NORWAY

The Norwegian Final was held on March 2nd at the Spektrum in Oslo, hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh & Heidi Ruud Ellingsen. The winner was chosen in three rounds of voting. In round one the top 4 was selected by televoting/internet/app voting (50%) & 10 international juries (50%). In round two, these four competed in duels with the two winners qualified for a ‘super final’. In both of these rounds, the winners were chosen solely by view voting by phone, internet or via the app. The winner was KEiiNO with “Spirit in the sky”.

The setting of the song is quite dark and mystical but I am not quite sure this works. I think the backdrop is supposed to be the Northern Lights and if it is it doesn’t come across very well. The three members of the band are together on stage and as the camera pans around them you can see a male then a female dancer near them. Throughout the whole piece they stand together but don’t really interact with each other which I think is a shame. They are also dressed quite differently to each other although they are all quite muted. I would much prefer them to be in something a bit more distinct and unique. At the two minute mark, a band of drummers come on which is a welcome diversion but one that wouldn’t be possible at Eurovision itself then giant flags are seen waving in the audience (I mean is that classed as a person on stage or not?)

The song is folky electronic song which talks about the power of inclusivity and strength of being and individual. The beginning is rather minimal and atmospheric and the tune is rather unusual which keeps you intrigued. During the next part, the tune and backing change into something slightly more formulaic. The chorus includes the Sami joik which at first is quite odd and doesn’t seem to go with the rest of the song but as the song progresses is seems to fit better. The joik part around the 2 minute mark again sounds a little incongruous but with a better visual this would definitely work better.

As song to listen to there are a lot of things to catch your ear on. The three singers have vastly different voices and there are lot of divergent rhythms and tunes. The song definitely keeps you on your toes. However the performance was really lacking as well as including many facets than need to be changed for Eurovision. They definitely need better outfits for starters to emphasis the meaning of the song. They also need to work on their chemistry towards each other which seems non-existent. The setting is also far too dark and needs to lighten up especially in the chorus. They will need backing singers/dancers too which might give more power to the chorus.

This is a really interesting song but needs a much more structured and direct approach to its performance, otherwise it will dilute its power. On one hand it finds itself with quite a few neighbourly countries so will get some votes but will need to work much harder to get the Europe wide vote.

ARTIST –  KEiiNO

SONG – Spirit in the sky

MUSIC -  Tom Hugo, Fred-Rene Buljo, Alexandra Rotan, Henrik Tala, Alexander N. Olsson, Rûdiger Schramm

LYRICS -  Tom Hugo, Fred-Rene Buljo, Alexandra Rotan, Henrik Tala, Alexander N. Olsson, Rûdiger Schramm