The finals of the Norwegian song and artist selection "Melodi Grand Prix" was held on February 19th at the H3 Arena in Fornebu, Bærum, hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh, Annika Momrak & Mikkel Niva. Competing were five that had been preselected for the final, the four semi-final winners and the 'last chance' selection. The winner was Subwoolfer with "Give that wolf a banana".
Very little is publicly known about the group although there has been plenty of speculation. The three members go under the pseudonyms Keith and Jim (the names mentioned in the song) and backed by DJ Astronaut. They have stated that the group was was founded 4.5 billion years ago, have come from the moon and have "conquered every planet musically". Their music is in a dance EDM style with a hint of fun and humour in their lyrics
The song starts of with a very muted and tuneful first verse. Once it goes into the chorus the backing track starts to fill out and becomes the driving force behind the tune. The second verse in shorter and keep the momentum through to another chorus. Following this is a chanted part focusing on the syllables of banana. It is a weak point of the song but allows the performers involved a time to collect themselves vocally as well as slow the pace down before the build up to the end. Finally we have one more full rendition oft eh chorus ending with a short reprise on part of the first verse. The whole this is performed with 3 extra dancers with Jim and Keith joining in full throttle and DJ Astronaut to the side on some decks. In addition there are lyric graphics during the chorus.
This song and performance has really divided the fandom. Many take the opinion that this as a tacky joke entry with little substance and to be honest many people were taken aback by the whole song's oeuvre. I myself had some reticence and doubt as to the complexity and seriousness of this entry. What one cannot deny is the packaging and dedication of the performance. Just as Israel's entry is channelling Drag Race, this is taking advantage of another successful worldwide tv franchise "The Masked Singer". Who is actually singing out of the members onstage? Is the DJ doing the heavy lifting? Are there different people off stage whose voices we can hear? Who is underneath the masks? Do we know who they are? All these questions and constant guesses has kept this act on the tip of social media tongues. The song also has a ready made and iconic dance routine which will be on Tik Tok before you can phone up Fyffes for more Eurovision advertising. The song's lyrics are rather simple/stupid but non-English speakers would totally understand what's going on because of it's basic use of English and repetitive lyrics. I do have questions about the use of voice processing and which parts are deemed 'backing vocals' to see how much of this stylised sound can be actually kept, that is assuming the men in masks AREN'T doing all the singing!. A fully live version would probably compromise and ruin the impact of the whole production. Like Latvia, this act and song has gone viral and there is no such thing as bad publicity. Personally I am so glad this song is here and although my preference would be for it not to win.
ARTIST - Subwoolfer
SONG - Give that wolf a banana
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - JJ LUSH, DJ Astronaut, Keith, Jim
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