"O jardim" was one of twenty-six songs commissioned by RTP for Festival da Canção 2018, Portugal's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry. Isaura composed "O jardim" and chose Cláudia Pascoal as the performer.
Composition
"O jardim" was written and produced by Isaura. "O jardim" is an indie pop ballad with a length of two minutes and thirty-eight seconds that moves at a tempo of 60 beats per minute. Lyrically, the song is about loss and saudade: "São as flores o meu lugar / Agora que não estás / Rego eu o teu jardim". Isaura stated that "O jardim" is a song about "adding tension, saudade, something we have on the chest, any sorrow, and basically for me this song is about preserving that tension".
Eurovision Song Contest
Isaura was announced as a participating songwriter in Festival da Canção 2018, Portugal's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, on 27 September 2017. On 18 January 2018, Cláudia Pascoal was announced to be performing her song, titled "O jardim". Pascoal competed in the second semi-final, placing second with 20 points after coming second in both the jury vote and the televote. In the final, held on March 4, she came second in the jury vote and won the televote, placing first with 22 points and thus representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. As Portugal was the host country, the song automatically advanced to the final, which was held on 12 May 2018 in Lisbon. On 12 March 2018, it was announced that she would perform 8th in the Grand Final on 12 May 2018. The song placed 26th, and last, in the Final, receiving 39 points.
Reception
Critical response
Charlotte Runcie of British newspaper The Daily Telegraph listed "O jardim" as one of the five best Eurovision entries of the year, and described it as an "electropop-tinged indie ballad, gorgeously intimate and contemporary too. Just lovely". Fabien Randanne of French newspaper 20 Minutes stated that the song "shines for its simplicity, modesty and the emotion that transcends language barriers". Hans Rollman of American online magazinePopMatters called the song a "moving tribute to Isaura's grandmother, and the garden that meant a great deal to them both".
