ESC 2012: Norway, round one

Yay, we're on!! :-D The first part of our national ESC selection was tonight, I was going to liveblog it, but I had my family over, so I didn't manage to. Apologies to Findabair. ;-) Going to try to make this a pretty brief recap *cough*.

Eight songs, three go on to the final. The format's a little different this year, no semifinal to give contestants a last hope. Gotta keep it interesting, I guess. o_O

Entry #1: Elevator by Anne Judith Wik, Nermin Harambasic, Ronny Svendesen (??), Robin Jenssen and Carl Pritt, performed by Irresistible. Meh. Extremely American, me no like. And Europe no like either, in the ESC. Kind of catchy chorus, rather unmelodic verse. Forgettable. And enough with the rap already. Forget it, that combo's not a winner. Sheesh. And they have too many people on stage. The show is supposed to be spectacular, but why should we vote for something that we obviously can't show in Baku? None of us thought that this would get through.

Entry #2: Så vidunderlig by Elin Nygård, performed by Kim André Rysstad. Norwegian lyrics, good. In dialect, even better. :-) Folk music meets Whitney Houston? No, not really. It's pretty, but doesn't have what it takes. Predictable lyrics. We kept waiting for some kind of lift to the song, some kind of high point to it, but that never came. This might do relatively well, Norwegian audiences might like this, but it'd never get far in Baku.

Entry #3: High On Love by Thomas G:son, Ovi and Tommy Berre, performed by Reidun Sæther. Gotta love it - Ovi will never give up, he is going to win this thing some day. More power to him. :-D And this song, hey, now we're talking! Kind of pretentious title, but what a voice! This woman can sing. Clearly the best so far (although my father is highly opposed to that kind of wide-legged stance, what are people thinking, it's all over the place these days). Good song, cool performance. This is something they'd like in Baku. ;-) A real Eurovision feel to this. Pretty standard, but entertaining, and has that oomph. I like this. Figured we'd probably hear this again. :-)

Entry #4: You Break It, You Own It by Rune Berg and Asbjørn Ribe, performed by Rudi Myntevik. Not a very good voice, but may have a certain charm. Cool outfits on the band. Original lyrics, I like this take on it, but the phrase is actually you break it, you buy it ... but whatever. An OK entry, but nothing special. No hook to the melody. We all dismissed this as a contender. :-)

Entry #5: With Love by Tommy Berre, Johanna Demker, Anita Lixel and Lisa Stokke, performed by Lisa Stokke. An extremely glam outfit! In fact it's almost a bit much. This entry is of course very professionally performed, and Stokke has a good voice. A real show tune that may have potential. Nice to have lyrics that go a little outside the standard parameters. And of course, pyrotechnics and what have you. Very showy. We thought this would be quite likely to get through.

Entry #6: Little Bobbi by John Lundvik, Philip Halloun and Thomas Felberg, performed by United. This was my favorite entry by default, since Benedicte Adrian, one of my favorite singers, is in this group. I don't like the silly title though. An interesting opening to the performance. Rap again, sheesh. Not my favorite, and totally not an ESC hit. It's catchy though. Sadly in a way that quickly gets enervating. Too American. Benedicte also rapped, which was strange, we thought she'd be doing something totally different. :-D She kind of did too, eventually. Cool show, a song that stands out. Could never hope to win in Baku, but kind of original. However, it still so annoys me that they allow performances that couldn't be presented internationally. It's basically a trick, I don't like it. I thought this might possibly get through but probably wouldn't.

Entry #7: Somewhere Beautiful by Christian Ingebrigtsen and Eivind Rølles, performed by Nora Foss al-Jabri. Now with this girl we already knew the performance would be stellar. What an absolutely fantastic voice she has. I keep thinking it's got to be some sort of scam that she's only 15. o_O Very professional performance, but still emotional and genuine. Good song too. A real Disney tune. :-D The UK did well with this kind of powerful emotional ballad in 2009. This might be a hit, they'd like this down east. I'd love to hear this again. I was convinced that this would get through.

Entry #8: Don't Touch the Flame by ... all the guys in The Carburetors, performed by The Carburetors. The guys themselves are kind of annoying, but it's cool to have a real rock song in the contest. Good song, catchy, and they're real pros on stage. But what's the point of running around that whole thing if he's not going to jump off anything afterwards? o_O It would have been really cool to send this ... it wouldn't win, but it'd be so cool to send it. :-) Great response from the audience in the hangar (long story :-). I thought this might get through.

That was all the songs, a pretty good lineup IMO, although my father needed a cup of coffee to stay awake. :-D We figured that Somewhere Beautiful and With Love would get through, and I also really believed in High On Love. That seemed weird to me though, three female soloists? No, that's too unlikely. But which of the three would miss out?? Turned out it was Stokke and The Carburetors took her place. Good for them and better for the lineup. :-) So glad Nora Foss al-Jabri came out ahead of everyone else, she really deserved it, and it meant soo much to her. :-D

That's all, looking forward to next Saturday when I definitely won't have those people hanging out here ... :-D