Juke Box Jury Judge Danny Lynch is racking up the air miles as he bounces around Europe’s National Finals, with just a keyboard to keep him company… and a note from the ESC Insight team asking if he wouldn’t mind writing about his experiences. Heres his notes from Norway.
When I told my friends I was making my third trip to Oslo in a year, they thought I was mad. Why would I want to return to the most expensive city in Europe, where a beer costs £8, and a pizza will set you back £20? Not to mention the freezing cold weather at this time of the year. It was all in the name of one thing.
Melodi Grand Prix.
MGP, as it is affectionately known, is Norway’s competition in choosing their Eurovision Entry. First held in 1960, the contest has been held almost every year since then. In the past few years it has seen a surge in popularity. NRK, in seeing the success that the “tour” format that SVT had in Sweden with their version of MGP, Melodifestivalen, they decided to have a similar format which started in 2006.
2011 saw 21 songs competing for the coveted right to represent Norway on the stage in Düsseldorf in May. After some elimination rounds, 8 remained in the competition for the Final on 12th February in the Oslo Spektrum.
My first experience of MGP was last year, in 2010. I have been a regular at Melodifestivalen since 2006, and have always enjoyed myself immensely. As I would be attending Eurovision proper in Oslo later that year, I thought that would be a perfect opportunity to have a taste of the city and see what it had to offer. And fun it was.
So even with the astronomical costs,I decided to return to Oslo this February for three days for some more MGP fun. I decided that my other costs would have to be kept to a minimum. I travelled out on a budget airline from Newcastle, which was a bit of a trek from my hometown of Glasgow. I landed at Rygge airport, which was about 1hr or so from central Oslo. From my front door to the front door of The Radisson Blu Plaza took nine hours. And not only was connected it to the bus station, the Plaza is opposite the Oslo Spektrum, venue of the MGP Final. When I saw that amazingly cheap deal online I jumped at the chance!
On entering the venue, I was greeted with the sounds of Bobbysocks, so I was certain I had found the right place! After stomping up £10 for a cocktail (eek!), I caught up with a few Eurovision friends whom I hadn’t seen since the previous May. A little while later, we heard a small commotion and we saw people entering the venue and heading towards the stage. Some of the artists had arrived!
Hanne Sorvaag
Before I knew it, I was standing next to this petite blonde woman, who after a few seconds, I recognised as Hanne Sørvaag, one of the contestants in MGP, and co-writer of the entries from Norway and Georgia in 2010, as well as numerous other songs, of which I am a rather big fan of. I spent a good ten minutes chatting away to her casually, discussing her experience in MGP as an performer rather than an author, and also about her forthcoming album, where she will be performing cover versions of many of her songs she has written for other artists, including My Heart is Yours and Shine.
After a few photos with Hanne and the Blacksheeps – another one of the finalists, (who had won MGP Junior a few years before) it was time for centre stage. Per Sundes, one of the hosts introduced almost all the acts taking part in the MGP final the following evening. One notable exception was Stella Mwangi, the bookies favourite, who was resting her voice at home.
We were then treated to a few performances from the artists, including a rockabilly version of My Heart Is Yours by Didrik Solli-Tangen and The Lucky Bullets, which was all rather enjoyable. Feeling suitably refreshed, we headed back to my friend’s apartment to watch Jedward sneak to victory in the Irish final which surprisingly didn’t even put a dampener on the proceedings!
I had previously been in the Oslo Spektrum the previous year for MGP, but it all seemed a lot smaller this time around. Perhaps experiencing Eurovision proper in the much larger Telenor Arena had skewed things a little. However, the atmosphere in the hall was buzzing as people were looking forward to the show ahead.
The final itself went by in a blur as the eight artists took the stage. My personal favourites were all sandwiched at the end of the running order, with bookies favourite Stella Mwangi singing sixth, and my new found friend Hanne singing last. The audience were rather lively, waving balloons and light sticks. From the audience reaction it was rather clear that the one to beat would be Stella Mwangi with Haba Haba which had just recently claimed the number one spot in the Norwegian singles charts. When she performed, every single person was on their feet, dancing and singing along.
MGP's Title Card
After a rather amusing interval act featuring some past Norwegian performers including Alexander Rybak, Didrik and Maria Haukaas Storeng, it was time for the Guldfinalen, where the top 4 songs would be performed again. Unsurprisingly Stella qualified along with The Blacksheeps, Sie Gubba and the surprise of the evening, The Lucky Bullets. A particular surprise was that Babel Fish didn’t qualify, as they seemed rather popular with the crowd in the Oslo Spektrum. The audience went mad again when Stella performed, and when I saw a group of young girls all standing in a line doing the Haba Haba dance, I knew that it Stella had it in the bag
The voting then began with the first set of votes going to the audience in the Oslo Spektrum that evening, which I thought was a rather novel and fun idea. Then it was the turn of the regional juries in each of the towns where the semi finals had taken place. At this point, Stella was leading the pack, closely followed by The Blacksheeps. Lastly came the public televote. With the public vote then revealed, Stella romped home to victory with almost double the amount of votes as The Blacksheeps who as the youngest performers at just 16 years old, finished in a very credible second place, particularly as they had also written the song themselves.
The audience in the arena erupted in joy, and were clearly happy with the result. After one last performance of the winning song, it was all over.
Stella Mwangi
After the show, we were suitably in the party mood, and went to the official after party in a rather impressive club called Rockefeller, where we were treated to a few hours of Eurovision and National final songs, including I’m In Love by Sanna Nielsen, which had just qualified to the Swedish final a matter of hours before! Tiredness had begun to set in, and a little before three, we headed back to the hotel, tired, tipsy and happy, trying to negotiate our way through the slippery streets.
The next day, after a lovely lunch, we all said our goodbyes to each other as we all headed home to our respective home towns, some of us further afield than others. Particular credit has to go to my friend Michael who travelled all the way from Dubai via Istanbul to get to Oslo. And I thought I was dedicated!
Thankfully I didn’t have my usual case of post-trip blues, as I would be heading back over to Scandinavia just 12 days later to Malmö, to attend my first ever Melodifestivalen semi-final. With acts such as Linda Bengtzing and Red One penned Love Generation, there is sure to be another exciting experience ahead for me just around the corner.
Danny Lynch.
“Stella who was resting her voice at home”. What voice??!
Great read Danny – tipsy *and* bankrupted I reckon!