In just a few days time we will know who will be representing Norway at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.  Ten songs will compete in the Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) on Saturday 27th Feb at Oslo’s Spektrum Theatre.

One of the contestants is Freddy Kalas who has entered his song ‘Feel Da Rush’ into the competition. Freddy will be looking to build on his recent Norwegian chart successes to appeal to a wider audience through participation in the MGP and possibly at Eurovision itself in Stockholm.

Freddy’s hopes took an early blow though, when it was revealed that his original song submission ‘Happy Rush’ was deemed too similar to a previously released song, and faced potential elimination.  But Freddy was not going to give up on his dream and worked hard to make necessary changes to the chorus, leading to a new title of ‘Feel Da Rush’.

We were keen to learn more about the song and Freddy was kind enough to take some time out from his busy schedule to answer some of our questions.  Here is what he had to share with us:

Firstly, congratulations on being selected for the MGP final.  You’ve had some success recently in Norway, but international audiences may not be as familiar with your career – would you be able to tell us a bit about yourself and your achievements to date?

Thank you so much, I’m very grateful!.  I started writing lyrics and songs when I was 14. Back then I was really inspired by 2Pac, but nowadays I am making Norwegian house inspired pop music which is really popular at the moment in Norway.  I’m now looking to write songs in the English language and hope to get more attention for this genre through being part of Eurovision.  Music and performance is all I am!.

So is your ambition to enter Eurovision just a recent thing or has it always been in the back of your mind as part of your career plan?

My ambition started when I was a little kid and I’ve always dreamed about performing on a big stage.  I now realise that Eurovision has the potential to take my career to a whole ‘nother level and I would gain a lot of experience through being part of such an amazing competition.

So when the snippets of the songs were released, there was some confusion over the song ‘Happy Rush’  and it was quickly changed to ‘Feel Da Rush’ to remain in the competition.  Was it difficult to turn around those changes so quickly and has this affected your preparations at all?

Well, to change a chorus in 24hrs wasn’t very easy.  We came up with some great ideas, but ended up using our last idea after almost using the one we came up with before the last one.  The last one was better and even better than the original ‘Happy Rush’.  The listeners also seemed to agree that it is now better.

And the song itself, how would you describe it’s style, is there a specific message in the song?

The song is about the rush I get every time I’m walking up on a stage doing my thing.  I’ve been craving that feeling since my childhood and it’s been my secret until now.  My goal is to make people sing, dance and maybe feel that same rush.  I also hope to inspire people to walk the same path as I do, and if you have a talent and feel scared about expressing it, go step by step and never give up!.  I started from the bottom myself.

Do you have anything exciting planned for the stage performance at MGP.  Are you able to tell us anything about it yet or will we have to just wait and see?

I got a little secret; don’t know if I can keep; I feel it in my body; and I don’t wanna tell it – because you’ll have to watch me on 27th Feb to find out.

Are you a fan of MGP and Eurovision generally? and are there any other entries that you’ve particularly enjoyed?

Of course I’m a fan!, I’ve watched MGP and Eurovision since I was a kid.  I really enjoyed last year’s winner ‘Heroes’ by Måns Zelmerlöw and that’s probably my biggest favourite.  And of course Alexander Rybak’s Fairytale from 2009

And outside of Eurovision, what sort of music would you generally listen to yourself, and are there any artists that have inspired you?

I’m all about house music.  I do love other genres as well, but house is my biggest favourite.  My song is an EDM song and not very eurovision-like, but I hope to make EDM more attractive, especially with a Caribbean accent to it!.

What would it mean to you to win MGP and represent Norway at Eurovision?

It would mean everything in the world to me and with my song ‘Feel Da Rush’ I want to represent and express the Norwegian party of our souls, in a way that you’ve never seen or heard before.

And if you did win and we were to come to Oslo for the contest in 2017, where would you recommend visitors to go first?, what is your favourite thing about Norway?

I would like people to visit Vestlandet, my favourite part of our country – beautiful fjords and mountains.

And do you have any final message for our readers?

Please give me your vote.  I really want this!

You can listen to Freddy’s song ‘Feel Da Rush’ here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8STyWg2N95o

The MGP takes place on Saturday evening, and you can follow all of the action here with ESCBubble via our live blog.  We will also be at the Spektrum Theatre, so keep an eye on our twitter and instagram feeds for exclusive pictures and coverage of the event.