Norway: final seven acts announced

In cooperation with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, we can reveal the seven acts that are set to participate in the third and final Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix 2013 on Saturday in the town of Larvik.

Unlike previous years, NRK have this year decided to take a new approach to revealing its artists. The Wednesday before each of the three Semi-Finals they will be presented in a show called MGP Direkte, a live broadcast that airs on NRK 1 at 20:15 CET.

Last Saturday three acts qualified from the second Semi-Final held in Florø and the week before that the first three acts went through from the Semi-Final in Steinkjer.

The acts competing in Larvik

Seven acts will compete on Saturday, most notably Gaute Ormåsen and Sirkus Eliassen. The former took part in Melodi Grand Prix in 2010 with the song Synk eller svøm whilst the latter has had a string of massive club hits in Norway including Æ vil bare dans and Hjem til dæ.

Utopia

Artist: Gothminister

Lyrics and music: Gothminister aka Bjørn Alexander Brem

10 years after Gothminister debuted with the album Gothic Electronic Anthems in 2003, founder and front figure Bjørn Alexander Brem is ready to take to the Melodi Grand Prix stage with his dark, electronic industrial metal. Gothminister has toured more than 25 countries and has played some of the biggest festivals in its genre such as the M’Era Luna Festival, Wave Gotik Treffen and Dark Storm Festival. The band has achieved many top 10 chart positions on alternative lists in Germany since their first single Angel in 2002. They became known for their ambitious horror stage show and Marilyn Manson is included amongst their fans. Last year Gothminister filled Rockefiller in Oslo with fans dressed as zombies as part of the recording of a concept concert film. When Gothminister takes to the MGP stage in Larvik with the song Utopia, maybe some zombies will be on the loose.

Bombo

Artist: Adelén

Lyrics and music: Ina Wroldsen and Quiz & Larossi

Adelén Rusillo Steen from Horten is 16 years old and therefore this year’s youngest MGP artist. She made her first solo appearance as a four year old during her nursery school’s summer concert. Subsequently there followed annual performances at school end of year concerts before she, as a 13 year old, signed up for a local talent competition. But now it’s getting serious: With MGP and the song Bombo Adelén is debuting as an artist on a national stage! The song is written by Ina Wroldsen and Quiz & Larossi who are some of Scandinavia’s biggest hit producers. Wroldsen has written songs for the likes of One Direction, Britney Spears and The Saturdays. Recently one of her songs made it to the top of the British singles charts; Impossible sung by X-Factor winner James Arthur. The Swedish duo Quiz & Larossi have also had a string of hit successes and have written and produced for world known artists like Diana Ross, Il Divo and Westlife.

Sweet And Heavy

Artist: Lucky Lips

Lyrics and music: Malin Pettersen

Lucky Lips is a roots orientated acoustic band from Buskerud that was voted as Europe’s best blue grass band in 2011. The band is made up of Malin pettersen (vocals), Stian Jørgen Sveen (guitar/harmonies), Erlend Støylen Hølland (double bass/harmonies), Even Reinsfelt Krogh (banjo) and Pål Emil Berg (percussion). They have released two albums, of which the latest Mountain Dust (2012) received much acclaim in the Norwegian press and a 5-star rating from the newspaper Dagbladet. Among several profiled performances, Lucky Lips led the line-up at the EWOB festival in the Netherlands and have played at Norwegian festivals including Vikedal Roots Festival, Breim Country Festival, Vinstra Country Festival and Risør Bluegrass Festival. At the moment they are planning an American tour but first they need to win MGP 2013 with the song Sweet And Heavy.

Awake

Artist: Gaute Ormåsen

Lyrics and music: Gaute Ormåsen, Fredrik Borgen and Jesper Borgen

The most famous person from Brumunddal in Norway, Gaute Ormåsen, is back at Melodi Grand Prix; this time with a song in English. He wrote the song Awake with Fredrik Borgen and Jesper Borgen. Gaute had his breakthrough in Idol in 2003 where he came second after Kurt Nilsen. This led to a record contract and hit songs like Miss You When You’re Gone and Chasing Rainbows, where the latter went to number one in the Norwegian charts. His debut in Melodi Grand Prix came in 2010 where Synk eller svøm made it to the Second Chance round. Altogether, Gaute has released 5 albums and is known for singing in his own Hedmark dialect, like with the radio hit Kjærlighet er mer enn forelskelse. He has also been an actor in the soap opera Hotel Cæsar and danced his way to 4th place in the Norwegian version of Strictly Come Dancing. 

The Young

Artist: Anina

Lyrics and music: Anina, Mattias Frändå and Johan Åsgärde

The ambitious Annine Stang from Oslo, known under the pseudonym Anina and is taking part in Melodi Grand Prix 2013 with the song The Young, which she wrote together with Mattias Frändå and Johan Åsgärde. Anina qualified in music and song writing at the Swedish Musikmakarna school. In 2007 she moved to LA where she played at clubs like the Viper Room and worked with big names in the industry like producer Ben Grosse (Marilyn Manson, Slipknot) and Bill Siddons (The Doors). In 2011 she took part in an exclusive workshop held by super producer Stargate and in the same year she led the Oslo Choir in Det Store Korslaget. Today Anina is based in Stockholm where she is working with new music. She has received a lot of attention for her music videos. The video for the song Trying You On got celebrity blogger Perez Hilton to use superlatives. The video for the song Dominoes was nominated for Best Music Video during the UK Film Festival and won two prizes at the Los Angeles Movie Awards in 2012.

Not Afraid

Artist: Winta

Lyrics and music: Beyond 51

Winta or Winta Efrem Negassi comes from Haugerud in Oslo. Her debut single Emotions was released in 2002 and just over a decade later she has a total of 15 singles and two albums under her belt. Three of Winta’s singles were turned into music videos produced by the Norwegian director Ray Kay, and she has also sung duets with the rapper Diaz (Norway) and artists like Aphletik (USA) and Anton Gordon (UK). For the past six years she has lived in London where she has focused on education and her career and that is exactly why she is really looking forward to coming “home” and to take part in Melodi Grand Prix! Winta is participating with the song Not Afraid, produced by Beyond51, the songwriters behind Stella Mwangi’s Haba Haba that won MGP in 2011, and Malin Reitans Crush, which made it to the final of MGP last year.

I Love You Te Quiero

Artist: Sirkus Eliassen

Lyrics: Mgnus Eliassen and Erik Eliassen

Music: Magnus Eliassen

Sirkus Eliassen is made up of brothers Erik and Magnus Eliassen from Bodø. During the past two years they have managed to conquer all of Norway with their catchy radio hits in the Nordland dialect. They debuted in the summer of 2011 with the single Hjem til dæ that was A-listed on Radion P3 and sold five times platinum. In 2012 they delivered an even bigger hit Æ vil bare dans (together with DJ Ben Kinx) that was in the Norwegian charts for 28 weeks and sold platinum ten times! Now they are hell bent on having a new hit with the MGP song I Love You Te Quiero.

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A new presenter?

NRK has this year decided to employ an understudy for presenter Erik Solbakken who also presented the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo in 2010. The reason for this is that his wife Ellen is due to give birth one week after the final of Melodi Grand Prix on the 9th of February. So in order to cover for all eventualities, Kåre Magnus Bergh has been brought in as a back-up in case Erik gets called away to attend the birth!

Erik Solbakken and Kåre Magnus Bergh. Photo: Julia Naglestad (NRK)

"It's quite special being a reserve and just sitting and waiting for a phone call from NRK. MGP is a very nice program to be a stand-in for but I actually hope it doesn't happen. When you're involved in a program like this, you are very engrossed and in a kind of bubble so it is a bit difficult to come in half way through and do a show", says Kåre Magnus.

How it works

Three Semi-Finals have taken or will take place in Steinkjer, Florø and Larvik with seven competitors in each, of which three will qualify to the final. In the end ten finalists will take part in the final in Oslo Spektrum on Saturday the 9th of February 2013 and one winner will be crowned Norway's entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Here, Norway will take part in the second Semi-Final on the 16th of May.

Stay tuned as we will be covering the second Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix this Saturday with results to be published right here on Eurovision.tv.