Previewing the Entrants of Eurovision 2019 – Part Thirty: Norway

Hello everyone and welcome to another post on The Blogging DJ, where we will continue to look in-depth at each of the forty-one entrants competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. In today’s post, we are off to Oslo, to analyse the Norwegian song, “Spirit in the Sky”, performed by KEiiNO.

Selection Process

As is tradition for Norway, their state broadcaster, NRK, organised a national selection to decide their entry called Melodi Grand Prix. This year’s edition saw more than a thousand entries submitted, before sixty were chosen to progress to the next stage, where they were presented to various groups. The opinions of these groups helped the broadcaster to narrow the field down to just ten. On the 2nd of March 2019, they performed in the hope that they will represent their country at Eurovision. KEiiNO received the most televotes throughout the night, eventually defeating Adrian Jørgensen in a head to head to win the ticket to Tel Aviv. It has also been announced that Norway will perform quite late on in semi-final two, in position number fifteen.

Music Video

The Blogging DJ’s Review

For the most part, this song is like when you go into a coffee shop and always get the same order; no matter how dull it may seem, you still like the taste. The main body is the kind of dance schlager you would probably have heard back in Eurovision 2008. Sure it is dated, but it is also fun and I bobbed along to this when listening to it. The most revolutionary element is the use of ‘joiking’, a traditionally Sami form of music that resembles a mystical chant. It certainly adds another element to the song and the bridge where joiker Fred-René Buljo builds this up with more and more power is something new for the contest. But then it returns to the slightly cheesy dance track, without much development in its sound. It won’t be winning any awards for originality (minus the Sami element), but it is still an enjoyable listen. 7.5

Live Performance Video

Odds

According to Oddschecker, you can get odds ranging from 25/1 to 40/1 on Norway to win Eurovision 2019. This suggests bookmakers and betters see this song as qualifying and finishing in a respectable position in the Grand Final, but shouldn’t challenge for victory.

Record at Eurovision

Norway have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest on a very impressive fifty-seven occasions, appearing in the Grand Final on all but three of those times. They have won the contest three times, thanks to Bobbysocks (1985), Secret Garden (1995) and most recently Alexander Rybak in 2009 with “Fairytale”. They also hold the unenviable record of the most last place finishes in Eurovision history, with eleven in total. Last year Alexander Rybak returned to the competition with “That’s How You Write a Song”, where he won his semi-final but could only finish in fifteenth place in the Grand Final.

So what are your thoughts on the Norwegian entry for Eurovision 2019? Does it make you want to jump onto the dancefloor? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more Eurovision preview posts coming out in the next few weeks!