during the third gala of the of the Portuguese version of The Voice Kids. As a result, he reached the semi-final of the competition, where he made it to the final stage on 18 April, which the participant, mentored by Fernando Daniel, ultimately won, earning a contract with Universal Music Portugal and the right to represent Portugal at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Paris, France.
Discography
Credits adapted from Spotify, Apple Music, Discorama, the website, and an online biography.
Film
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Role
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1964
| António Luís
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1965
| João
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1966
| António
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1968
| Jorge
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1969
| Rui Mendonça
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1998
| Himself
|}
Revues
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Venue
! scope="col" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1963
| , Lisbon
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1966
| , Lisbon
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1966
| , Madrid
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1967
| , Lisbon
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1969
| , Lisbon
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 1978
| , Lisbon
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 2015
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" |
| 22 March 2019
| , Caldas da Rainha
|
|-
| 14 September 2019
| , Estremoz
|
|-
| 24 November 2019
| , Lavradio
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| 2021–present
|
|
|}