NORWAY

The Norwegian Final was held on February 15th at the Spektrum in Trondheim, hosted by Ingrid Gjessing Linhave, Ronny Brede Aase & Kåre Magnus Bergh. Five songs were preselected for the final and were joined by the 5 semi-final winners. The overall winner was due to be chosen in 3 rounds of online voting but the first online vote failed and the backup jury was used instead to select the top 4. The online vote successfully selected the top 2 then a final vote to select the winner. Going to Rotterdam is Ulrikke Brandstorp with "Attention"

The colour palette for this song is black and gold. Ulrikke is in a figure hugging gold dress as her dark hair cascades behind her. The backdrop starts of black with flashes of gold randomly appear on the beat.Later on the backdrop turns into long oblongs highlighting lighting rigs. As the song goes on, the stage lights up slowly ending with a pryro curtain behind her. Either side of Ulrikke are a cellist and violinist and the floor begins as intertwined squares. The crowd in the arena are also holding their lights up which makes the camera view from behind her very similar to the views of the backdrop.

The song starts with a short melodic intro with the strings. This suddenly cuts off to a very minimalist beat. Ulrikke has a very piercing tone to her voice and the haunting bass line really shows this off. It also means that if she is a moment off timing or ever so slightly out of tune, you'll know about it. The first round of verse/chorus takes well over a minute but the next section is truncated and only lasts 45 seconds. This leads into a small bridge which sets up the big notes and the build up to the end after the last chorus the backing track cuts out to end how it began.

As I have already said her voice has a very distinctive quality and the production of the song really emphasises this. The repetition of the word throughout the song, especially at the end of phrases keeps the songs meaning in your head which is also a very clever technique. This song is all about the build and visually and vocally this does with really well. The choice of colour palette screams 'winner' with the amount of gold used throughout. Apart from a brief walk during the second verse there is very little movement.

Visually I think this needs little done to it but will need some thinking when it comes to backing singers and whether or not the instrumentalists are needed either side of her. This song carries on the recent Norwegian theme of choosing something rather random and slightly austere and maudlin to Eurovision. This song is co written by Kjetil Mørland who wrote and co-performed the wonderful "A monster like me" a few years ago. I feel that the song not only demands your attention but also keeps it. I would say that the verses are a little stronger than the chorus if only because I find this part a little bit too shouty compared to the quite timid and intimate start to proceedings.
Amazingly this is the first proper ballad we have in English right now and this does stand out and I could see this song as an early contender to semi 2 closer. Although the voting issues during the national final may have cast some shadow over the validity of this result, in the end I think the right result was gained at the end.

Artist - Ulrikke Brandstorp

Song - Attention

Composers - Ulrikke Brandstorp, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland 

Lyricists - Ulrikke Brandstorp, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland

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