Norway is having its Melodi Grand Prix 2020 final this Saturday after five regional semi-finals and five pre-qualified finalists. For the first time (anywhere?) there will be only online voting happening. Raylee is the big fan favorite but Ulrikke has a song and a vocal performance that could win it all in Rotterdam if chosen. There is a risk Norway goes for the nonsense aka Rein Alexander. I would be a bit surprised if anyone else is going to win this, despite Magnus having a song co-written by Alexander Rybak and there's even Tone Damli taking part and such.
Raylee – Wild ***
Didrik & Emil – Out of Air **
Magnus Bokn – Over The Sea ***
Akuvi – Som du er **
Kristin Husøy – Pray For Me ***
Rein Alexander – One Last Time *
Tone Damli – Hurts Sometimes **
Sondrey – Take My Time *
Ulrikke Brandstorp – Attention *****
Liza Vassilieva – I Am Gay *
Raylee offers a little tune that's pleasant but doens't really sound like an Eurovision classic. Forgotten before we know it. Didrik & Emil's song is like a title tune from some 80's romantic comedy running under end titles when everyone's already hurrying out of the movie theater. Magnus delivers the song Rybak didn't want for himself. Quite charming and authentic but not really getting going in the end. The dancers and violinist remind a bit too much Fairytale. Akuvi offers standard radio pop without taste or smell, the music video is the best part of it. Even the staging is as unoriginal as possible, with weak vocals. I like Krisitin's humming but that's about it, nice atmosphere though. Rein Alexander, what can I say? All heard before overloaded with clichès. Besides the verses sound very familiar.... No, just no. Tone offers another standard pop tune that's so unforgettable I lost interest already while listening to it... and started wondering where I have heard it before? Sondrey sounds somewhat Benjamin Ingresso. Elevator music. Ulrikke gets my attention from the intro. For a moment it sounds like some random Swiss entries we've had that crashed and burned in the semis but then Ulrikke's vocals save the day. She sounds so vulnerable yet eager at the same time I buy whatever she is selling. Classy and emotional, a real song. This said not very original but all falls in place and this feels real instead of calculated and manufactured to fit a formula. My clear winner and one of the best entries of the whole national final season. Lisa? Everything about this os off putting starting from the title. No, just no.
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