Last Wednesday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK presented all of the artists which will compete for a chance to represent Norway at Eurovision 2023. On Monday, the songs of Melodi Grand Prix‘s Semi Final 1 were fully released and today the running order was announced.
- Alessandra Mele – “Queen Of Kings”
- Eirik Næss – “Wave”
- Rasmus Thall – “TRESKO”
- Kate Gulbrandsen – “Tårer i paradis”
- Umami Tsunami feat. Kyle Alessandro, Kristian Haugstøyl & Magnus Winjum – “Geronimo”
- Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
- Byron Williams Jr & Jowst – “Freaky For The Weekend”
The semi-final will take place this Saturday and just three acts will get their ticket to the finale of the show. You can listen to the songs and read more about the artists below.
Alessandra Mele – “Queen Of Kings”
Lyrics and music: Henning Olerud, Stanley Ferdinandez, Alessandra Mele and Linda Dale
Alessandra Mele is a Norwegian-Italian artist and songwriter. The 20-year-old has lived most of her life in Italy, but after she finished her secondary school she moved to Norway. She is studying at LIMPI in Lillehammer. The song “Queen of Kings” is about daring and being yourself, and coming out stronger from difficult periods in life.
Eirik Næss – “Wave”
Lyrics and music: Viktor Ljungqvist, Amalie Olsen and Eirik Næss
Eirik Næss is an artist and songwriter from Larvik. After graduating, he moved to London, where he lived for seven years. Since he moved back to Oslo, he has played in several bands, and over the past year, he has performed many different music styles.
Rasmus Thall – “TRESKO”
Lyrics and music: Rasmus Simon Vedvik Thallaug, Farida Louise Bolseth Benounis and Robin Alexander Vedvik Helmersen
Rasmus Thallaug is a songwriter, producer and artist from Tønsberg. In MGP last year, he was producer, co-songwriter and pianist on his girlfriend Farida’s entry “Dangerous”. Rasmus is the grandson of well-known artist Anita Thallaug, who participated in MGP in the 1960s.
Kate Gulbrandsen – “Tårer i paradis”
Lyrics and music: Kjetil Mørland and Kate Gulbrandsen
Kate Gulbrandsen won MGP in 1987 with “Mitt liv”. She went on to finish in 9th place at Eurovision 1987. She has performed on many different stages and took part at various Norwegian TV shows such as “Beat på Beat”, “Stjernekamp” and “Allsang på grensen”. The composer of the song is Kjetil Mørland, an even more familiar name for the Eurovision audience as he got 8th place in Eurovision 2015 in a duet with Debrah Scarlett singing “A Monster Like Me”.
Umami Tsunami feat. Kyle Alessandro, Kristian Haugstøyl & Magnus Winjum: “Geronimo”
Lyrics and music: Torgeir Ryssevik, Carl-Henrik Wahl, Bjørn Olav Edvardsen, Sindre Timberlid Jenssen, Lasse Midtsian Nymann and Kristian Lund
Umami Tsunami is a project consisting of songwriters, artists, producers and people who work with design and visual expression. At MGP 2023 they will feature Kyle Alessandro (16), Kristian Haux (20) and Magnus Winjum (17) from Lillestrøm.
Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
Lyrics and music: Jim Bergsted, Helge Moen, Ben Adams, Ulrikke Brandstorp, Joshua Oliver and Christoffer Gunnestad
Ulrikke won the Melodi Grand Prix 2020 with “Attention”. Unfortunately she didn’t have a chance to compete at Eurovision 2020 as it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Now she is back at MGP, something she said she would not do until she had “the right song to compete with.” She took part in “The Masked Singer” where she was masked as Troll and she played the lead role of Sophie in the musical “Mamma Mia”.
Byron Williams Jr & Jowst: “Freaky For The Weekend”
Lyrics and music: Byron Williams Jr and Joachim With Steen
Byron Williams comes from Miami, Florida. The Norwegian audience knows him as the contestant of “The Voice” Joakim With Steen, better known under the stage name JOWST He won MGP in 2017 with the song “Grab The Moment”. The two of them have joined forces to create the party song “Freaky for the Weekend.”
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This year’s edition of Melodi Grand Prix will be organised in a slightly different format than the previous editions as it will feature 4 shows (three semi-finals and a grand final). The three artists with the most votes from each semi-final will advance to the final.
The hosts of the show will be Stian “Staysman” Thorbjørnsen and Arianrhod “Arian” Engebø. Also new this year, the artists competing will be permitted to use auto-tune. Songs will continue to be released each Monday night ahead of each Semi Final. The dates of the shows are as follows:
- Semi-final 1 – 14th of January
- Semi-final 2 – 21st of January
- Semi-final 3 – 28th of January
- Grand Final – 4th of February
Which songs are your favorite to qualify from the first semi-final of MGP 2023? Let us know your impressions in the comments below and at our social media @escbubble.
