A week ago, Norwegian broadcaster, NRK has revealed that one of the finalists, folk metal band, Gåte, have been told to rewrite their song “Ulveham” ahead of the final.
Their entry “Ulveham” is based on an old Norwegian folklore as Gunnhild has revealed to us in the interview we had with her, Gåte had found inspiration in traditional Nordic poems and artworks created back in the days since their beginning back in 1999, but the problem of their entry started because the lyrics were identical to a 1000 year old medieval ballad. Because both Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision, are contests for which original songs are created the broadcaster NRK decided that ahead of the final scheduled for Saturday 3rd of February Gåte should rewrite their original lyrics.
The Head of Norwegian Delegation, Stig Karlsen, has said that Ulveham’s lyrics could be “potentially problematic in relation to the regulations” of Eurovision and as the result of that Gåte was asked to rewrite the lyrics and the title of the song could stay as it is. Stig also mentioned that even though the lyrics have been taken from a previously released material that one is copyright-free and relatively unknown so in no reason it is a case of plagiarism.
In a conversation between NRK and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) it was mentioned that in case of their victory “Ulveham” would be able to compete at the stage of Eurovision 2024.
The song, the story and the identity and expression of the performance will be virtually identical to the performance to be delivered in the final. We therefore do not see that the change to the lyrics is of decisive importance.
Stig Karlsen, Head of Delegation, Norway
You can check our interview with Gunnhild, lead vocalist of Gåte HERE. The new audio version of “Ulveham” has been released on Gåte’s Youtube, you can listen to it below.
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