PORTUGAL – Simão Oliveira will represent Portugal at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Already known to Portuguese audiences, Simão from Arouca near Porto, won The Voice Kids (Portugal) at the age of 14.
A talented clarinettist, Simão plays in his hometown’s youth band and is the first member of his family to pursue a career in music.
He began singing at the age of 4 and fell in love with fado; the traditional style of Portuguese story-telling through expressive and profoundly melancholic songs.
His idols from that genre are Tony de Matos, Amália Rodrigues (known as the ‘Queen of Fado’) and António Zambujo (one of the coaches on The Voice: Portugal).
Outside of music, Simão loves the countryside and animals; he keeps chickens, rabbits and a dog, and helps his parents take care of the land they own. He’s considering studying agricultural engineering at college.
A lot of Simão’s time is spent with his grandparents. He loves to cook with them and sing for them… traditional fado songs, of course!