Meet The Participants Of The Fourth Semi Final Of MGP 2021, And Vote For YOUR Favourite!
Norwegian national broadcaster NRK just revealed another four acts which are participating at the semifinal of Melodi Grand Prix 2021. The fourth semifinal is going to take place this Saturday, 6th of February. In total, a record number of 26 songs are participating at this year’s Melodi Grand Prix. Twelve of these will be competing in the final, six pre-qualified artists and six finalists voted by the audience. Five semi-finals are organised and each Saturday from 16th of January four semi-finalists are dueling against each other for the ticket to the final. So far there were three acts which won the semi-finals in which they competed: Blasmafian feat. Hazel with “Let Loose”; Raylee with “Hero” and Emmy with “Witch Woods” . In addition to this NRK has introduced a wildcard round so the audience will get a chance to choose the last finalist from the artists which were eliminated in the semi-finals. All the shows are broadcasted without any audience due to the ongoing pandemic, from Fornebu, H3 Arena. The hosts are Ingrid Gjessing Linhave, Ronny Brede Aase and Kåre Magnus Bergh.
Landeveiens Helter – “Alt det der”
Lyrics and music: Lars-Erik Blokkhus, Petter Bjørklund Kristiansen og Thor-Erik Claussen
The Norwegian band Landeveiens Helter, consists of Rune Rudberg, Dag Ingebrigtsen, Lars Erik Blokkhus and Stian Staysman Thorbjørnsen. There is no place in Norway where members of this band haven’t played. Somewhere around 10,000 concerts. And some of them already were part of MGP stage. Rune Rudberg is most experienced as he competes for the sixth time last one being at Melodi Grand Prix 2017 with the song “Run run away”. Staysman was 3rd placed together with Laz at Melodi Grad Prix 2015 with “En godt stekt pizza” while Lars ended on 4th place in the contest in 2012 with Plumbo singing “Ola Nordmann”, Dag Ingebrigtsen is making his Melodi Grand Prix debut, “Alt det der” is their first song as a band and is about a life full of experience which, despite some setbacks, has been worth living anyway. The guy hope others, who may have experienced the shadowy sides of life, can feel a little better after hearing it.
KiiM – “My Lonely Voice”
Lyrics and music: Kim Rune Hagen, Espen Andreas Fjeld, Vebjørn Jernberg og Niklas Rosström
KIIM, Kim Rune Hagen (30), was born in Porsgrunn, grew up in Heddal in Telemark and now lives in Notodden. Norwegian audience got to know KIIM after he reached third place in Idol 2007. After that he was active for a couple of years with the band Spinning Foundation. The band made the song “Nå har vi kommet hjem” to show support for the football team Odd Grenland. Then came a period where he put the music on the shelf and wanted to become a real estate agent, before the music again took him and he has been active at festivals with The Norwegian Soulband at Sildajazzen, Notodden Bluesfestival and Skien Live. He competed also in Norwegian The Voice 2015, Beat for beat and performed in Allsang på Grensen. In recent years he has done a large number of events and arrangements with Hans Orkester, primarily with cover songs. In MGP he participates with a song he has written about his own experiences and feelings. After having 134 gigs in 2019 the music world became silent in 2020. But then he managed to write songs and find joy in that.
Royane – “Circus”
Lyrics and music: Royane Harkati (Royane) produced by Junior Paris, mixed by Simen Handeland
Royane, Royane Harkati (28) has origins from both Spain and Morocco, but grew up in Morocco before she moved to Norway when she was nine years old. She has been involved with music all her life, but has been serious for the past two years . The music she is inspired by varies, but most often includes strong, independent and original women both nationally and internationally. She has released several singles since her debut with “Antidote for Love” in 2019. Her latest release was “Takashi Aruto” on 22nd of January. Some know Royane through TikTok and Instagram. She has also been in season 3 of “Influenserne” (The Influencers). In the last two years, she has also received recognition as an artist with praise for original lyrics and melodies. She has especially excelled with her music video productions, where she takes responsibility for the design of clothes / costume, make-up and hairstyles. Royane is an unsigned, independent artist who takes responsibility for most of the links in the production itself, along with her own creative team consisting of manager, producer and videographer. She describes herself as a perfectionist who does not give up until the music becomes the way she wants it both in quality and originality. About her performance Royane said:”I like to surprise and like to run concepts. It will be chaos, fun and mysterious.”
Marianne Pentha & Mikkel Gaup – “Pages”
Lyrics and music: Vanessa Liftig, Robin Lynch, Marianne Pentha og Mikkel Gaup
Marianne Pentha (40) from Os in Østerdalen and Mikkel Gaup (53) from Alta are responsible for this year’s second MGP feature which contains yoik. The duo have known each other all their lives and are in fact also related. They have collaborated on several occasions, and already in 2017 started working on the song, which they are now looking forward to finally showing. Marianne has a long career in the Norwegian music industry, including being a chorister for several of the country’s greatest artists, both on record and on tour. In 2012, she really took the step into the spotlight when she participated in the very first season of the music program The Voice. There have been many more TV appearances since then, including in Beat for Beat, God Morgen Norge, and Sommeråpent. Marianne has released two albums with the band Ánnásuolo, and in 2019 she got her first big role as the Sami voice of Elsa in Frozen 2. Last year she participated in the album Juleroser, in a Sami / Norwegian duet with Herborg Kråkevik. Mikkel Gaup’s first yoik was a small sequence he did in the Oscar-nominated movie “Veiviseren” (Pathfinder) from 1987, where he also played the lead role. His acting career has since taken up most of Mikkel’s time, with nominated films and several TV series. The versatile artist has also managed to yoik at countless performances at home and abroad. He has also participated in several recordings, including Dimmu Borgir and Trine Rein. In 2018 came his own debut album “Run Wolf”.
You can listen to all four songs on Spotify. Once you listened to the songs, let us know which of these four is YOUR personal favorite by voting for it in our poll here:
FINALISTS:
TIX – Ut Av Mørket
KeiiNO – Monument
Stavangerkameratene – Who I Am
Kaja Rode – Feel Again
Atle Pettersen – World On Fire
Rein Alexander – Eyes Wide Open
Blåsemafian – Let Loose
Raylee – Hero
Emmy – Witch Woods
TIX – “Ut Av Mørket”
Lyrics and music: Andreas Haukeland
TIX performed his entry “Ut Av Mørket” in the first semi-final on Saturday 16th of January but in the final he will perform the song in English. TIX is the stage name of Andreas Haukeland (27) from Bærum. Growing up Andreas has been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome so he chose to own the nicknameTIX and made it his stage name. In 2015, he had his first major breakthrough with the Russian song “Sheikh” which became this year’s party song for the Russians. Later on he distinguished himself as a songwriter at home and abroad with the world hit “Sweet but Psycho” with Ava Max, which became the most played song of the year. Since then, TIX has had seven songs as number 1 on Spotify in Norway, and along the way he has conversely both grandmothers and children to fans. During the corona spring 2020, the song “Karantene” became a huge hit. So far TIX has been a participant in Paradise Hotel and a judge in Idol.
KEiiNO – “Monument”
Lyrics and music: Tom Hugo Hermansen, Alexander Nyborg Olsson, Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan and Rüdiger Schramm
KEiiNO performed their song “Monument” in the first semi-final on 16th of January. The winners of the audience vote from Eurovision 2019 with 291 points for “Spirit in the Sky”, KEiiNO are back to the show which launched their career in 2019. Their Eurovision entry was also nominated for a nominated for Spellemann award (Norwegian Grammy) in the categroy Song of the Year. So far they have released 14 songs that have so far been streamed over 60 million times. And recently released an album named “OKTA”. They said that “Monument” is about the traces we leave behind, the experiences we remember, the strong relationships we have. It is a tribute to those who enrich the lives of others, but who do not get statues erected or streets named after them. Don’t forget to watch our Q&A with KEiiNO which is available HERE!
Stavangerkameratene – “Who I Am”
Lyrics and music: Tommy Fredvang, Lars Horn Lavik, Robin Sharma and Glenn Lyse
“Barndomsgater” was performed on 23rd of January in the second semi-final. The four artists who are part of Stavangerkameratene are well known to the large Norwegian TV audience. Kjartan Salvesen won Idol back in 2004, Tommy Fredvang is known from X Factor 2009 and Stjernekamp 2015, Glenn Lyse won Idol in 2007 and Ole Alexander Mæland has been the vocalist in the band Elle Melle and he participated in The Voice Norway in 2012. Four years after their debut they have two albums released and over 50 million streams on Spotify, several gold and platinum records and they had concerts all around Norway which makes them one of the most popular Norwegian live bands. They will perform their song “Barndomsgater” in English titled “Who I Am”. You can watch their official music video below
Kaja Rode – “Feel Again”
Lyrics and music: Magnus Martinsen, Mirjam Johanne Omdal, Andreas Gjone and Erika Dahlen
Kaja is a 22-year-old singer from Oslo known to the audience as a participant of The Voice Norway in 2017. Even though she is young, Kaja has performed on several stages and has experience of performing at various events. She studies Retail Management and develops her skills as a songwriter. You can watch her performance of “Feel Again” from the third semifinal below
Atle Pettersen – “World On Fire”
Lyrics and music: Atle Pettersen, Jesper Borgen, Magnus Clausen, Alexander Pavelich and Peter Daniel Newman
“World On Fire” will be released this Friday 5th of February as Atle Pettersen will perform his song this Saturday on 6th of February. Atle is 31 years old vocalist, songwriter and host from Skien. The audience previously knows him as the vocalist of the bands Above Symmetry and The Scheen. In 2014, The Scheen won the Emergenza festival, the world’s largest music competition for unsigned bands with as many as 34,000 participants from 150 countries. Atle Pettersen had his breakthrough in X Factor in 2010, and the same year released “Light on” his debut single as a solo artist. Following year his debut album “Based on a true Story ” was released. He won the show “Skal vi danse” in 2011 and for the past four years Atle is the host of “Beat for Beat” on NRK. As a songwriter his recent work includes “Darkside” for Alan Walker and last autumn, Atle released his first Christmas album “Tusen Julelys” (Thousand Christmas Lights).
Rein Alexander – “Eyes Wide Open”
Lyrics and music: Rein Alexander Korshamn, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Kjetil Mørland
His song will be released on Friday, 12th of February as Rein Alexander will perform in the fifth semi-final scheduled for Saturday 13th of February. Last year he competed in the final of Melodi Grand Prix with the song “One Last Time”, he has been performing concerts in various countries including Norway, USA, Iceland, Italy, UK and Sweden while he also played roles in several musicals and opera. He was: Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables”, Anatoly in “Chess”, Terje Vigen, Caston in “Beauty and the Beast”, Shere Kahn in “The Jungle Book”, Anton Fugger in “Which Witch” and more. He has received awards at schools such as Royal Academy of Music and The Reykjavík Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts. In 2003, the Norwegian people voted him to victory in the NRK program Kjempesjansen.
Blåsemafian – “Let Loose”
Lyrics and music: Jørgen Lund Karlsen, Sigurd Evensen, Stig Espen Hundsnes, Benjamin Sefring and Caroline Teigen
Blåsemafian is one of the most renowned brass bands in Norway and Europe and consists of Sigurd Evensen (27) from Oslo on trombone, Stig Espen Hundsnes (32) from Stord on trumpet and Jørgen Lund Karlsen (27) from Fredrikstad on saxophone. They collaborated with famous artists such as Marcus & Martinus, Madcon, Cezinando and Angelina Jordan. Featuring artist at their entry “Let Loose” is Caroline (Hazel) Teigen. You can read our interview with Blåsemafian HERE!
Raylee – “Hero”
Lyrics and music: Andreas Stone Johansson, Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker, Thomas Stengaard and Frazer Mac
Raylee Charlotte Kristiansen was announced as Melodi Grand Prix veteran given the fact that she took part twice before with “Louder” in 2015 and she was the finalist with “Wild” last year. The song has been streamed over 6 million times on Spotify and she was praised for her performance and loved by Eurovision fans outside Norway. Raylee released her first album already as an 11-year-old. Then she was known as the child star “Lotta”. In 2008, she played the lead role in the musical “Annie”. In 2020, she had a number of major appearances, including Allsang på Grensen, Raylee has participated in Stjernekamp on NRK in 2014, and in 2015 while in 2016 she danced all the way to the third place of music show “Skal vi danse”. She revealed that with her song we will be going back to the 80’s with her entry which she also describes as a power song. Read our interview with Raylee HERE!
Emmy – «Witch Woods»
Lyrics and music: Olli Äkräs, Elsa Søllesvik, Morten Franck
Emmy Kristine Guttulsrud Kristiansen is 20 years old and comes from Sande in Vestfold from a musical family. She sang long before she could speak and has among other things been active in the choir “Soul Children”. In 2011, Emmy’s older brother participated in MGP junior, which made her dream of doing that herself once. In 2015, the dream came true, and Emmy took the stage in Oslo Spektrum with the song “Aiaiaiai” which has been streamed more than 1.1 million times. After MGP junior, she became familiar face to many and gained new fans among the younger part of the population. She got to travel around and do concerts and meet fans. She has also released several singles, including the song “Bjørnar” which has been her biggest hit. Emmy is also a songwriter and has written over a hundred songs despite her young age, and she studies visual communications at the University of Southeast Norway. Read our interview with Emmy HERE!
