Tonight, the big six-week extravaganza continues live from Oslo. As Norway pays special attention to its contests’ sixtieth anniversary we will once again see four acts compete for a spot in the Grand Final on February 15th.
There are 5 artists pre-qualified for the Grand Final as chosen by a jury led by Stig Karlsen. For the remaining hopefuls, Melodi Grand Prix 2020 will consist of 5 semi-finals before the national final, one for each region of Norway (North, Central, West, South, East). The 2020 competition will not include a European jury. The winner of MGP 2020 will be strictly in the hands of the Norwegian viewers. The previous tickets to the final awarded through this method were awarded to Raylee, Rein Alexander and Kristin Husøy.
So who will emerge victorious and join the previous victors and the five acts selected by the expert jury in the Grand Final?
WHO WILL TAKE PART?
Hege Bjerk: “Pang”
Lyrics and Melody: Martin Bjerkreim, Trygve Stakkeland and Hege Bjerkreim
Hege Bjerkreim (28) creates dream-like, honest and soulful pop music, her songs are wrapped in a colorful blanket of synthesizers, guitars, string instruments and beats. Her lyrics come from the heart and are about body pressure, anxiety, the grief of what is lost in life as well as the joy of what lies ahead of us. The song she will be performing at Melodi Grand Prix is about how an eating disorder ultimately controls your life.
Magnus Bokn: “Over The Sea”
Lyrics and Melody: Alexander Rybak , Joakim With Steen and Magnus Bokn
Big name writers much? Magnus has teamed up with Eurovision legend Alexander Rybak and songwriter/producer JOWST who is also very well-known for the ESC audience.
Magnus attracted a large audience through his participation in Norwegian “Idol” in 2011 and 2013. In 2017, he joined “The Voice” where he impressed through several rounds. His audition song “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” achieved over 3,500,000 streams on Spotify and Youtube.
Oda Loves You: “Love Who We Love”
Lyrics and Melody: Magnus Bertelsen and Oda Evjen Gjøvåg
Oda Evjen Gjøvåg, moved to the pop metropolis of Los Angeles at the age of 19. She juggled her studied, a job as an Au Pair and vocalist gigs. Over time, she formed a solid base in the big city. She returned to Norway after 7 years and brought back with her, a copywriting education and a large amount of lyrics.
Nordic Tenors: “In A Special Place”
Tekst og melodi: Einar Kristiansen Five and Jan-Tore Saltnes
Nordic Tenors is a Norwegian vocal group that was established in 2003 in Bergen. The idea behind Nordic Tenors was to create a musical group that combines classical music and opera, with more pop musical expressions and humor.
From 2003 till today, the group has performed over 900 concerts and performances at private parties in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United States. The Christmas concert tour “Christmas with the Nordic Tenors” has become one of the most successful Christmas concert tours in Norway. The Nordic Tenors has released eight albums and one DVD in addition to various singles.
In addition to the four semi-finalists, we will also get to see Ulrikke a predetermined jury finalist, perform her entry live for the first time.
WHO WILL DECIDE?
The songs will compete in a duel style faceoff until there is a winner. We don’t yet know the pairings and this may only be revealed at the time of broadcast. What we do know is that ultimately the fans will decide the winner. The jury has already determined the songs to be sent to the final, so the heats are the fans’ chance to decide which of the songs still looking for a spot in the final should go through. Viewers can only vote through NRK.no.
In total, there will be ten participants in the final on 15 February, and the Norwegian television viewers will announce the winner. The selected winning song will represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in The Netherlands.
WHO IS THE FAVOURITE TO WIN?
Oda Loves You is the bookmakers favorite by a small margin. However, Magnus has been topping most of the online fan polls and is the favorite of some of our favorite Norweigan experts.
WHERE TO WATCH
You can follow the show via ESCplus Live beginning at 19.50 CET.
All six shows will be presented by Kåre Magnus Bergh, Ingrid Gjessing Linhave and Ronny Brede Aase.
You can listen to the songs in our Spotify playlist here. Don’t forget to vote in our poll!