Norway: first Semi-Final acts revealed

In cooperation with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, we can reveal the seven acts that are set to participate in the first Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix 2013 on Saturday in the Nord-Trøndelag town of Steinkjer.

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.

The acts competing in Steinkjer

Seven acts will compete on Saturday, most notably Carina Dahl and Mimi Blix who have both previously taken part in the competition.

Paid My Way 

Artist: Vidar Busk
Lyrics: Tim Scott
Music: Tim Scott and Vidar Busk

Vidar Busk won the Spellemannprisen in the categories Artist of the Year (1998) and Blues Record of the Year (2003). What few know is that he was a backing singer for Eurovision Song Contest legends Bobbysocks and now he is going to Let It Swing and rock’n’roll in Steinkjer! For swing and rock’n’roll are important keywords as Busk makes his own Melodi Grand Prix debut, where it’s all going to be about wonderful neo-swing; thirties and forties elements performed with a modern expression of rockabilly. Vidar Busk is participating with the song Paid My Way, which is written in collaboration with the American musician, producer and songwriter Tim Scott. Scott, who now lives in Norway, has previously played in The Havalinas, who in turn have toured with both Bob Dylan and Tina Turner. In 1996 Bruce Springsteen recorded a cover version of Scott’s song, High Hopes.

Sleepwalking 

Artist: Carina Dahl
Lyrics and music: Carina Dahl, Ben Adams and Søren Pagh

Singer-songwriter Carina Dahl from Trondheim is making a comeback in Melodi Grand Prix 2013 with the song Sleepwalking that she wrote together with A1 member Ben Adams and Søren Pagh. After five years in Sweden where she worked with TMC Entertainment and released her debut album Hot Child, she moved back to Norway in 2012. Here, she has been working with the very successful producer Hallgeir Rustan at Stargate and in the autumn released her first single for record company daWorks Records, NLTO (Not Like The Others).

Det er du 

Artist: Tom Hugo
Lyrics and music: Tom Hugo

Tom Hugo from Kristiansand is participating as a Melodi Grand Prix artist and songwriter with the song Det er du. During 2012 Hugo was A-listed on radio station P1, debuting as both an album artist and as a singer for NRK’s Beat for Beat show. Tom Hugo made his breakthrough on the radio in the summer of 2011 with the song Open Up Your Eyes, which was often played on NRK P1, and for a while was the most played song by a Norwegian artist in Germany. The debut record Sundry Tales was first released in Germany and Norway but is also being released by Romania’s biggest record company. 

Alone

Artist: Gromth and Emil Solli-Tangen
Lyrics: Emil Solli-Tangen and Sven Atle Kopperud (Silenoz)
Music: Gromth

Black Metal meets opera when Gromth from Eastern Norway and Emil Solli-Tangen from Porsgrunn unite on Steinkjer’s Melodi Grand Prix stage. The basis for this partnership was the mystery of music, and the vision for the project was to create a genuine black-metal Nocturne. The result is the song Alone, composed by Gromth. The lyrics are written by Emil Solli-Tangen and Silenoz (Sven Atle Kopperud), guitarist and songwriter in Dimmu Borgir. The band Gromth is made up of vocalist Ole Karlsen, Tjodalv (Kenneth Åkesson) on the drums, Grimd (Tomas Arnesen) on the bass, Damage (Kjell Åge Karlsen) on the guitar and André Aaslie on the piano and vocals. In their Melodi Grand Prix debut, they are joined by opera talent Emil Solli-Tangen. Emil studies at the Operahøgskolen and has sung with Den Norske Opera.

Give A Little Something Back 

Artist: Julie Bergan
Lyrics and music: Ben Adams, Sara Skjoldnes and Julie Bergan

Singer and dancer Julie Bergan (18) from Skien was discovered by A1 star Ben Adams and his girlfriend Sara Skjodnes. They had seen many of Julie’s videos on YouTube and were so impressed that they wanted to work with her. Together, the three of them have written the ballad Give A Little Something Back, a song that really needs a good voice! Julie has loved performing since she was little and has also been the warm-up act for Melodi Grand Prix during a Semi-Final in Skien. Now she herself will stand on the stage as a Melodi Grand Prix artist, live from Steinkjer.

Catch Me

Artist: Mimi Blix/Doc MC
Lyrics: Mimi Blix and Dr Shiver
Music: Dr Shiver, Luca Monticelli and Mauro Cottini

Askim girl Mimi Blix has already been successful as an international model; one of the first Norwegian girls to sign up to the renowned modelling agency IMG. She has always had her hands in many pies but for the last two years has been fully focused on her musical career. Mimi made it right to the “Last Chance” round of Melodi Grand Prix in 2011 with the song Allergic, where she had to admit defeat to Sie Gubba. Now she is back in Norway’s most important music competition with the club and dance number, Catch Me. 

The Underground 

Artist: Datarock
Lyrics: Fredrik Saroea
Music: Fredrik Saroea and Pål Myran-Håland

Datarock appeared 12 years ago when "the Bergen wave" homed in on record company Tellé Records. The group is made up of lead singer and guitarist Fredrik Saroea, Kjetil Møster on the Saxophone, Thomas Larsen on the bass and Tarjei Strøm on the drums. Since then, the band has performed 850 concerts in 36 countries on 5 continents. They have worked with some of the world’s biggest record companies as well as global brands such as Apple, Microsoft and Coca Cola. Their songs are used in an impressive array of films, series and adverts all around the world. Datarock is also the band with the most songs in leading video games; a total of 22 including FIFA and The Sims. Last autumn, Fredrik Saroea was an enthusiastic choir leader in the TV show Det store korslaget. Now he and the other red-dressed members of Datarock will aim to conquer the stage in Steinkjer with the song The Underground.

This content is unfortunately no longer available

How it works

Three Semi-Finals 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 first Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix this Saturday with results to be published right here on Eurovision.tv.