Tonight was the national selection Melodi Grand Prix in Norway. Ten acts fought for the right to represent their country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. After the public, as well as an international jury voted, Jowst was selected to represent Norway with the song Grab The Moment.

Melodi Grand Prix is the Norwegian’s national selection process to pick their Eurovision Song Contest entry. After all ten contestants sang their songs, Jowst was selected as the grand winner and will perform the song Grab The Moment in Kyiv next May.

The songs

Ulrikke – Places

First up is Ulrikke with the song Places. Ulrikke is a cute blonde with a typical dancey pop tune. The ooh-ooh’s in the song really make this one catchy as hell. First thing you notice during this performance is how massive the MGP stage is! Thankfully they are allowed more than 6 performers on stage as Ulrikke included makes up 7 people on stage with her dancers. The choreography is tight and Ulrikke delivers well during her performance. Overall a strong show opener.

Jenny Augusta – I Go Where You Go

Second on stage is Jenny with her song I Go Where You Go. I nice title to follow Places. I Go Where You Go is a folksy song that takes you on a journey. I feel like I’m watching a scene from a fantasy movie. Jenny’s vocals mixed with the back vocals feels like she is casting an incantation on the viewers. It also helps that the song sings about unicorns!

Rune Rudberg Band – Run Run Away

Run Rudberg is up next with his band and he is no stranger to the Melodi Grand Prix having taken part in 1989 and 2001. Run Run Away is a country song. The performance starts with flying ladies coming down from the ceiling as dark angels. The angels are then joined by a few more ladies dancing along to the country tune. Overall the staging makes no sense at all, but the song is pleasant.

Jowst feat. Aleksander Walmann – Grab The Moment

Next up is Jowst feat. Aleksander Walmann. Grab The Moment is an interesting contemporary song. Aleksander sings the verses as a sort of rap, and Jowst DJs the whole thing by adding some interesting sounds between the chorus and verses. Overall making an interesting song with some experimental elements.

Kristian Valen – You & I

Kristian Valen is first a comedian and actor. You & I however is anything but a comedy track. The song is an emotional ballad. Kristian’s vocals aren’t quite on point tonight though and the simplicity of the song is more boring than moving. The staging included two dancers in the rain which was probably the most interesting thing about it.

In Fusion – Nothing Ever Knocked Us Over

Up next is In Fusion with their song Nothing Ever Knocked Us Over. In Fusion is a girl band consisting of three singers. Their song is a big party song. Their performance starts off with them laying on the floor as the song starts slowly and builds up. The performance is really helped by the fact there are at least 10 dancers on stage with the band. Midway through the performance the girls come out with these coloured burning smoke sticks. By the end of the song it turns into a massive party but through the song you can’t help but feel the girls themselves are barely moving.

Amina Sewali – Mesterverk

It’s always nice to hear a non-English song performed with so many saturation with the English language. This song is quite interesting. A very electronic sound and the staging has lasers and expressionist dancing. The performance overall is very strange and almost reminding of Loreen’s Statements in the sense that Amina has a younger self on stage with her doing these odd dancing and acting around. The song sounds decent but I am not sure it could do well at Eurovision.

Ammunition – Wrecking Crew

We are the wrecking crew sings Ammunition as they perform their entry next. This is the rock entry of the night. Starting the performance with a group of women dressed as wrecking crew with sledge hammers. This song is similar to classic rock from the 1980s. It is very catchy.

Elin & The Wood – First Step In Faith (Oadjebasvuhtii)

Here is another very odd entry. Elin comes up on stage wearing a deer’s antler on her head. She looks a lot like Melisandre from Game of Thrones. If I thought Jenny casted a spell on me, I am absolutely certain I am in a trance at the moment watching this. I’m filled with so many emotions watching this performance including fear! It’s probably the performance so far that makes me wonder: what the hell did I just watch?

Ella – Mama’s Boy

Final song of the night is Mama’s Boy by Ella. Her song is sort of a girl power anthem with attitude. For anyone familiar, this reminds me of something from St. Trinians (British cartoon and movie series). Ella is channeling some Madonna on stage with her outfit and style. It’s an interesting performance with the dancers with wolf masks. Somehow I feel this would have worked better sun by a girl group such as In Fusion!

The Show

The winner was selected by a mix of international juries as well as the Norwegian public via tele-voting.

After Ireland, Armenia, Finland, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Malta and the United Kingdom, the performance with the most international jury votes was Grab The Moment by Jowst.

Following the international votes and a performance by Eurovision legend Johnny Logan, the public also voted and the top 4 moved towards the Goldfinal. The top 4 were announced as:

• Jowst – Grab The Moment
• Ulrikke – Places
• Elin & The Wood – First Step In Faith (Oadjebasvuhtii)
• Ammunition – Wrecking Crew

After the Goldfinal top4 was announced, last year’s Eurovision participant Agnete came on stage and performed a new version of her song Icebreaker.

The first act to be eliminated from the Goldfinal was Ulrikke

The act in third place was

The Results

4th place: Ulrikke
3rd place: Elin & The Wood
2nd place: Ammunition

Winner: Jowst!