Norway: first three acts through to final

In what can only be described as a fantastic show from the Nord Trøndelag town of Steinkjer, seven acts competed for three places in the final. 

These were Vidar Busk, Datarock and Gromth and Emil Solli-Tangen, who fought tooth and nail to sing themselves into the final, which takes place at the Oslo Spektrum Arena on the 9th of February. 

The seven acts competing were (qualifiers in bold):

• Vidar Busk - Paid My Way (3rd Place)
• Carina Dahl - Sleepwalking
• Tom Hugo - Det er du
• Gromth and Emil Solli-Tangen - Alone (1st Place)
• Julie Bergan - Give A Little Something Back
• Mimi Blix/Doc MC - Catch Me
• Datarock - The Underground (2nd Place)

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About the qualifiers

Below is some information about the three qualifiers from tonight's show:

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-metalNocturne. 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.

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.

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.

The saga continues next week... In Florø

Next week, we will travel to the western town of Florø for the second Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix. After this the third and final Semi-Final will take place in the southern town of Larvik before the final on the 9th of February in Oslo. 

This year broadcaster NRK has changed the way in which the participants are announced, presenting them in a live show on the Wednesday before the Semi-Final. Here, short snippets of the songs are played and music professionals scrunitise and give their opinions about each of the entries.  

So, join us on Wednesday where we will reveal the next seven Semi-Finalists and then again on Saturday for the second Semi-Final of Melodi Grand Prix 2013. 

Norway have been drawn to take part in the second half of the second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on the 16th of May in Malmö, Sweden.