Norway: NRK presents the Melodi Grand Prix 2022 hosts

Norway: NRK presents the Melodi Grand Prix 2022 hosts
Monday, 20 December 2021

  • The Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, has unveiled this morning the hosts of the next edition of Melodi Grand Prix, the show that will determine the country's Eurovision 2022 hopeful. 

    "The King of Saturday’s", Kåre Magnus Bergh, will host the Melodi Grand Prix for the eighth time. He will be accompanied by two new presenters on board, Annika Momrak and Mikkel Niva.

     

    Annika Momrak

    Annika Momrak (22) is a well-known youtuber and presenter. She will be the youngest MGP-host ever, and this is also the first time she will lead a live broadcast event. Annika is best known for being part of the humor collective NRK 4ETG, but has also been a visible profile in other contexts. She participated in the first season of "Not allowed to laugh at the cabin" on VGTV, has been part of "Spårtsløpet" from the same media house, and tried her hand at several exercises in the NRK TV series "Gym".

    Together with the band Unik 4, she went all the way to the top in MGP junior in 2013 with the song «Såsur da».

    Annika says: 

    "I'm totally ecstatic! This will be my debut as a presenter on live TV, and it's so super cool that I'm allowed to just throw myself into it! Cred to NRK for focusing on us young people. Fortunately, I have two of Norway's most talented presenters by my side, Mikkel and Kåre Magnus. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this together with two people I look up to"

     

    Mikkel Niva

    Mikkel Niva (33) is an experienced presenter and media profile who has done a lot of different things in a few years. On his CV, he has, among other things, the NRK programs "Kvelden før kvelden", "TV-aksjonen", "Maestro", "Sommeråpent" and "MGP junior". He had great success with the most popular podcast in Norway, "Free time with Herman and Mikkel", and had a central role in the popular TV- series “Førstegangstjenesten".

    Mikkel says on her new role: 

    "I get carried away quickly so I imagine that I can add a good dose with strong commitment. MGP is always very exiting from start to finish, but for our dear artists there is also a good dose of seriousness. In addition to being Norway's biggest party, it's also a pretty tough competition where you smoke out as fast as you enter. I will do everything I can to make sure that the minutes they get on stage are as good as possible."

     

    Melodi Grand Prix 2022
    In addition to the two new host, there will be some changes in the Melodi Grand Prix 2022. The Norwegian national selection will include four semi finals, "The Last Chance", which will go live, along with the Grand Final on the 19 th of february.


    Unlike in previous edition, there will be only one big presentation of artists and songs. The three hosts will make their first appearance together  and during a live press conference on 10 January will present the MGP 2022 contestants. All the songs will be released in the streaming services the same afternoon.

    The next national selection will consist of six shows, four semi final rounds, a last chance heat and one Grand final show. Here is how the MGP 2022 will unfold: 

    • January 15 – Semi-Final One
    • January 22 – Semi-Final Two
    • January 29 – Semi-Final Three
    • February 5 – Semi-Final Four
    • February 12 – Second Chance Round
    • February 19 – Grand Final

     

    Norway in Eurovision 

    Norway has been taking part in the Eurovision Song contest since 1960 and has won the contest three times, in 1985, 1995 and 2009. However the country has marked some records , as it has finished in the last place most times than any other country, finishing in the last placing on the scoreboard 11 times. A total of four times it has received zero points, while in 2009 victory it received the remarkable number 16 sets of 12 points and was voted by every single country, reaching the impressive winning score of 387 points! Norway hasn’t qualified two times in the final the last decade, in 2011 with Stella Mwangi and in 2016 with Agnete

    In 2018 the country was represented for the second time by Alexander Rybak and his song That’s How You Write A Song, which finished in the 15th place of the grand final. Last year the three member group KEiiNo with their entry “Spirit in the Sky” defended the Norwegian colors in Tel Aviv achieving a remarkable 1st place in the televoting while they finished 6th on the overall scoreboard.

    Ulrikke won Melodi Grand Prix 2020 and was set to go on and represent Norway at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her entry “Attention” . Unfortunately the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic  and the female act never saw her Eurovision journey completed.

    This year TIX was crowned winner in the national final with his song 'Fallen Angel' which he performed on Rotterdam Ahoy's stage achieving to qualify to the grand final, where he finished 18th. 

     

    News Source: NRK

    Image: JULIA MARIE NAGLESTAD / NRK