Melodi Grand Prix 2014: The Final - 15.03.2014

This year's MGP was scaled down from previous years.  No more big arena tour across Norway for the contest.  Unfortunately due to what felt like most of this year's national finals being crammed into a very limited amount of weeks, something had to give, and that happened to be this year's MGP heats :(

Ironically, for a show which in recent years had used the Melodifestivalen template, it now looks as if Sweden could learn a lot from their Norwegian counterparts.  Scaled-down heats and a showpiece final, presented by an attractive, classy and professional duo.  There's none of the 'baggage' which weighs Melfest down.  Although the show begins with a sketch (featuring WigWam) and an irritating child spoiling the opening, the contest quickly settles into a smooth, high quality show. 

Erik and Jenny are such lovely hosts.  And by the way, isn't Erik getting better looking, the older he gets?  Jenny has yet another of her lovely dresses on, this time it's all glitter and gold.  Now let's have some songs shall we?

"Ain't No Love In This City No More" - El Cuero
I always like a wee bit of rock in MGP.  It's not death metal this time, just a straightforward rock song.  It's nothing brilliant, but it's ok.  The singer reminds me, looks wise, of the lead singer of the Boo Radleys. 

"Soul Survivor" - Elisabeth Carew
I love, love, love her green dress.  This is a highly fancied, very contemporary soul/r'n'b number.  It's catchy and decent enough. 

Now we have some bloke with a big chain round his neck - he's like the Mayor of MGP! - talking about Knut. Which nicely leads us on to ....

"Taste of You" - Knut Kippersund Nesdal
Big big cheers in the Spektrum for a guy (with an amazing name!!) who, for me, is this year's Bjorn Johan Muri - he won't win but this is going to be a big hit.  Knut scored a record deal just before the final so I think we'll be hearing more from him.  There's a spectacular intro where Knut directs the laser lights.  This is just a great pop song which I'll take into off season.  The song ends with a golden firework finale a la Only Teardrops.  This deserves a spot in the superfinal.

"Needs" - Dina Misund
Even the songs I'm not personally fond of are still better than some national finals this year.  Dina gives a very nice performance.  Well done.

"Heal" - Mo
There's a big back story here: as Mo survived the Utoya massacre.  He performs the song well enough, although it's not a winner, but one thing's for sure already - this year's MGP final is ahead of the pack. 

"High Hopes" - Linnea Dale
Yet another dress which I love - Linnea's wearing a long satin dress in my favourite shade of green, which is the same as the curtains and cushions in my living room :)

This is contemporary, in a good way, and the song really draws you in.  By the way, I've been pronouncing her surname wrongly all these years: I thought it was pronounced 'Dale' the English way but it's actually like "Daa-le" so that's my Norwegian lesson for the week!

"Hit Me Up" - Charlie
Not really impressed by the title, and the song is probably the 'filler' of the night.  I never watched the heats but I'm sure this one must have beat off better songs.  It's one for those people who like the 'Disney girls'/Carly Rae Jepsen kind of sugary pop.

"Silent Storm" - Carl Espen.
From the ridiculous to the sublime.  He looks like an off-duty member of a death metal band.  This song's intensity is unmatched, and the fragility of his performance complements the song perfectly.  The buzz is already building for this one....

"Sing" - Oda and Wulff
So just when I'm enjoying the contemporary songs, along comes something which would have been at home in the Eurovision Song Contest of the 1970s.  National finals season has been littered with folky-acoustic numbers this year, but this is old fashioned.  Distressingly, disturbingly old-fashioned.  I think the Norwegian voters are too smart to let this win though.

The only down side is a 40 minute break between the first show and the gullfinal (superfinal): which gives us all a chance to take stock, and in my case do the washing up  :)

So 40 minutes later, the dishes are done, the wine is opened, the internet stream is faultless (see, SVT - this is how you do a live stream, watch and learn!) - Saturday nights just don't get any better than this. 

The wonderful Jenny has changed into a lovely navy blue glittery dress, and Erik is still looking good :)

But who are the gullfinalists?

Knut!!  With that hairdo he looks like Jedward's long lost brother.  He sounds good though, and he can be proud of his impressive debut this year. "Taste of You" is just a good pop song, we used to get lots of them in Melfest season...

Carl Espen is gullfinalist no.2.  Maybe it's just the way I've been feeling lately but the lyrics and sentiment of "Silent Storm" touch a very raw nerve.  He may be a little more nervous vocally, but this is an absolutely real experience which, if chosen to represent Norge this year, will completely slice through all the fakery. 

As my two favourite songs are through, I'm not too fussed about the 3rd and 4th songs but I'm sure they'll be ok...

Gullfinalist no.3 is Mo, with "Heal".  But firstly, is that really Stella Mwangi with her head shaved?  Yes it is!  Mo also has a distinctive look, but I'm not totally sure that this would be such a great choice.  It's a modern, slightly dubsteppy/drum n' bass style of song, but Hungary and Armenia have cornered that market this year.  Nevertheless this is a good performance.

And finally, gullfinalist no. 4 = Linnea Dale, with "High Hopes".  Glad that "sing sing sing sing sing like you mean it" dreck missed out.  Linnea brings effortless cool and lots of charm.  She has an interesting voice and this is another song for the off season.  There is background dancing, but it's not intrusive background dancing in a Melfest way.  This final is totally kicking Melfest's butt!

4 songs done, on with the voting so let's be having the interval act.  Firstly, Karin Park, the striking co-writer of "I Feed You My Love" with a song in a similar vein...

which leads us to the return of Margaret Berger, singing her latest song "Scream".

Finally it's time for "I Feed You My Love" which she performs in duet-version with Karin Park. 

There are some past MGP stars delivering the various regional voting totals, first up is Stella Mwangi, delivering the Østlandet votes.

1st - Mo
2nd - Carl
3rd - Linnea
4th - Knut

Jørn Hoel - from further back in the day at MGP - delivers the Nordnorge votes:

1st - Carl
2nd - Linnea
3rd - Mo
4th - Knut

Margaret Berger gives the Midtnorge totals:

1st - Carl
2nd - Linnea
3rd - Mo
4th - Knut

Helene Bøksle gives us the Sørlandet scores. 

1st - Linnea
2nd - Carl
3rd - Mo
4th - Knut

Christine Guldbrandsen - who doesn't look a day older than she did in 2006! - gives the Vestlandet scores:

1st - Carl
2nd - Linnea
3rd - Mo
4th - Knut
So Carl wins Vestlandet with a resounding majority, and takes home the MGP 2014 title ahead of Linnea in 2nd place, Mo 3rd and Knut 4th. 

"Silent Storm" may not be to everyone's taste, and I don't usually go for this minimalistic type of song - but it is an absolutely perfect choice for Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest.  Even my mum woke from her slumbers to declare "that sounds like a Eurovision winner to me" ("I don't know about you but that sounds like a Eurovision winner to meeeeee....."). 

The song was written by Carl's cousin, Josefin Winther, who was overcome with emotion after the final result. Carl's not even a professional singer - he's been a soldier, a glazer and a nightclub bouncer!  I'm sure this will be a springboard to a great career.  "Silent Storm" will stop the viewers of Europe in their tracks: whether that translates into votes is another matter.  It may be too "dark" and minimal for the 21st century Eurovision Song Contest, but it would be a unique winner.

MGP 2013: The Final, 09.02.13

Hello again!  I'm back after a much-needed break from blogland.  So much has happened since I was last here: national finals season has come and gone, and we now know the full line-up for this year's Eurovision Song Contest which is only 7 weeks away!

Over the coming weeks I'll post my thoughts on the songs, however this post is devoted to what I'm calling the 'Peter Nalitch' of national final reviews.  Yes, it was 'lost and forgotten' (groan) but I'm finally getting around to posting the final chapter of this year's Norsk Melodi Grand Prix.

Like Melodifestivalen which followed, an underwhelming and lacklustre qualifying season resulted in a surprisingly good final.  The venue, as usual, was Oslo Spektrum which was packed as ever, and this year's hosts Erik Solbakken and Jenny Skavlan have done a solid job presenting the show.  However, Jenny's stylist must have had the night off, as I wasn't too impressed with either of her outfits in the final. 

Time for the first finalist: Vidar Busk with "Paid My Way".  Now I still don't get him, and don't really understand why he's in the final, but then again it wasn't so long ago that this kind of thing was doing well in Melodifestivalen, so....

Right, let's get this out of the way: I have a very minor crush on the grinning guitarist in Fjellfolk, you know, the one who looks a wee bit like Bret McKenzie.  Anyway I'm feeling a lot more charitable on final night and even the tongue-twisting-title "Ulvetuva" sounds better than it used to.  It's a hypnotic Norwegian folk lullaby which then erupts into something a bit more lively.  OK then, maybe 'erupts' is a bit too strong.  Oh what the heck, let's have a gratuitous photo of Trym Bjønnes (the grinning-guitarist-Bret-lookalike)...  

In the lead-up to the final, "Bombo" sung by Adelen was topping the iTunes chart in Norway and she had become Margaret Berger's main competition.  In the weeks following the contest, the young singer has unfortunately been the victim of internet bullying, as reported by the excellent Wiwi Bloggs: http://wiwibloggs.com/2013/03/12/adelen-bullied-in-norway/23132/

I would agree that they're probably just jealous that she is young, extremely pretty and appears to have a cheerful and bubbly personality.  She certainly doesn't deserve that treatment.  Unfortunately her vocals aren't up to the job, but this is such a catchy song that there was never any doubt that it would make it to the final 4.

Next: it's Gromth featuring Emil Solli-Tangen.  I've never really been sold on "Alone" and would have preferred Gothminister in the final to fulfil the metal-quota.  Anyway, Gromth do their symphonic death-metal thang and then in strolls Mr Tangent-Thingy in his dinner suit.  Any more members of the Tangent-Thingy family want to come and have a go at MGP if they think they're operatic enough?

So Erik's just having a wander round the audience and who should he spot but some schlager royalty.  Oh look, there's Bettan!  And Guri Schanke!  Now, where the bleep is Alexander Stenerud?  We need him back in MGP.

But on we go to the next song, "Awake" sung by Gaute Ormåsen.  This is Morten Harket-lite, with a little bit of Donkeyboy thrown in.  The kind of effortless pop which Norwegians seem to do in their sleep.  This is one of my favourites in the final however is spoiled by the distraction of some women in sequinned trousers wheeling mirror frames around in the background, as you do.

The best thing about Lucky Lips is the lead singer's pink hair.  I can't believe that "Sweet and Heavy" was chosen as a wildcard to the final, as it's soooo banjo-plucking irritating.  The way she sings "dark red wiiiiine" annoys me beyond belief.

But fire up the glitterballs because it's D.I.S.C.O. time and my favourite MGP entry this year: "The Underground" by Datarock.  They are still dressed in those silly red tracksuits with 'Datarock' written on them.  But even if the styling is rubbish, I still love the song and never tire of it.  The intro is particularly amazing....come take a ride to where dreams are made of!  It was a better performance of the song than in Steinkjer and he nailed the key change this time.  But I couldn't see it as a superfinalist though.

Unlike Annsofi, who had the magical ingredient of a song written by Alexander Rybak, and indeed a song which became a real grower over the weeks.  "I'm With You" was performed well on the night.  I'd done some research to find out more about Annsofi Pettersen who had come 3rd in Norwegian X Factor in 2010.  She is still only 18 years old and I'm sure that she will be back at MGP in years to come.

And now to the pre-contest favourite, Margaret Berger or should I say "Marrrrrgarrrret Bergiiiirr" (I love that pronunciation!).  She seems quite likeable, away from the scary ice-queen character in that dress, performing "I Feed You My Love".  The intro recalls "Euphoria" and the staging of blue backdrop and flashing lights is very effective.  Let's face it peeps, she is probably the nearest thing we'll ever get to seeing Robyn at ESC so for that reason alone she had to win!

One more song to go, and it's "I Love You Te Quiero" sung by those chest-flashing Sirkus Eliassen brothers, who are like a Norwegian equivalent of LMFAO.  They look like the kind of guys who'd be good fun on a night out then would start to get very annoying.  But they're not as annoying as Sean Banan.  Anyway they are cute in a geeky kind of way, and extra points for the white rabbits.  This song is catchy but I could see a disastrous result if it was to represent Norway.

Songs over and it's time for Loreen to entertain the punters, stopping off at Norway on her national finals mini-tour.  She's chosen not to perform "E*******" but "My Heart Is Refusing Me", its Melfest predecessor.  Doing her usual mystical dancey thing.

Part 1 of the final is over - now there's some serious cross country skiing action to be done with!  On prime time TV on a Saturday night!  Only in Norway....oh well I'd rather watch that as most of the garbage we have inflicted on us on Saturday night telly here in the UK.  No wonder so many of us are spending our Saturday nights from January to March in national finals land!

But it's not long till MGP's back and it's time for the....Gullfinal!! The super-final in other words.  The hosts have had a costume change: I don't like Jenny's dress.

Adelen is the first of the four grand finalists.  Once again she celebrates as if she's won the whole thing.  Aww bless.  Anyway she gives "Bombo" her all.  She's followed by Annsofi.  By the way is it just me, or does anyone think Alexander Rybak looks very dishevelled and stressed out these days?  However he's cheered up by the announcement that his song "I'm With You" has made it to the final 4.  Annsofi gives a fine vocal performance and if this had been another year it may even have been an MGP winner.  

Erik's talking to Bettan (again) and outgoing champion Tooji, complete with his little blingy collar.  His advice to his successor: "Enjoy the ride!"  He might have come last in ESC but he doesn't seem particularly bothered.

Who's next to the superfinal?  Only Magnus and Erik Eliassen, with their perfectly waxed chests and white rabbits in tow.  By now "I Love You Te Quiero" is worryingly growing on me.

After a chat with Loreen and her personal bodyguard (OK I'm kidding) Mr Eurovision Jon Ola Sand, it's time for the announcement of the last finalist.  As the camera pans along the line-up of contestants, they know it's all lost.  Except of course for Maggie B who once again feeds us her love.

In his final act as reigning MGP champ, Tooji bows out with an 'alternative version' of "Stay" which I don't like to start with but then it eventually gets going and grows on me.  By the end of the song I rather like it, but the twirly hand dance seems to have been axed :(

After a wee trip to Malmö for host Erik it's time for the voting results.

There's a nice touch to the way the votes are announced this year.  The 'general' of each hosting town - who got the job in the individual heats thanks to answering the 'golden telephone' deliver the jury votes.

Steinkjer gives top marks to Margaret.
Floro "feeds" Margaret their top marks with Sirkus 2nd.
Larvik also gives top marks to Margaret.  At this point the three other finalists are joint 2nd.
Carina Dahl delivers the Midt-Norge vote.  Margaret top - Adelen 2nd..
Anina gives the votes from Nord-Norge.  Top marks go to...Sirkus Eliassen - this is the only area where Margaret didn't top the voting.
Martin Blomvik, (who is dressed in a nice jacket and jeans and looked a lot nicer than he did in his Primark-gangsta garb in his heat) delivers the Vest-Norge top marks to Margaret.

By this stage Margaret is so far ahead in the vote that the realisation is beginning to sink in for the hosts and contestants alike.  But there are still more votes to come.

Shackles deliver the Sor-Norge vote and with top marks, this officially seals Margaret's victory.
Last but not least, Julie Bergan delivers the Ost-Norge vote...

Margaret Berger is the winner of Melodi Grand Prix 2013.  And what a resounding winner too, as between juries and televoting she polled almost 40,000 votes more than the runner-up "Bombo", with "I Love You Te Quiero"  3rd and "I'm With You" in 4th place.

So it's good luck to Margaret in Malmö and I've got a feeling she's going to do rather well.  No last place or nil points this time round!  (But then I said the same about Tooji, so.....)

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2013: only teardrops of joy!

After the disappointment of Norway, it was off to Herning in Denmark for their annual final last Saturday night.  Over recent years DMGP has become one of my favourite national finals, so I made a point this year of watching it from beginning to end on DR's faultless webstream.

Not for Denmark the week-in week-out elimination process: no, let's just have a final and get on with it.  A lot of women in catsuits last Saturday - firstly Margaret Berger and then the three pleasant and unobtrusive female presenters at DMGP: however they soon changed into some very nice lace dresses (pictured above).

Due to other commitments I missed most of the first song "Jeg har hele tiden vidst det" sung by Frederikke so I can't really comment, however it seemed to be overshadowed by some ridiculous staging - all it was missing was the Andrex puppy.

Still as they say 'you gotta have a gimmick' and the next contestant drew his inspiration from Peter Kay's "Amarillo" video.  Remember the treadmill?  Former DMGP winner Brinck - yes, 'tonight Matthew I'm going to be Ronan Keating' - was back again and dare I say he's looking a little more like Chris Martin these days.  This time round, the Ronan soundalike was hitching a ride on the Jason Mraz/Train bandwagon with "Human".  It wasn't too bad though, but not a winner.

Something for fans of more traditional uptempo schlager-pop next.  Linda Wagenmakers-style big cloak - check! Wind machine - check!  The result was "I'm Not Alone" sung by Kate Hall.  I thought this was the best of the night so far and in another year or another country it could have won the whole thing, but there were some more goodies yet to come...

...although "Rejs Dig Op" sung by Louise Dubiel wasn't really one of them.  An anthemic style of song, but it fell short and it was all about the hairdo.  Yet after the disappointment of MGP in Norway, everything in DMGP was sounding better. 

In the pre-song postcard for Daze, did anyone think that the female singer had a little of the Birgitte Nyborg about her?  However there was no sign of this when the band took to the stage with their schlager-fan-favourite "We Own The Universe" which was very catchy and turned back time with a bit of rave!

In the lead-up to the contest, "Stay Awake" by Simone was the favourite in a poll on the DR website.  There wasn't really anything original about it though, from her Charlotte Perrelli/Ani Lorak-styling to the wind machine and the dancers.  It was maybe just a little too 'obvious' and she seemed a little too over-confident for my liking.

If Simone's song was 'old Eurovision' then the next song was 'new Eurovision' in this post-Euphoria era.  I had previously written off "Invincible" by Jack Rowan featuring Sam Gray (Sam's from the UK by the way) as a "Titanium" soundalike yet on the night this made sense and I think I'll definitely still be listening to this song long after the contest is over.  Just like the next one...

In the days leading up to the DMGP final, the next song seemed to grow and grow as a fan favourite.  Emmelie de Forest did everything she needed to do to get "Only Teardrops" (co-written by DMGP legend Lise Cabble) through to the super-final.  Tweeters and messageboard posts were calling her a mix of Loreen and Ruslana, but I got more of a Shakira-vibe from this young barefoot singer.

"Beautiful to Me" sung by Albin and written by Bryan Rice was ok, some nice generic pop-rock although nothing particularly special.  Still, I stand by my view that this is probably one of the best national finals we'll see this year, if not the best.

With a name like Mohamed Ali, you’d expect ‘the greatest’ song in the contest but "Unbreakable" just fell short of that expectation.  Yes, there was more than a hint of deja vu as Danny’s "Amazing" met the complete works of Taio Cruz.  I rather liked this, and again I'll be playing it beyond the contest. 

Superfinal time, and there were no surprises with the three finalists - most of us expected to see Simone, Emmelie and Mohamed there.  Simone was getting more slappably confident by the minute, whilst Emmelie got better and better. 

Not even the appearance of last year's winner Soluna Samay with her new song could spoil the proceedings!  And just when you thought the contest couldn't get any better, there was an unforgettable line-up for the interval act, all performing their ESC winning songs: Johnny Logan, Brotherhood of Man and the Herreys. Eurovision royalty indeed. 

By the end of the voting, Emmelie and Mohamed were tied on jury votes, so that all-important public vote was even more important than ever.  

The people have spoken...and it’s Emmelie de Forest who takes the short journey over the bridge to Malmö in May. I remembered the chorus after just one hearing, and that's all-important in a contest where the majority of the viewers/voters are only hearing the song for the first time.   I think "Only Teardrops" has a very good chance of doing well and should go top 10 at least. 

　

 

Above: Emmelie celebrates.  (all photos courtesy of www.dr.dk)

MGP 2013: Week 2

Another Saturday night and another exotic Norwegian destination on the MGP-tour.  This week it was Florø's turn to host the Melodi Grand Prix extravaganza.  I've still got mixed feelings about the opening title sequence, although it is rather 'epic' I guess.  It turned out to be more epic than the songs this week...

Yes, if you thought week 1 was a letdown then you ain't heard nothing yet!

"Det Vakje Mi Tid" - Martin Blomvik.

I initially had high hopes for this one after seeing Bjorn Johan Muri's name in the songwriting credits, but Martin, dressed like a Primark-gangsta, was a let-down and the song went nowhere, a repetitive, irritating retread of Labrinth's "Let The Sun Shine".  One listen was enough and I would be happy if I never heard it again. 

"I'm With You" - Annsofi.

This one grabbed the headlines due to its songwriter, a certain Mr Rybak, but this folkie ballad was anything but a fairytale. Where was the tune?  Already a pattern was beginning to develop in this week's heat: unimpressive vocals and an unconvincing performance.  I was relieved when it was all over. 

"On Hold" -Shackles.

 

I'm not familiar with the work of Shackles, but they were apparently in Norwegian X Factor.  (Points immediately deducted here, from this X Factor-hater).  It was all very contemporary, but I had to deduct further points for the song's disturbing similarity to that Rita Ora "Hot Right Now" song which I can't stand, so you won't be surprised to learn that this was yet another one I wouldn't want to hear again. 

So far, so much negativity from  me.  So I will say something nice for a change: I loved Jenny Skavlan's blue velvet dress this week!

"No One" -Hank.

 

Right, this is a strange one.  A Peter Jackson-lookalike who fronted black-metal combo Turbonegro, standing on the MGP stage crooning a surprisingly sweet song.  It wasn't great, and everything about it was probably wrong, yet it seemed to strike a chord with me where some of the previous entries hadn't. 

"Ulvetuva" - Fjellfolk.

For folk's sake - it's another folkie number.  This kind of thing can go down quite well at MGP.  It wasn't that bad but a pattern has clearly developed in this year's "Melodi" Grand Prix where most of the songs are actually missing a tune.  Still, the Bret McKenzie-lookalike guitarist provided a nice diversion. 

"Shine With Me" - Haji.

Forget everything that's gone before: for the awfulness of this knew no bounds.  Off-key from beginning to end, you really felt for him by the end of it and he probably wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. 

"I Feed You My Love" - Margaret Berger.

So now to the highlight of the evening.  Not a classic by any means, but this was the best song and performance of the night, although it took some guts to wear that catsuit!  (yep, I'm just jealous.)
A bit more of a tune wouldn't have gone amiss but the way things are going it's going to take something big to stop this one representing Norway this year. 

I didn't stick around as Denmark (and the DMGP final) beckoned, but it was no surprise that "I Feed You My Love" qualified direkte till Oslo Spektrum, and a folk double-whammy for "Ulvetuva" and "I'm With You". 

Please let there be better songs in the 3rd heat - I never thought I'd say this about one of my favourite national finals but (so far) you're letting me down, Norway :((
 

MGP: My preview of the final

For some strange and inexplicable reason, I found Norway's Melodi Grand Prix to be a bit of a disappointment this time round. It says a lot when the best thing about the whole contest was the Heat 2 interval act when Alexander Stenerud teamed up with fellow former contestant to deliver a medley of his MGP classics...and made us all realise that's what the contest was missing this year.

So after the usual three heats and second chance contest here is the final line-up.

1. "Vardlokk" - Helene Bøksle: No matter how many times I hear this, I just can't get into it at all, even if she delivers it well enough. I guess it's just my personal taste but these folk/ethnic entries just aren't really my thing :(

2. "Not That Easy" - Åste & Rikke: Unfortunately this has very little in the way of redeeming features for me either, and I'm at a loss to understand how this made it to a final.

3. "You're Like A Melody" - Hanne Sørvaag: Despite her obvious songwriting pedigree, this fell short of my expectations. It's pleasant enough, don't get me wrong, sounds like a Corrs album track or something (!) but she seemed a little nervous when performing it and she'll need to conquer the nerves on Saturday if she's to have any chance of winning.



4. "Depend On Me" - Babel Fish. On the down side it's maybe a little too slushy and sentimental. On the plus side, it was the only song which stuck in my memory and I think Europe's voters could really fall for it thanks to its simplicity, melody and anthemic feel. I thought of a couple of things when I heard this: 1)Crowded House, and 2) Norway's 2003 entry "I'm Not Afraid To Move On", which is one of the loveliest ESC entries ever. Despite it appearing to be a done deal, with "Haba Haba" clear favourite to win, I wouldn't write the Fish off just yet.



5. "Dance Tonight" - The BlackSheeps. Despite the title it's a multilingual effort by an act which apparently was in MGP Junior, (which I don't follow). It's OK, got that Pink/Katy Perry vibe and the lead singer's got a good voice, but the chorus gets a bit annoying after a while and I can't see it getting a good result on Saturday.



6. "Haba Haba" - Stella Mwangi. "Waka Waka eh eh..." oops sorry it's actually Haba Haba, which is a lively and catchy crowd-pleaser, while Stella herself is a charismatic and fun performer. The downside to this was her very flat vocals on the verses, which let the song down - but that chorus is soooo catchy and I can understand why it's the favourite. It would be a very interesting and groundbreaking choice for Norway if it was to win MGP!



7. "Alt Du Vil Ha" - Sie Gubba. I guess this is some kind of Norwegian folk-rock-dansband variant, but I'm not a fan. It's a little too bland and old-fashioned.

8. "Fire Below" - The Lucky Bullets. OK, checking the calendar to see it's not 1956. The Baseballs have much to answer for, not least this bunch of rockabilly revivalists. It has a killer draw, but if the Norwegian voters choose this to represent them at ESC then.....God, I'm speechless.

So....Stella or Babel Fish are my tips to win. Anything else will (IMHO) be a major let-down. And anyway, none of them are anywhere near as good as THIS!