15 February 2020

It’s 60 years since Norway debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, so to commemorate that, they’ve made the 58th edition of Melodi Grand Prix a bit of a celebration. Instead of the single-night format of the past few years, they’ve branched out to include five semi finals. These semi finals are based on the five regions of Norway and, you guessed it, will feature 5 songs in it each. Each semi final will have a pre-qualified song perform, while four others will duel to be the other song to reach the grand final for that region. The grand final, to be in held in Trondheim on 15 February 2020, therefore will be the customary 10 songs.

The pre-qualified songs:

Sondrey – Take My Time
Didrik & Emil – Out of Air
Akuvi – Som du er
Ulrikke Brandstorp – Attention
Tone Damli – Hurts Sometimes

The regional semi final winners:

Raylee – Wild (South)
Rein Alexander – One Last Time (East)
Kristin Husøy – Pray For Me (Central)
Magnus Bokn – Over the Sea (West)
Liza Vassilieva – I Am Gay (North)

Melodi Grand Prix 2020 Preview

01 Raylee – Wild

Has an addictive quality while also being quite cheap. A bit like like popcorn. In fact, it really is popcorn music. Watch it, like it, forget it. 5/10

02 Didrik & Emil – Out of Air

Didrik was Norway’s 2010 entry on home turf, and delivered a poor result with his operatic power ballad, finishing 20th. He’s added a slightly taller clone of himself (his younger brother, Emil), and, for a male power ballad duo, this has immense appeal for some strange reason. It flows well, is ridiculously infectious and has unique choreography of two boys leap-frogging each other. It’s just so Eurovision. 9/10

03 Magnus Bokn – Over The Sea

Always nice to see a woman with a fiddle, and then Magnus appears from behind her. It’s folk-style music lifted straight from the film Titanic, and then bursts into a crowd chant of a chorus. It’s just a bit nondescript, and it’s a shame Magnus doesn’t have an N before the K in his last name. Then we could all be talking about Magnus bonkin’ over the sea. 5/10

04 Akuvi – Som du er

Seeing the title in Norwegian, I totally didn’t expect some sort of tribal “Wild Dances” kind of vibe. I was thinking more Christine Guldbrandsen with Alvedansen from 2006. Perhaps I was just hoping for that. It was the last time Norwegian graced the Eurovision stage too. After listening to Som Du Er, oh do I wish for the angelic Christine to return. Other than the opening vibe, this is quite dull and repetitive. 4/10

05 Kristin Husøy – Pray For Me

I love the letter Ø in the Norwegian alphabet. It could be my favourite letter ever. Do you want to write an O or not? Speak up, man! It’s a bit like the crashed A and E in Danish – the Æ – another favourite letter. Do you want an A or an E? Come on, man! Yes, you might have guessed, I’ve been listing to too much Joe Biden recently. I don’t mind Pray For Me. The rock hmmm-mmm vibe, much like the classic Stones from Switzerland’s Zibbz in 2018, a touch of jazz, and the great harmonies to finish it off, it all works quite nicely. While Kristin sounds (and looks) pleasant, it lacks the powerful vocal moment to really lift it. I’ll pray for her to at least make the Gold Final. 7/10

06 Rein Alexander – One Last Time

A bit of a mix of Spirit In The Sky from last year and Denmark’s Higher Ground by Rasmussen in 2018. Is “viking dance” a genre? Rein brings a gruff exterior, breakdancing male dancers and plenty of fog with this catchy, albeit simplistic, song. It’s one that certainly will grab attention; it’s whether it has the staying power once the novelty wears off… and wears off quickly for me. I can see it reach the Gold Final and perhaps winning, especially as Rein did win his regional semi final and has a flotilla of fan support already. 6/10

07 Tone Damli – Hurts Sometimes

A mellow, evocative song and a really nice voice. This is one you need to see through to the end and is really quite lovely. It’s reminiscent of a few others in recent editions of MGP, notably Adrian Jørgensen’s The Bubble last year. Tone Damil finished second in MGP 2009 with Butterflies, which is as good as a win considering the juggernaut of Alexander Rybak and Fairytale that year. Hurt Sometimes probably lacks that something special or a big moment to really stand out and capture the audience. It’s a shame, because it is really nice. 8/10

08 Sondrey – Take My Time

This is that sort of modern funky/dance kind of music that doesn’t appeal to me. It reminds me of Sweden’s Benjamin Ingrosso with Dance You Off in 2018, and that is not a good reminder. Although, Sondrey isn’t quite as bad. 3/10

09 Ulrikke Brandstorp – Attention

From the first notes, you sensed something special about this. Ulrikke has a pretty voice, and a big, powerful female ballad usually scratches all my itches. This one seems to take an age to get going, is a bit on the generic side, and really relies on its grand finale as its selling point. I’m not a 100% sold. Visually it is impressive, and that it’s a well sizzled steak in a competition mostly of half-cooked hamburgers will make it stand out and be a strong chance to win. 8/10

10 Liza Vassilieva – I Am Gay

Any chance we’ll ever see a contrary song to this, like I Am Miserable? This is your fun, frivolous song to finish up the night. Second last is now the plumb position in national finals, and I sense it’s to avoid typecasting the last song as the best and therefore create artificially high expectations. In a longer show, like the Eurovision grand final itself, weariness comes in with the later songs too. So the leading candidates get placed a bit earlier now and the final song is a bit of filler. No offence, Liza. 6/10

My Gold Final

02 Didrik & Emil – Out of Air
05 Kristin Husøy – Pray For Me (Central)
07 Tone Damli – Hurts Sometimes
09 Ulrikke Brandstorp – Attention

My Gold Duel

02 Didrik & Emil – Out of Air
09 Ulrikke Brandstorp – Attention

My Winner

02 Didrik & Emil – Out of Air

I thought a bit and re-listened to the songs a few times before splitting Ulrikke and Didrik & Emil. While my head says it will be Ulrikke, my heart is yours, Didrik & Emil.