TV: New Saturday, new opportunities. Tonight the stage is set for another semi-final in the “Melodi Grand Prix”. Three out of seven artists will try to progress to the final on 4 February.
UPDATED: The three artists who have advanced are as follows: Swing’it, Jone and Elise Bay.
1. Jone: “Echo Inside Me”
Text and melody: Morten Franck, Christopher Colin Archer, Christine Ekeberg, Audun Agnar Guldbrandsen, Jonas Nes Steinset.
Roller coasters, après ski, barn dancing. All the categories have one thing in common – they require the genre Party music to get the temperature up to the right level. Here, Jone has taken pains to stay true to the art form. That means pumping rhythms at a patented tempo, easy-to-buy melodies and some folk tunes for an extra boost. It might work with a high blood alcohol level, but on this MGP stage it becomes too flat and banal to lift the roof.
2. Sandra Lyng: “Dream away”
Text and melody: Sandra Lyng, Erlend Torheim, Ferdinann West, Kristina Blakli.
Sandra makes an MGP comeback with a self-composed song in dialect. It’s not just stupid. She definitely falls into the category of underrated vocalists. Vocally, Sandra has a lot to offer and is mostly in full control here as well. Unfortunately, the format she has embarked on is too shabby and tried and tested. There are folk-inspired melody lines in beautiful union with bombastic drums and a relatively uninspired comp. Magic rarely happens like this. There is simply too little left after the song fades out, even if the protagonist himself delivers the goods.
3. Alejandro Fuentes: “Fire”
Lyrics and music: Alejandro Fuentes, Nermin Harambasic, Chris Young, Matthew Camargo.
In his time, Alejandro set the “Idol” fans on fire with his warm and expressive voice. Since then, he has been successful with “The new guitar mates”. Now he is back in the MGP arena with another Latin-inspired song. As everyone knows, Fuentes is an experienced vocalist with a useful timbre. “Fuego” is never more than decent. The song babbles away at a leisurely pace, but never quite manages to whip up the great enthusiasm. For that, it is simply too featureless and flat.
4. Swing’it: «Prohibition»
Text and melody: Martin Jarl Velsin, Jonah Charles Hitchens, Vebjørn Mamen, Sam Peter Norris.
Cheer me around. Here, in any case, it should not be about energy and enthusiasm. The gang, who have both been street musicians and parade musicians in New Orleans, deliver happy jazz paired with an insistent pop beat at the bottom. There are saxophone solos, raps and rehearsed dance moves from start to finish. Fun? Well – what Swing’it is doing here seems, in the name of honesty, a bit too dated for its own good. It’s jovial so it works, but song-wise it will be too sad for 2023.
5. Elsie Bay: «Love you in a dream»
Text and melody: Elsa Søllesvik, Andreas Stone Johansson & Tom Oehler.
Elsie Bay, or Elsa Søllesvik as she is actually called, is from the west country and is already too veteran to count despite her young age. Just under ten years ago, she broke through with Elsa & Emilie. Last year she participated in the MGP, but had to see herself beaten at the finish line. New Year, New possibilities. It’s still about grand, cinematic ballads. “Love You in a Dream” shows that Elsie has a voice that is both captivating and expressive. The chorus is powerful and drawn out and is expertly delivered with plenty of confidence. The challenge is that ballads of this format rarely stand out when it matters. Then everything must be in order, here there is just a penny missing to hold all the way in.
6. Ella: «Waist»
Lyrics and melody: Raphaela Antônia Souza Silva, Timothy John Adam Gosden, Tristan Henry.
Ella was born in Brazil and raised in Tromsø, has experience with opera and loves Sarah Brightman. Maybe there is something in the drinking water in both places? Ella has both a flair for song and an attitude that goes beyond most of what has been performed so far in this year’s MGP rounds. “Waist” abounds with playful rhythms, clever hooks and has an arrangement that looks more forward than it leans on the established. This is how intense pop music turns out. When both show and choreography follow up on what the song promises, do we possibly have a winner? It will be interesting to see where this ends.
7. Bjørn Olav Edvardsen: “Turn Off My Heart”
Text and melody: Bjørn Olav Edvardsen, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Henrik Thala.
Bjørn Olav is definitely entering the competition for the evening’s best singing performance. He is both a singer, actor, producer and songwriter. It again shows the routine. Here he serves a heartfelt love ballad that leaves nothing unsaid. It’s string-heavy, the vocal phrases scrape against the firmament. It is well made, genuine and quite nice. The ballad segment is difficult to succeed in, but at least Bjørn Olav’s attempt is wholehearted, even if he asks for his heart to be cut off. If the song had been a bit more characterful, it could have quickly stood out.
