The Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix held its 4th regional semi-final on Saturday, February 1st, featuring songs from Western Norway. As was the case in the previous heats, the four competing acts were up against each other in a duel-like format with one winner from each show qualifying for the MGP final to be held on Feb 15th. You can read the reviews on previous shows at the following links: Heat 1, Heat 2, and Heat 3.
Duel I
Magnus Bokn – Over The Sea
First up on stage was Magnus Bokn, who is no stranger to Norwegian audiences, having competed at the Norwegian Idol twice as well as on The Voice. Over the years he’s been able to grow a loyal fan base on social media platforms. Over The Sea was co-written by Alexander Rybak and JOWST, two well-known names in the Eurosphere. The song starts out slow and picks up the tempo towards the end, with the catchphrase “Might better and it might be wrong, Will we ever figure out where we belong?” being repeated over and over again. With the beret and suspenders adding a nice touch, Magnus seemed confident on stage and delivered a good vocal performance. Though well-executed, this act was not exactly my cup of tea.
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Oda Loves You – Love Who We Love
Next to perform was Oda Loves You. As you can tell by her name and the song title, Oda has a lot of love to give! And that’s exactly her intention – to spread love through music. Through this song, Oda tells us that everyone should be free to love whoever they love. In fact, the line “We love who we love” is repeated an endless number of times, to be point that it remains engrained in your head. Oda graced the golden-lit stage looking absolutely sparkling from head to toe. With two very flexible acrobats and a juggler juggling fire torches, the act seems more of a well-choreographed circus performance. Quite a catching number, I’d say!
Winner: Magnus Bokn
Duel II
Nordic Tenors – In This Special Place
Opening up the second duel were the Nordic Tenors, a Norwegian trio that’s been around since 2003. Their style combines classical music and opera with pop music. Surrounded by an all-blue background and decked out in nicely-fitting suits and golden bowties, the tenors cleverly worked the camera angles and did not miss an opportunity to gaze into the camera to connect with the viewers. They performed a sweet song about “a special place called home” where to two people feel complete after having found one another. A touching performance, for sure, though too much sugar for my taste.
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Hege Bjerk – Pang
Hege came out on stage in a three-dimensional dress with all kinds of pink and orange cones sticking out of it from every side. Certainly, an eye-catcher! (or an eye-sore?). The floor was covered in white smoke with sharp, triangular “icebergs” around (a la Azerbaijan 2018). Hege’s up-tempo song, Pang, is about an eating disorder and how it can affect one’s life. It was the only act in this semi-final sung in a language other than English – in Jærsk language, to be precise, a Norwegian dialect spoken in the country’s traditional Jæren district. The mix of beats, synthesizers, funky dress, strange-sounding language, and most-importantly, Hege’s voice transported us to a dream-like parallel universe. A unique experience!
Winner: Nordic Tenors
The show’s interval act was Ulrikke Brandstorpp, one of the auto-qualifiers for the MGP final. Ulrikke performed her powerful ballad, Attention, in which she kept asking herself (and us) How do we get the attention of the person we love? The song culminated with the iconic Eurovision-style golden sparkles flowing down from above. For me, this was the most memorable performance of the night, and one to watch out for at the final.
Finally, Magnus Bokn and the Nordic Tenors performed their songs once again, in the Golden Duel, with Magnus winning this heat and advancing to February’s 15th final.
Semi-Final 4 winner: Magnus Bokn