BIMM alumna Iolanda Costa continues BIMM’s Eurovision legacy

BIMM is beaming with pride as former BIMM London student Iolanda Costa takes the stage at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, representing her home country of Portugal.

Costa continues BIMM’s strong track record at Eurovision, following in the footsteps of BIMM London graduate Monika Linkytė who represented Lithuania in 2023, and BIMM Dublin graduate Ryan O’Shaughnessy who performed for Ireland in 2018.

The multi-talented artist studied Songwriting at BIMM London after completing some earlier studies in Lisbon. Costa credits her time as an international student in the UK capital as hugely influential on developing her unique contemporary sound that blends urban vibes with Portuguese rhythms.

“Moving abroad definitely influenced my music,” Costa said in a recent interview. “London is an incredible city full of artists, so I had the chance to meet great people who motivated me a lot and pushed me to try out different styles of songwriting.”

While at BIMM, Costa immersed herself in the school’s collaborative creative community of performers, singers, songwriters and musicians from across BIMM’s campuses in the UK, Ireland and Germany. She joins an illustrious group of BIMM alumni, who have gone on to achieve international success after honing their talents with BIMM.

London is a music city in every sense, globally recognised as the centre of the UK’s music business industry, boasting a legendary club scene and a kaleidoscopic range of gigs happening on any given night, Costa allowed the rich diversity of London to inspire her artistry.

“Inspiration was everywhere. I found it through different smells, different food, the streets, the vibes…” she explained. “Even when I was working at a restaurant I would randomly get many ideas and write them down behind the bills or napkins to not forget them.”

Now, Costa brings her distinctive multicultural sound to millions of viewers across the globe as she performs her song “Grito” at the Eurovision final on May 13th. BIMM wishes Iolanda the best of luck and we’ll be cheering her on as she represents the next wave of visionary artists emerging from our creative community.

Image credit: Eurovision & iolandamusic Instagram