Skip to main content

EUROVISION 2022: NORWAY - MELODI GRAND PRIX 2022 REVIEW


Norway's Melodi Grand Prix 2022 went through four semi-finals where from only one act made it to the final. The we had two rounds of last chance before one more act was added to the line up. These five meet five internally chosen acts in the grand final before we finally find out the winner who gets the ticket to Turin 2022. Generally the standard has been very low, sadly low for Norway and the two favorites Subwoolfer and Elise Bay are very different. Noway has already proven during these semi-finals they often go for not the obvious so let's see what they come out with from this season....
Dance like a pink flamingo by Trollfest was the closest to the final before dropping out to Maria Mohn's Fly. My favorite to make it would have been Steffen Jacobsen's With me tonight (Estonia is pleased!) Prior this I only partly saw and heard the first semi-final and listened the songs of the second semi-final until I lost my interest. 

Oda Gondrosen - Hammer of Thor **
A musical song with staging that screams Eurovision. Sounds a bit a children's riddle. Nothing original or interesting sadly.
NorthKid - Someone ***
First thought goes to Roman Lob. But this one's standing still more than Roman was. Simple and pleasant though. Keep it simple and nail the performance in final and who knows?
Anna-Lisa Kumoji - Queen bees *
No extra points given if this is co-written by a Finn. Annoying staging, the vocals aren't that great either and the song.... Nothing to praise. Let' s say the slomo didn't do any favours!
Farida - Dangerous *
The violin choreography is something kinda new and if it was meant to distract from the rather boring Bond-esque tune they succeed. Burning piano? Oh dear..... There goes the second star off ranking. Totally ruined by this staging. Sigh. 
Sofie Fjellvang - Made of glass **
At least she's giving it all live. Rather strong voice, but the song isn't that interesting I'm afraid. This final isn't looking great for Norway but then again, you only need one song......
Frode Vassel - Black flowers ***
This is the only one I saw winning its semi-final and this was kinda my favorite out of that miserable mix of songs. But once again the staging is off big time. But is this good? Outstanding? Worth to send to Turin? No.
Christian Ingebringtsen - Wonder of the world ***
Starts off very Elton John-ish. The lyrics are a total cliché bag but he seems to believe in them, here's a proper melody going on and its beautifully arranged. But still not good enough, is it?
Maria Mohn - Fly **
This is so Norwegian Eurovision, so 1990's/2000's Eurovision with that crystal clear voice, drums, that dress.... I used to be big fan of these entries back in the day but these days..... No. 
Subwoolfer - Give that wolf a banana ****
Ylvis or not Ylvis, is it? That's the question? What does the fox say? In any other national selection I would probably hate this but here everything is so mediocre and average this actually comes as a relief and stands out. Do I want this in Turin? Maybe not but it will do. Can't even say this knocked out any other goodies as it really didn't.  Pink flamingos out of the final these wolves should walk it. 
Elisie Bay - Death of us **
In 2020 and 2021 the national finals were filled with songs like this, now they have luckily mostly vanished to oblivion. I kinda like her and even the song but it's still rather sleepy and forgettable. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further?  No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well...  The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam...

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face....  Here's the English version , below the Greek version. 

FINLAND: CONGRATS HANNA PAKARINEN - BABY IS COMING!

No more leave me alones as Eurovision 2007 veteran Hanna Pakarinen has published in her Youtube channel a video unboxing the Finnish state's maternity box aka layette set thus announcing she's due to have a baby later this spring. Congratulations!

COUNTDOWN TO EUROVISION 2023 - CHOSEN ARTISTS, SONGS AND NATIONAL FINALS

Here's a recap of everything happening in the Eurovision 2023 bubble; all selections, internal selections and the rest. Enjoy! To be updated until all is said and done. ISRAEL  Artist (Internal): Noa Kirel (read more) Song: Unicorn (8.3.2023) Read more here CYPRUS Artist (internal):  Andrew Lambrou (read more) Song: Break a broken heart (2.3.2023) Read more here NETHERLANDS Artists (internal): Mia Nikolai & Dion Cooper (read more) Song: Burning daylight (1.3.2023) Read more here SLOVENIA Artist (internal) : Joker Out   ( read more ) Song: Carpe diem UKRAINE (Vidbir 17.12.2022) Read more here Artist: Tvorchi Song: Heart of steel Read more here ALBANIA (Festivali i Këngës 19-22.12.2022) Artist: Albina and Familja Kelmendi Song: Duje  Read more here Read more here FRANCE  Artist (internal): La Zarra ( read more ) Song: Èvidemment 19.2 BELGIUM (Eurosong 14.1.2023) Artist: Gustaph Song: Because of you Read more here GREECE  (internal, 30.1.2023) Art...

TIM SCHOU AND HIS NAKED GRAVITY

Tim Schou has a pretty good solo career going since he left his friends in London. He's travelling the world and relesing songs and videos. The latest one is a great track and comes with a steamy video that kinda takes away from the song really. But who's complaining. If you got it, flaunt it. Enjoy the video below. This post coming after the other Dane, Rasmus Seebach as wishlist for Eurovision. To think about it, Tim would do nicely, too. Maybe he should give it another go?

EUROVISION 2025: FROM ICELAND TO CYPRUS, FROM AUSTRALIA TO FINLAND!

  The running orders for the semi-final were revealed today and we see we will have the very first non-English opening number since the producers have decided on the running order when Iceland rows it away come Tuesday May 13. Cyprus will end the first semi-final.  The second semi-final is opened somewhat surprisingly by Australia and ends with not at all surprisingly with Finland.  And for the first time - FINALLY!!!! - the Big5 and host country will perform among the semi-finalists and even not in the end of the show separately but spread evenly here and there in the line up! This should have been the case ever since the Big5 or back then Big4 were introduced. Let's see if that stands also for the rehearsal schedules!