Norway: NRK unveils the Melodi Grand Prix 2023 contestants

• The Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, has released the 21 contestants of the upcoming Melodi Grand Prix 2023 the show to select the nation's Eurovisiion hopeful. 

  The 21 names of the participants along with the titles of their songs for the next edition of Melodi Grand Prix 2023 (MGP 2023) have gone public.

  This year's Melodi Grand Prix will consist of four shows, three semi-finals and one grand final with a total of 21 acts taking part in the national selection. 

  Here are the contestants and songs of each semi-final heat: 

   

  First Semifinal

  • Ulrikke — “Honestly”
  • Eirik Næss — “Wave”
  • Kate Gulbrandsen — “Tårer i paradis” (Tears in paradise)
  • Rasmus Thall — “TRESKO” (CLOGS)
  • Alessandra Mele — “Queen of Kings”
  • Jowst & Byron Williams Jr — “Freaky for the Weekend”
  • Umami Tsunami — “Geronimo”

  This is an intetesting semifinal as several former Eurovision participants are making their comeback for one more attempt to reach the Eurovision stage in Liverpool. Ulrikke who won the MGP 2020 but never got the chance to complete her Eurovision journey as the contest was cancelled due to the pandemic, is now making one more try to fly the flag for Norway.  Also Kate Gulbrandsen who represented Norway back in 1987 with her song 'Mitt Liv' is giving another shot for Eurovision while Jowst who represented along with Aleksander Walmann the nation in Ukraine in 2017 is now back but with  Byron Williams Jr on his side. 

   

  Second Semifinal

  • Sandra Lyng — “Drøm D Bort” (Dream it away)
  • Jone — “Ekko Inni Meg” (Echo inside me)
  • Swing’it — “Prohibition”
  • Ella — “Waist”
  • Alejandro Fuentes — “Fuego”
  • Bjørn Olav — “Turn Off My Heart”
  • Elsie Bay — “Love You In a Dream”

   

  Third Semifinal

  • Skrellex — “Love Again”
  • Tiril — “Break It”
  • Akuvi — “Triumph”
  • Atle Pettersen — “Masterpiece”
  • Eline Thorp — “Not Meant to Be”
  • Maria Celin — “Freya”
  • Stig van Eijk — “Someday”

  In this 3rd heat we see one more returning former ESC act, as Stig van Eijk had represented Norway in 1999 with the song "Living My Life Without You" place 14th in the final. 

   

  Melodi Grand Prix 2023

   

  Fewer semis and contestants

  In the 2023 MGP the semi-final heat will be reduced from five rounds that we saw the previous editions down to three. The second chance semi-final will also be removed from the next national selection. 

  In addition no prequalified acts for next year's competition. During the three semifinals 21 acts will all have to compete for a spot in the Grand final and we won't see six prequalified acts having reserved a spot in the final. 

   

  Semis without duels

  In the three semifinals 21 acts will take part, but instead of competing in duels as in previous editions the will compete against each other in sets of 7. In each semi final round out of the seven contestants the top three with the most votes will advance to the Grand final. 

  Also for the first time the final will not take place in Oslo but will be transfered to Trondheim which will be hosting the next edition with the grand final set for February 4, 2023. 

   

  The results

  Unlike previous edition, MGP 2023 will see the return of the international juries, as an effort to increase the chance of winning the Eurovision Song Contest. The jury will be made up by music experts from a number of countries.

   

  The timeline

  On January 4, 2023 we will have the chance to find out the artists that will be participating in the Norwegian national selection while the songs of each semi final will be released the Monday before each show. MGP 2023 will unfold according to the following schcedule: 

  • 1st Semi-Final – January 14
  • 2nd Semi-Final – January 21
  • 3rd Semi-Final – January 28
  • Grand Final – February 4

   

   

  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 2019 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. Last 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. 

  Last year, Subwoolfer were crowned winners of Melodi Grand Pirx 2022 with the song 'Give that wold a banana' and flew the flag in Turin where they achieved to finish 10th with 182 points in the overall score. 

   

  News Source: NRK

  Image: JULIA MARIE NAGLESTAD / NRK

   

   

   

AUTHORS

Angelos D.
Loyal follower of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1987, I've made the competition one of the stories of my life. After attending as accredited press the event for 13 consecutive years along with the 2017-2024 JESC editions, I also enjoy the last three years sharing more Eurovision music through the Eurofans radio's project.