On January 18, Norway held its second of five semifinals for the 60th anniversary season of Melodi Grand Prix. Each semifinal represents one of the five regions of Norway; this week was Eastern Norway. Four songs competed in two duels, with the winners of each duel battling it out in a “Gold Duel” to decide which song would advance to the final on February 15 in Trondheim. To maintain transparency, a draw was held at the top of the show to determine which songs would square off in each duel. A fifth song auto-qualified for the final and was introduced just ahead of the Gold Duel.
Duel 1
The first song of the night was Tore Petterson’s “The Start of Something New,” a jazzy number about a man excited about the prospects of a relationship with his latest crush. Tore showed a bright personality, eclipsed only by his even brighter neon yellow jacket, and was surrounded by two attractive male ballroom dancers and two Vegas-style showgirls. Despite some forward-thinking lyrics (Tore’s crush is another gentleman), the song was a tad old-fashioned and lounge-y and Tore struggled to stay on-pitch.
Tore’s competition in the first duel was “Fool for Love,” a duet sung by Kim Wigaard and Maria Mohn that described a long-time couple who, despite the fading charms of their relationship, resolve that they cannot live without one another. It was a traditional ballad staged in a steely blue glow and the attractive couple sang well enough, but they seemed to lack chemistry with one another, leaving a slight sense of inauthenticity. In the end, however, it was enough to defeat Tore as “Fool for Love” advanced to the Gold Duel.
Duel 2
First up in the second duel was Jæger and her song “How About Mars.” Dressed in a hot pink (quasi-) spacesuit with equally pink matted hair, Jæger’s lyrics taunt an unseen partner, promising to take them to places they’ve never been. The lyrics here were of secondary importance, however, eclipsed by the funky electro dancebeat and VR staging that filled the TV screen with various holograms of Jæger, her spaceship’s control panel, and numerous celestial bodies. It was the most technically ambitious performance of the night though Jæger appeared to be working hard to pull it off and might have done so at the expense of polish.
The last semifinalist of the night was Rein Alexander with “One Last Time.” Rein is a veteran musical theater actor and he put his experience to great use. Dressed as a Viking on a dark and smoke-filled stage, Rein sang with a booming bass voice about an impending final battle. The effect was easily the most arresting of the night, one where his haunting verses eventually built to a banging chorus during which Rein was joined on-stage by some rather acrobatic Viking mates. There were shades of Denmark 2018 and Game of Thrones here, but with a boppy chorus not unlike that of KEiiNO. The live audience went wild after the performance and Rein soon advanced to the Gold Duel.
Auto-Qualifier
Prior to the Gold Duel, this week’s auto-qualifiers performed their song. Most long-time Eurofans will already know Didrik Solli-Tangen as the Norwegian representative in 2010. This year, his brother Emil joins him in the competition with the duet “Out of Air.” The song was an attractive modern ballad, carrying a bit of a synthpop feel to it, about saying goodbye to a loved one. I say “loved one” here quite deliberately here as “Out of Air” gave off the impression of a song sung to a romantic partner, making the choice to have two brothers perform it slightly… perplexing.
Gold Duel
The night wrapped-up with a reprise of “Fool for Love” and “One Last Time” followed by a final vote. In the end, Rein Alexander was the winner and will join the Solli-Tangens in Trondheim for the Melodi Grand Prix final on February 15.