Norway: second Semi-Final acts revealed

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

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 first Semi-Final held in Steinkjer.

The acts competing in Florø

Seven acts will compete on Saturday, most notably Alexander Rybak as a songwriter. He previous won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 with Fairytale racking up the biggest point score in the history of the competition.

Det vakje mi tid

Artist: Martin Blomvik
Lyrics and music: Martin Blomvik, Bjørn Johan Muri and Mats Weinholdt

Martin Blomvik (25) comes from Sula near Ålesund, and was musically trained at Elverum Folkehøgskole. During the last few years he has been focused on his music with a great wish to become an artist. The song that he will perform at Melodi Grand Prix is called Det vakje mi tid, which is a catchy pop song in the Sula dialect. Martin wrote the song with best friends Bjørn Johan Muri and Mats Weinholdt. Muri first became known through the talent show, Idol and many people still remember his radio hit Yes Man, with which he took part in Melodi Grand Prix in 2010. Now it is Blomvik’s turn to create a new radio hit with his debut in Florø. 

I'm With You

Artist: Annsofi
Lyrics and music: Alexander Rybak

Annsofi Pettersen (18) comes from Sarpsborg and has despite her young age, gained plenty of TV experience. Her first appearance was in 2010 when she took part in Det store korslaget where she sang in the winning choir. Later that year she took part in the talent competition X-Factor where she came third. Annsofi has released three solo singles as well as contributing to a number of compilations. The song I’m With You has been written by none other than Alexander Rybak! The partnership with Alexander Rybak started in the wake of X-Factor, when Annsofi was invited to sing with him at number of Christmas concerts.

On Hold

Artist: Shackles
Lyrics and music: Silya Nymoen, KeiOne and John Lundvik

Shackles is made up of the pop duo Charlotte Kjær (22) from Tønsberg and Lwan Feshatzion (22) from Ellingsrud in Oslo. The girls met as part of a group in X-Factor in 2009 where they made it to the final at Telenor Arena. After X-Factor, Charlotte and Lwan continued as a duo. They have released three singles, including Overtime, which they made together with the Swedish rapper J-Son, and Remember, which was produced by Kriss Tømmerbakke (from the duo Erik & Kriss). At Melodi Grand Prix in Florø, they are participating with the pop song On Hold which is written by the Swedish KeiOne and John Lundvik together with the Norwegian Silya Nymoen. Silya took part both as an artist and songwriter in last year’s Melodi Grand Prix. Lundvik is also known under the artist name Johnel, but is probably most merited as a songwriter and has worked with artists like Chris Brown, Usher and Agnes Carlsson. Producer KeiOne has imposed his “Rinkeby-sound” on artists like Adam Tensta and Ken Ring.

No One

Artist: Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby
Lyrics: Josefin Winther
Music: Josefin Winther and Magnus Åserud Skylstad

Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby is still known as "Hank von Helvete" from his time as singer in the sucessful rock band Turboneger. He is originally from Å in the Lofoten islands but his music has led him out into the world. Right now the journey takes him to the Melodi Grand Prix stage in Florø where he will perform the song No One – a naked and true pop/rock song written by the artist Josefin Winther from Bergen. This can end up being one of Hans-Erik’s many surprising and successful debuts, on par with his theatre debut in the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2009, his film debut in the role of Cornelis Vreeswijk in the film Cornelis from 2010 and his role as judge in Idol in 2011.

Ulvetuva

Artist: Fjellfolk
Lyrics and music: Trym Bjønnes

Fjellfolk is a band from Bykle in Setesdal and is made up of Helga Jacobsen (vocals, effects), Tor Hoslemo (fiddle) and Trym Bjønnes (guitar, vocals and programming). The trio have been playing together since 2008 and have held a string of concerts and performed at various festivals. These include MaiJazz, Eikrapen Roots Festival, Canal Street, Ekstremsportveko and Nordsjøfestivalen. Songwriter Bjønnes has with his background from LIPA made a name for himself as a singer-songwriter and was the week’s Urørt last autumn with the English language Rain Will Fall. Now it’s Melodi Grand Prix’s turn with the song Ulvetuva, based on a saying from the area they are from. It is a vulnerable and strong song with a floating and rhythmic chorus.

Shine With Me

Artist: Haji
Lyrics and music: Haji and Morad Aziman

Haji, or Al Haji-Saleem, charmed many Norwegians during Melodi Grand Prix last year as part of the trio United, together with Benedicte Adrian and the rapper Sirius. Now he is standing strong on his own two feet. This Oslo-boy has achieved a lot since we last saw him on the Melodi Grand Prix stage. He has released two singles, a music video and been part of a summer tour. Now he once again wants to win over Melodi Grand Prix fans and the people with the song Shine With Me. He wrote the song together with his friend Morad Aziman, known from the dance group Kingwings Crew, whilst Jesper Borgen is the producer.

Feed You My love

Artist: Margaret Berger
Lyrics and music: Karin Park, Robin Lynch and Niklas Olovson

Electropop artist Margaret Berger (27) grew up on the island of Hitra in Sør-Trøndelag. She made her breakthrough as an artist when she came a strong second in Idol in 2004 and made her record debut in the same year with the album Charmeleon. This led to a Spellemannspris for music video of the year for Lifetime Guarantee, in addition to being nominated for the prize for Newcomer of the Year. Now she is working on her third studio album and finally ready to take part in Melodi Grand Prix! The song, with which she will perform for the first time on stage in Florø is called Feed You My Love and is written by the Swedish-Norwegian artist and songwriter Karin Park. Feed You My Love is produced by the Norwegian-Swedish producer duo MachoPsycho (Robin Lynch and Niklas Olovson). Lynch and Olovson have previously collaborated with artists like Jessica Simpson, Natalie Imbruglia and Pink. For the latter, they wrote and produced the Grammy-nominated super hit Stupid Girls!

This content is unfortunately no longer available

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.