Outside Shoreditch: The Curious Case Of Homens Da Luta – The Portuguese Phenomenon

Written by Sara Baptista de Sousa

During 1974, Portugal had a revolution called “the carnation revolution”. Because of that, Portugal became free  from dictatorship and without even a single bullet being sent. During this period, music was a very important weapon and now, with these crisis times, it has happened again. Homens da Luta – literally, Men of the Fight – brought this phenomenon to the country, and they are a hit.

Falâncio (Vasco Duarte) and Jet (Nuno Duarte) are brothers, two men who are fighting for society but also comic characters from a show. Their lives are governed by the values of April 25, 1974, and even the clothes and the vocabulary that they use
refer to that specific period of Portugal’s history.

If this wasn’t enough, they became  very famous by the use of a megaphone to rant about the right of the working class and by the soundtrack of Falâncio, with his “kirikirikirkirki” – its brand image. Over the past years, they are without any doubt the protagonists of the humour panorama of Portugal. The musical and visual search inherent led them to enter with the use of typical Portuguese musical instruments as the fiddle, the ukelele, drums box, bagpipes and the concertina, all in conjunction with images of the time they want to portrayed. A concert where music merges with comedy, music and video used with a single purpose: to create the most original and entertaining show of the year.

They are also the heart of any protest in Portugal, with their megaphone and their songs always moving from children to teenagers, grow men and women to elder – and yes, they have been arrested several times because of these “happenings”, which they do not bother anymore, they used to it. Now that I introduced them, let me tell you about the curious case of the 47th edition of RTP (Public National Television) Song Festival.

In 2010, the duo Homens da Luta competed for the RTP Song Festival, incorporating the list for online voting, where 24 passed the semifinals. However his song was disqualified due to non compliance with the rules of the Festival of Portugal, nor the international festival. However, they returned. In 2011, they apply again and won with the theme “A luta é alegria” (The struggle is joy), with lyrics and music by both brothers, that represent Portugal at the Eurovision Final in Dusseldorf, Germany. What the world doesn’t know is how this news was received by the audience of the Contest. After the vote of the district judges Homens da Luta were in sixth place, but passed for first place with the public vote, simple as that. Once they were announced as winners of the 47th Eurovision Song Contest, Jel thanked “the person who paid 60 cents plus VAT”, referring to the vote phone that takes you to the Festival Eurovision,  but the room seemed to go down: more than half the audience stood up to jeers and whistles, shouting loudly that it was “a scam” and there was “no law.” The room emptied quicker than ever. “To all who love, thank you, and all that do not like, thank you also. Portugal is not just fado!”, said Jel. Even after repeating the winning theme the confusion continued, with gifts to question the validity of the vote. Jel seemed satisfied, being removed from the scene by a bodyguard.

They ultimately did not pass the semifinals, but they make a mark on the Eurovision Contest in Portugal, and this is not going to be forgotten in the next years, for sure. And they also made a statement: the people have a voice, and in that day, that voice was loudly heard in that competition.