16 acts already competed for four places in the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix final. Four acts representing the Northern Region will compete in the final heat for the last spot on February 15th final.
Duel 1
Jenny Jenssen – Mr- Hello
Mr. Hello, at a first listen, appears to be a pretty catchy song, taking us back to the '30s and '40s. While the entry could have been great representing Norway in the '80s, this year's Northern region Heat is beyond reach for Jenny Jenssen. Some might like it a lot, but that would not be me. What I do like however is the story about Jenny’s last Norwegian participation in 2007. She was a new mum, and her little baby girl was backstage with NRK’s program director as a babysitter! And that little baby girl was with her again tonight – as one of the dancers. Good performance, outdated song.
VS
Elin & The Woods – We Are As One
Elin was joined on stage by her producer Robin. They describe their music as ‘the electronic music of the indigenous’, and it fits them well. We Are As One includes the Sami sound, made famous by Keiino last year, but it is also inspired by Electronic music. This was one of my favorite songs of this year's Norwegian entries, and I do believe it could do very well in Eurovision.
Winner: Elin & The Woods
Duel 2
Kevin Boine – Stem På Mæ (Vote for me)
Starting as a piano ballad, and transitions into Country, then to something more Folk-ish with pop, and rap influence. definitely an interesting mix, where he is asking for people to vote for him. While this entry can be seen as interesting, I felt like there was too much going on for us to focus on his message. I would not be voting for Kevin Boine.
VS
Liza Vassilieva – I Am Gay
An LGBTQ woman coming out of the closet on Norwegian television? Not quite. Liza Vassilieva is straight, but this song is written to show solidarity with the LGBT community. She described her song as a message for anyone to just be themselves and be free to say "I am Gay". It's happy and uptempo, with an extremely powerful chorus calling for all of us to join in singing "I AM GAY". It can be seen as Cheesy, and it is, but can also be quite enjoyable.
Winner: Liza Vassilieva
Duel 3
One spot in the MGP 2020 Final for two great acts. Elin & The Woods with "We Are One" vs. Liza Vassileva's "I am Gay". The Gold duel performance was very good. Even if I personally preferred Elin & The Woods, I was happy to see Liza win this last Heat.
Winner: Liza Vassilieva