Vote for YOUR favourite to become the 12th finalist of Melodi Grand Prix 2021!
As we previously informed you the second chance round is going to be the way last, 12th finalist of Melodi Grand Prix 2021 will be decided. The broadcast of it is set to take place on Monday 15th of February starting at 20:00 CET at NRK, NRK P1, and nrk.no/mgp. The 15 acts which are going to be competing for a final place are Ane.Fin; Beady Belle, Big Daddy Karsten, Daniel Owen, Dinaye, Jorn , Ketil Stokkan, Landeveiens Helter,Maria Solheim, Marianne Petha & Mikkel Gaup, Ole Hartz , RIVER, Royane, Stina Talling, TuVeia read the interviews we had with each of the artists competing. Below you can find information about each of the artist (just in case you haven’t followed the show so far) the acts are in the alphabetical order.
Ane.Fin – “Walking In My Sleep“
Lyrics and music: Ane Caroline Finstad (Ane.Fin), Niklas Rosström, Espen Andreas Fjeld, Kim Rune Hagen and Vebjørn Jernberg
Ane Caroline Finstad (29) with the stage name Ane.Fin grew up in Horten but has lived in Oslo for more than ten years. After several years in a choir and as an event singer and songwriter, she found a new strength in communicating through her own music in her 20s. She began her career writing and publishing music in Norwegian, before resigning from a manager position, selling her apartment to finance her music and investing everything in attending the music school Limpi at Lillehammer. By coming together with fellow students, mentors from all over the world and students mostly based in the USA, she gained self-confidence to express herself in English. Although Ane may be unknown to many, she has several releases behind her, most recently in the fall of 2020 with the song “Hurts”. For the past year, her focus has only been on songwriting and releases, such as the podcast “Ane.Fin & Folk“. Ane is passionate about mental health, and mental health in the music industry is the theme of the podcast.
Ane.Fin is one of many Norwegian artists who also have a past as a participant in MGPjr. In 2006, she participated with the song “Trodde det var deg“. Ane wrote her MGP song together with a team that met each other at MGP’s songwriting camp last year. One of them is KIIM (Kim Rune Hagen) who himself participates as an artist in this year’s MGP. Our interview with Ane.Fin is HERE!
Beady Belle – “Playing with Fire”
Lyrics and music: Beady Belle
Beate Lech known by her stage name Beady Belle, is a vocalist, artist, songwriter and producer. She started her music journey as a vocalist in the band Folk & Røvere in 1996, while studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Since then she has toured in large parts of the world since the early 2000s and has collaborated with world stars such as Jamie Cullum and R&B artist India Arie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, as well as Joshua Redman and Jarle Bernhoft. Among the venues where she performed is the Royal Albert Hall. Beady Belle made a name for herself in Stjernekamp in the autumn of 2019. Her works and releases include several jazz albums in collaboration with Jon Eberson, Christmas albums in collaboration with SKRUK, and hymn albums in collaboration with George Riedel. You can read our interview HERE!
Big Daddy Karsten – “Smile”
Lyrics and music: Karsten Dahl Marcussen, Are Næsset og Pål Gauslaa Sivertzen
Karsten Dahl Marcussen (32) is from Arendal on the South coast of Norway but lives in Oslo. Big Daddy Karsten found the rap genre at a young age, a genre he finds to have an open, honest and tough way of expressing where he felt he could say a lot in a short time. His first album came with the duo Folkefiender together with the rapper Ego. He was also central as a battle rapper when VG TV (online TV) created Skeez-TV. Big Daddy Karsten has been the headliner at the biggest Pride celebrations in Norway, and has played at festivals such as Skral, Hove and Canal Street. Karsten was not open with his sexual orientation, and given the facts that there were stereotypes about it in the rap industry no one expected that a masculine rapper could be gay and when he came out in November 2016, it led to a lot of attention and it was pointed out in the public that few rappers around the world dare to be openly gay. At the time of writing, Big Daddy Karsten is Scandinavia’s only openly gay rapper. Listen to his mashup of Fairytale and La det Swinge here while Our interview is available HERE!
Daniel Owen – “Psycho”
Lyrics and music: Daniel Elmrhari, Paria Ahmadzade, Marius Hongve, Henrik Høven, Patrick Brizard, Jørgen Troøyen, Leif Inge Fosen and Marcus Nilsen Ulstad
Daniel Johansen Elmrhari is a 21 years old artist. As a child his first interest was dance while singing came a bit later. As a 10 year old he took part in Norway’s got talent 2010. Since then, he has performed on various stages all around Norway. In 2015 he released his first song and now Daniel Owen is fully committed to combine studies with a career in music and the R&B genre that is closest to his heart. Interview with Daniel is HERE!
Dinaye – “Own Yourself”
Lyrics and music: Christian Ingebrigtsen, David Thulin og Dina Matheussen
Dinaye, Dina Matheussen (17) from Asker outside of Oslo started her career as a dancer and started singing when she was only 12 years old. She also has a black belt in karate! Dinaye is known for dancing inspired by Michael Jackson and in 2014 she impressed with the dance in “Noray’s got Talent” on TV 2, where she made it to the semifinals. The 17-year-old also compteded in MGPjr in 2016 with the song “Sterk og Rå” where she made it to the gold final. She also participated as a dancer for Amina Sewali at MGP in 2017. Through Norwegian Idol 2020, she proved her talent for both singing and dancing and received standing ovations for her interpretation of Beyoncé’s song “Run the World (Girls)”. In 2019, she had a hit on NRK P3 radio with the song “Vi er ett“, where in the music video also got to show her Ethiopian roots. The young artist is involved in writing her own lyrics, and “Own yourself” is about the choices you make in life, and how you choose to present yourself to others and to yourself. Dinaye is half Ethiopian and in part of the song she sings in Amharic. Interview with Dinaye is HERE!
Jorn – “Fate Bloody Faith”
Lyrics and music: Åge Sten Nilsen, Jørn Lande, Eirik Renton, Kjell Åge Karlsen
Jørn Lande grew up in Rjukan and now lives in Fredrikstad. He has nearly 50 international album releases and is known for his great vocal capacity, and it is claimed that he is the largest Norwegian musical export since a-ha. In addition to his solo career under the name Jorn, he has fronted and participated in many bands and projects; ARK, Masterplan, Avantasia, Dracula “Swing Of Death”, Beyond Twilight, Vagabond, The Snakes, Millennium, Mundanus Imperium, Ayreon, Brazen Abbot, among others, and have sold millions of albums worldwide. Over the years, Jorn has received several recognition for his work, including the European Commission’s European Border Braker’s Award for Masterplan’s debut album in 2004. In recent years he has also worked with Riot Games and the world’s largest online game ‘League of Legends’, where he gives voice to the character Karthus in the fictional heavy metal band Pentakill. Most Norwegians recognize Jørn as the voice of the famous football song “Alt for Norge” from 1994, and he has made several sports-related songs over the years. Among other things, “Got a mind set on gold” from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and “Famous” to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Jorn shares the stage with his fellow musicians Kjell Åge Karlsen, Øyvind Strønen and Eirik Renton.
Ketil Stokkan – “My Life is OK”
Lyrics and melody: Ketil Stokkan
Ketil Stokkan is someone known to Eurovision audience as he represented Norway in 1986 with the song which became a huge Norwegian hit “Romeo” at Eurovision the song ended on 12th place with 44 points. The second time he was part of Eurovision was in 1990 when after he won MGP with “Brandenburger Tor” (The Brandenburg Gate) at the contest he got only 8 points which was enough for 21st place. But his first Melodi Grand Prix appearance dates back to 1983 when he performed “Samme charmeur” which ended on second place. Ketil works as a teacher in primary school and at the same time he performs many concerts every year. He revealed that he wasn’t planned to join again at the MGP stage but given the fact that there is nowhere else to “show off” he is part of the show, he added that he is happy to be selected from 1000 submitted songs, says Stokkan. He has participated in MGP three times before, the first time in 1983 with “Samme charmeur” which he came in second place with. In 1986, Ketil Stokkan won the Norwegian final in the Melodi Grand Prix with the immortal «Romeo», and got a 12th place in the international final. In 1990, he again won the Norwegian final with the Brandenburg Gate. – I am more nervous now than I have ever been. Stokkan began his musical career in various bands already in middle school. In 1977 he became a member of the ZOO from Stokmarknes, and released 6 albums with them, of which 2 of these were awarded gold plate trophies. The most famous songs from the period with ZOO are “Evig Ung” and “Wait, do not hang up”. Then followed a period with various dance band projects and solo albums. Stokkan has released four albums and several single songs / singles in the period 2011-2017. The latest album, “Nu kjør vi”, was recorded live in Trondheim in 2017. Now both Ketil and his band, “Funky Ducks”, are waiting for the pandemic to let go, and for the concert market to reopen, but first it’s MGP for the fourth time. Our interview is HERE!
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.
Maria Solheim – “Nordlyset”
Lyrics and music: Andreas Gjone, Camilla North, Elsbeth Rehder, Torgeir Ryssevik and Maria Solheim
Maria Solheim is 38 years old but she moved to Oslo after she got her first contract with a record label as a 17 year old and her debut album Barefoot was released in 2001. By the time of her fourth album release back in 2006 Maria had toured around Asia, USA and Europe. Maria has sung in both baptism and confirmation to Norwegian Princess Ingrid Alexandra. In 2013 and 2019, Maria received the State’s one-year artist scholarship for her songwriting and after winning several awards and recognition for her music work Maria is working on her seventh solo album which is expected to be released in 2021. About her entry “Nordlyset” (Northern light), Maria said that it is about finding home and she was allowed to translate it to Norwegian language. Our interview is HERE!
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”.
Ole Hatz – “Vi er Norge”
Lyrics and music: Rein Mellbye Van Vliet, Eirik Næss, Ole F. Hartz Gravbråten, Magnus Hagen
Already as a six-year-old, Ole Hartz (24) knew that music was what life was all about, and signed up for everything it was possible to sign up for: piano lessons, drum lessons and and the marching band. All he did was related to music, and all he thought about was music. Still, he had never thought he would ever perform his own song on live TV during MGP. Ole grew up in Åmot in Modum municipality and has gone from being a favorite among local audiences, to becoming a signed artist with several million streams and an ever-growing fan base in both Norway and Sweden. He is not afraid to experiment with melodies and fun text lines, something he also does in the newly released song “Jeg vil ha ribbe“. For that song, he collaborated with TikTok star Ida Celine. You can read our interview HERE!
RIVER – “Coming Home”
Lyrics and music: Thomas Heiland, Lennart Karlsen, Magnus Claussen, Simen Meland Handeland and Tommy La Vardi
Both of them have long careers in music as artists, studio musicians and songwriters. For ten years, Thomas has been half of the Norwegian pop phenomenon Cir.Cuz and has worked with, among others, John De Son, Morgan Sulele, Katastrofe, Sandra Lyng, Jahn Teigen, Ole Evenrud and Carina Dahl.
Lennart has been a musician all his life and is a well-experienced instrumentalist in gospel, country and church music. He has made several albums, but also written for others. Gradually, he has also moved into the pop segment and has, in addition to the above-mentioned artists, also worked with Monika Nordli and Steinar Albrigtsen. RIVER has collaborated with many artists such as Alexander Pavelic, Erik Smaaland, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, Magnus Clausen, Tommy La Verdi and Vanessa Campagna. The latter is an artist and songwriter from Nashville with a number 1 hit on Billboard and an Academy Award. Our interview is available HERE!
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.” interview is available HERE!
Stina Talling – “Elevate”
Lyrics and music: Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Hilda Stenmalm, Stina Talling, Eirik Hella og Monika Engeseth
Stina Talling is a teenager from Bergen which started with YouTube videos back in 2013 and now she has almost 17 million plays at her channel. In 2019 she got a record contract with Sony Music and since then she released several songs: “Fortid til fremtid”, “Jada Jada” with Cherie Mwangi, “En gang til” with Eirik Lyng, “Livet nå” and a film score “En rakett til måneland” for the Netflix film “Over The Moon” in 2020. Stina’s biggest hit “Mer enn god nok” which she co-wrote for BlimE, has streamed over 12 million times. You can read our interview with her HERE!
TuVeia – “Bli med meg på gar’n“
“We like to compose and have our own poets’ association, and it was during a not very interesting class at school that we came up with the idea of making a song out of a poem we had written. That’s how it all started. We compose and sing in our own dialect, and mainly focus on humor in our songs”
“Bli med meg på gar’n“ (Translates “join my at the farm”) by Tuveia is a firework in farmers overalls. It might be safe to say this fun and surreal MGP song is what you get get when you throw a traditional fiddle, three “farmers” who write hip-hop and an EDM producer in the stove and turn it on. Be ready for autotuned cow sounds, harmonica and a unique Norwegian dialect. TuVeia wants to give the farmers a voice with this song, and to show the world what is going on at a farm in Dalsbygda. You can find the interview with TuVeia HERE!
Don’t forget to vote for your favourite below
The act which advances will join the 11 finalists
TIX – “Ut Av Mørket”
Atle Pettersen – “World On Fire”
Stavangerkameratene – “Who I Am”
Kaja Rode – “Feel Again”
Rein Alexander – “Eyes Wide Open”
KeiiNO – “Monument”
Blåsemafian – “Let Loose”
Raylee – “Hero”
Emmy – “Witch Woods ”
KIIM – “My Lonely Voice”
IMERIKA – “I Can’t Escape”
