Norway: NRK unveils the pre-qualified acts and the 1st semi-final contestants
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The Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, has uveiled the pre-qualified finalists and the semi-final one contestants of the upcoming Melodi Grand Prix, the show that will determine the nation's ESC 2021 hopeful.
During a press conference at the NRK haeadquarters in Oslo, the acts of the first semi final along with the six pre-qualified acts of the Grand final were revealed.
According to the NRK schedule the competing entries of the semi finals will go public every Monday ahead of each one of the semi finals while
These are the four artists competing in semi-final 1 on Saturday:
1. Beady Belle: «Playing with fire»
(Music: Beady Belle)
Beate Lech (46), known as Beady Belle, is a singer, songwriter and producer with a large international audience. She has toured in large parts of the world since the early 2000s and has has worked with international stars such as Jamie Cullum and R&B artist India.Arie, Dee dee Bridgewater, as well as Joshua Redman and Norwegian JarleBernhoft. She has performed at large international festivals and concert venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. Beady Belle made a name for herself in Norwegian “Stjernekamp” in 2019, which made her known to a broader audience in Norway.
Beady Belle has released about twenty record throughout her career. She started as a front vocalist in the band Folk & Røvere in 1996, while studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She has also released jazz albums in collaboration with Jon Eberson, Christmas albums in collaboration with SKRUK, and hymn albums in collaboration with George Riedel.
Beady Belle is primarily known for her self-produced releases, where she is the front vocalist, bandleader and writes all of the music and lyrics. She also produces everything.
2. Blåsemafian: «Let Loose»
(Music: Jørgen Lund Karlsen, Sigurd Evensen, Stig Espen Hundsnes, Benjamin Sefring, Caroline Teigen.)
The group Blåsemafian is one of the most renowned brass bands in Norway and Europe and consists of Sigurd Evensen (27) from Oslo on trombone, Stig Espen Hundsnes (32) from Stord on trumpet and Jørgen Lund Karlsen (27) from Fredrikstad on saxophone.
Blåsemafian has collaborated with a number of artists such as Marcus & Martinus, Madcon, Cezinando, Angelina Jordan in has appeared in several TV productions. They deliver high energy, unique attitude and musicality at an international level.
Featuring singer on “Let Loose” is Caroline (Hazel) Teigen.
3. Jorn: «Faith Bloody Faith»
(Music: Åge Sten Nilsen, Jørn Lande, Eirik Renton, KjellÅge Karlsen)
Jorn, or Jørn Lande (52) which is his full name, grew up in Rjukan and now lives in the city of Fredrikstad. He has nearly 50 international album releases behind him and is known for his large vocal capacity. He is said to be the largest Norwegian musical export since A-ha.
In addition to his solo career under the name Jorn, he has been a member of many bands and projects such as ARK, Masterplan, Avantasia, Dracula "Swing Of Death", Beyond Twilight, Vagabond, The Snakes, Millennium, Mundanus Imperium,
Ayreon, Brazen Abbot, among others. Over the years, Jorn has received several awards for his work, including the European Commission's European Border Braker's Award for Masterplan's debut album in 2004.
In recent years, he has also worked with Riot Games and the world's largest online game 'League of Legends', where he gives voice to the character Karthus in the fictional heavy metal band Pentakill.
Most Norwegians recognize Jørn as the voice of the famous football song "Alt for Norge" from 1994, and he has made several sports-related songs over the years, including "Got a mind set on gold" from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and "Famous" for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Jorn shares the stage with his fellow musicians KjellÅge Karlsen, Øyvind Strønen and Eirik Renton.
Stina Talling: «Elevate»
(Music: Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Hilda Stenmalm, Stina Talling, Eirik Hella, Monika Engeseth)
StinaTalling (17) from Bergen started with YouTube videos in 2013 and has since been quite besides school. She has almost 17 million strems on YouTube, where she uploads personal and humorous videos. In 2019 she landed a contract with Sony Music and has released several songs: "Fortidtilfremtid", "Jada Jada" with Cherie Mwangi, "En gang til" with Eirik Lyng, "Livet nå" and a film score "Enraketttilmåneland” from the Netflix movie “Månereisen”in 2020.
Stina's biggest hit "Mer enn god nok", which she co-wrote for BlimE (a Norwegian friendship campaign from NRK) has been streamed over 12 million times. She has appeared in several TV shows. In 2018, Stina was nominated to an award under the YouTuber award show “Gullsnutten”, and in 2019 she was nominated for an award in the Nickelodeon 2019 International Kid's Choice Awards.
The pre-qualified artists
The six pre-qualified acts of the Grand final show are:
1. Atle Pettersen: «World On Fire»
(Lyrics: Atle Pettersen Jesper Borgen Magnus Clausen Alexander Pavelich Peter Daniel Newman)
Atle Pettersen (31) is a singer, songwriter and TV ho
st from the city of Skien.He is previously known as a vocalist in the band Above Symmetry and The Scheen. In 2014, The Scheenwon the Emergenza Festival, the world's largest music competition for unsigned bands with as many as 34,000 participants from 150 countries. Atle Pettersen had his breakthrough in Norwegian X-factor in 2010, and the same year released his debut single "Light on" as a solo artist. The song reached a 6th place on the Norwegian pop chart “VG lista”. He released his debut album "Based on a true Story" in 2011, which went straight into a 3rd place on the same pop chart. Atle is no stranger to music competitions on TV and has also participated in “Stjernekamp” in 2013 and “The Hit” in 2014. He won Norwegian “Dancing with the stars” in 2011. For the past four years he has been the host of “Beat for Beat” on NRK.
In recent years he has releasedmusic mostly in Norwegian and has also written songs for other artists, including "Darkside" for Alan Walker. He released a Christmas album in 2020.
«World On Fire»will be released Friday, January 5th. Atle Pettersen will showcase his song in semi-finale 4, February 6th.
2.Kaja Rode: «FeelAgain»
(Music: Magnus Martinsen, Mirjam Johanne Omdal, Andreas Gjone og Erika Dahlen.)
Kaja Rode is a 22-year-old singer born in Oslo. She participated in Norwegian The Voice in 2017, where she made all the judges turn around at the blind audition. She grew up in Ulsteinvik in Western Norway and attended music specialization at the Volda High School. Despite her young age, Kaja has performed on many stages and has extensive experience performing at various events. She is inspired by artists such as Sam Smith, John Legend and Sia, and is also inspired by many Norwegian artists.
Kaja studies Retail Management and works with songwriting. She is excited to be pre-qualified at MGP, in a collaboration with songwriters who came to be through NRK and MGP. This has resulted in a song that really shows us who the artist Kaja Rode is.
«Feel Again»will be released Friday January 29th. Kaja Rode will showcase her song in semi-finale 3, January 30th.
3. KEiiNO: «Monument»
(Music: Tom Hugo Hermansen, Alexander Nyborg Olsson, Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan ogRüdiger Schramm)
The combination of pop and Sami joik enchanted Europe, and KEiiNOwon the popular vote at Eurovision 2019. "Spirit in the Sky" was the world's second most viral song on Spotify, it was on the charts in several European countries, topped the official Norwegian pop chart and was nominated for a Spelleman (Norwegian Grammy) in the category “Song of the year”.
Since their debut in MGP2019, KEiiNO has released 14 songs that have so far been streamed over 60 million times. They have toured all over Norway, played for full houses in Europe and Australia and were appointed UN ambassadors for indigenous languages. Now they are ready for MGP and hope to represent Norway at Eurovision Song Contest once again.
KEiiNO says "Monument" is about the traces we leave behind,the experiences you remember, and the strong relationships in life. It is a tribute to those who enrich the lives of others, but who do not get statues erected or streets named after them.
«Monument»will be released Friday, January 15th. KEiiNOwillshowcasethe
song in semi-finale 1 on January 16th. 4. Rein Alexander: «Eyes Wide Open»
(Melody: Rein Alexander Korshamn, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland)
Singingandmusicwerecentral
to Rein Alexander's (49) upbr inging. Already as a member of thechoir “Sølvguttene”, si ngingtookhimaroundall of Norway andtheworld. Today he is a schooledandself-taught, ex periencedcommunicatorandint erpreter of many musical genre s. Norway, USA, Iceland, London, Italy and Sweden are places he has called home, both as a student anda professional. He has receivedawards at schools such as the Royal Academy of Music and The Reykjavik Academy of SingingandVocal Arts. In 2003, theNorwegianpeoplevot
edhimtovictory in the NRK s how“Kjempesjansen”. Rein Alexander has helda large number ofconcertsand t
ours for large audiences. He has alsoplayedrolessuch as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables", Anatoly in "Chess", TerjeVigen, Caston i n "Beauty andtheBeast", Shere Kahn in "The Jungle Book", Anton Fugger in "Whichwitch" and more. In 2020, Rein participated in the semi-
finalsduring MGP, where he to oktheNorwegianpeopleby sto rm withthe song “One last time"”andthusadvancedtoth e grand final in Trondheim. «Eyes Wide Open»will be released Friday February 12th. Rein Alexander will showcase his songin semi-finale 5, February 13th.
5. Stavangerkameratene: «Barndoms
gater» (Music: Tommy Fredvang, Lars Horn Lavik, Robin Sharma og Glenn Lyse)
Prior to their releases and concerts, the four artists in the band“Stavangerkameratene” bec
ame known individually to large audiences via television. Kjar tan Salvesen won Norwegian“Idol” in 2004, Tommy Fredvang is known from Norwegian “X-Factor” 2009, “Stjernekamp” in 2015 and the success «We love ABBA», Glenn Lyse won Norwegian “Idol” in 2007 and Ole Alexander Mæland has a background as a vocalist in “Elle Melle” and participated in Norwegian“The Voice” in 2012. Four years after their debut as a group, “Stavangerkameratene” n
ow have two albums behind them, over 50 million streams on Spotify, over 6 million views on YouTube, several gold and platinum songsand numeraltou rs around Norway. Today they are considered one of Norway's most popular live bands. «Barndomsgater»will be relasedJanuary 22nd. Stavangerkameratene will showcase their song in semi-finale 2, January 23rd.
6. TIX: «Ut Av Mørket»
(Music: Andreas Haukeland )
Behind the artist name TIX is Andreas Haukeland (27) from Bærum outside of Oslo. He is one of Norway's most popular artists. Andreas says that the TIX character dressed in fur, sunglasses and a headband was named TIX as a result of growing up with the diagnosis Tourette's syndrome. He chose to take ownership of the nickname he was given and made it his artist name.
In 2015, he had his first major breakthrough with the song "Sjeiken" which became the party song of the year for the “russ” (Norwegian high school graduates). Despite extensive debate among parents and in the music industry, his first album "DømtogBerømt" made it to the official Norwegian pop chart for70 weeks.
In 2018, TIX took a step further on the road to becoming Norway's biggest pop star when he released his song, "Shotgun". He has thenmade a name forhimself as a songwriter in Norwayand abroad with the world hit ‘Sweet but Psycho’ with Ava Max, which became the most played song of the year.
Since then, TIX has had seven songs as number 1 on Spotify in Norway. During the 2020, a year dominated by Covid-19, the song "Karantene" (Meaning "Quarantine") became an enormous hit overnight and at the beginning of May he had as many as 11 songs at the top 200 chartin Norway.
TIX has been seen both as a participant in Paradise Hotel Norway and as a judge in Norwegian “Idol”.
«Ut Av Mørket» will be released Friday January 15th. TIX will showcase his song in the first semi-finale Saturday Janury 16th.
MGP 2021 dates
The Norwegian national selection will commence on January 16 with the first semi final show and will continue to unfold over six weeks, concluding on February 20 with the Grand final.
This is the Melodi Grand Prix schedule:
Semi-final 1 - January 16
Semi-final 2 - January 23
Semi-final 3 - January 30
Semi-final 4 - February 6
Semi-final 5 - February 13
Second Chance Round - February 14
Grand final - February 20
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