They do this to stay healthy until their departure towards the end of this week. But Tix, who was nominated for the Spellemann Prize for last year’s big hit song “Karantene”, claims that he hardly notices a difference in everyday life now when he has to isolate himself in the self-imposed quarantine.
– My life works so that there are never enough hours in the day to get all the work required of me done. Therefore, I am very sheltered and isolated in everyday life, and in that sense, my life has felt a bit like a quarantine long before the corona came. So I take this with crushing calm. I do not notice much, because I just sit and work anyway, says Andreas Haukeland to NTB.
– Worthy contribution
The rehearsal on Friday, where Tix, the dancers Eivind Dundas, John Masaki, Reno Andersen and Bjørn Reime and the chorister Johannes W. Farstad met to rehearse their new show with two fewer dancers than during the MGP final, was also the first time the whole the Norwegian delegation was assembled.
– Now we begin to notice that it is approaching. The day was hectic, but the really heavy work begins when we get to Rotterdam, he says. The departure is May 8, while the first stage rehearsal is already the next day. There will be a new stage rehearsal on May 12 before Tix goes on fire with “Fallen Angel” in the first semifinal on May 18.
– What can you promise everyone who voted for you in the Norwegian final?
– I must make sure that Norway makes a worthy contribution. Regardless of the position in the competition, it is our message that is most important, says the 28-year-old, who has previously expressed somewhat mixed feelings and both dreaded and rejoiced when he released songs with his most personal lyrics.
– What I have dreaded most is the responsibility that comes with representing Norway, but now I just feel that I am looking forward. I look forward to meeting people from other nations and updating you at home in Norway about what happens on the journey. It will also be nice to get a little audience into the arena, so that it does not feel so stiff!
Tix performs the song «Fallen Angel» during the dress rehearsal before the final of the Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) 2021. Photo: Julia Marie Naglestad / NRK / NTB
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– Can be proud
– Before the victory at home, you said that this was a song that “the Norwegian people needed”, and you were right – they voted you to a solid victory. Do you think that Europe also needs “Fallen Angel”?
– I do not know. But I know there are many out there who will identify with the message, and as long as we reach out to them, I think we in Norway can be very proud of our contribution to this year’s Eurovision.
Andreas Haukeland’s impression is that “Fallen Angel” is among the songs in this year’s Eurovision final that has created a lot of engagement.
– People seem to appreciate the story of the song, he says about the song he alone has composed and written lyrics for. Haukeland designed the stage show at the same time as he wrote the song.
– The idea is that anyone could perform a song alone on a stage, but the song is lifted to a new level when it is to be performed as a battle between Tix and the black devils, he says.
New first impression
While many here at home have an opinion about Tix, he starts with blank sheets out in Europe. Andreas Haukeland has made up his mind about this:
– It is strange, because everywhere I have to make a new first impression, and it is not so easy to present the phenomenon Tix to someone who does not know it before. This is where much of our focus has been this year – how we can best tell a story that hits people in the three minutes we have on stage.
He does not claim to have “thought so much” about the fact that he may perform in front of 200 million TV viewers, if “Fallen Angel” qualifies for the Eurovision final.
– Feels like this is where I belong
– It is a large number, but the most important thing for me is that five million people here in Norway get the pleasure of standing together on something. What I am most looking forward to is waving to everyone here at home during the first semifinal, says he who last year was Norway’s most streamed artist on Spotify – ahead of The Weeknd and Kygo.
Andreas “Tix” Haukeland turned his Norwegian-language MGP contribution “Out of the Dark” into English “Fallen Angel”, but it will hardly happen that often, it sounds like the popular artist.
– I really thrive very well with the Norwegian audience and feel this is where I belong and can play an important role in people’s lives. What I want to do in English is often songwriting for other artists, says Haukeland.
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