A sad piece of news today from the host country of ESC 2018, as we learned that Portugal’s 1966 representative, Madalena Iglésias, has passed away at the age of 78.

After two unsuccessful entries, 1966 marked the first time Portugal sent a more upbeat pop song to the contest with Madalena’s “Ele e ela” (“Him and her”).

Although the field was packed with entries fitting the same formula – the immediate legacy of France Gall’s victory one year previously – Madalena racked up a total of six points under that year’s scoring system, easily her country’s best result to date.

That said, we suspect she would have done pretty well with this dramatic ballad from the same national final, too – talk about owning a performance!

It’s fair to say that “Ele e ela” remains an evergreen in Portugal, covered by everyone from participants in Your Face Sounds Familiar…

…to awesome 80s new wave bands…

…to worthy acoustic harmony groups performing in their mother’s kitchen:

And Madalena herself was still making TV appearances in her later years, too – if you need any proof of the regard she was held in, just look at the reception she gets when she turns up to accompany fellow Portuguese ESC veteran Simone de Oliveira here:

So farewell, then, Madalena. Here’s hoping RTP might find space for a little tribute to her at ESC 2018, if only so we get to hear a few bars of “Ele e ela” again. What a tune!