About
Biography
Kjetil Mørland (born October 3, 1980) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter, born in Grimstad in the southern part of Norway. He has lived in England for most of his adult life. With his British band Absent Elk, Mørland released the album “Caught in the Headlights” in 2009, produced by Toby Smith (Jamiroquai). In the fall of 2014, Mørland temporarily moved to Oslo to establish himself as a solo artist under the name Mørland.
Mørland wrote the song “A Monster Like Me,” which won the Norwegian final of the Melodi Grand Prix 2015. “A Monster Like Me” was performed by Kjetil Mørland and Debrah Scarlett.
Through their victory in the Melodi Grand Prix, Mørland and Debrah Scarlett represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. Mørland and Debrah Scarlett qualified for the final on Saturday, May 23. In the final, Norway placed eighth. Mørland won the Marcel Bezençon Award in the Composer category for “A Monster Like Me.”
Mørland also participated as a songwriter in Melodi Grand Prix 2018 with the song “Who We Are.” The song was performed by Rebecca Thorsen and finished in second place. In 2019, he participated again as a songwriter and vocalist with the song “En livredd mann” and as one of the songwriters for “The Bubble,” performed by Adrian Jørgensen. “En livredd mann” was eliminated in the first round, while “The Bubble” finished in second place in the final.
In 2020, Mørland won the Melodi Grand Prix for the second time, this time as a songwriter for “Attention,” performed by Ulrikke Brandstorp. The song was intended to be the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in the Netherlands. However, the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the Melodi Grand Prix 2021, he contributed as one of the songwriters for “Eyes Wide Open,” performed by Rein Alexander. Unfortunately, the song did not make it to the gold final.
Moving on to the Melodi Grand Prix 2022, he collaborated with Sofie Fjellvang as a songwriter for “Made of Glass,” which was also performed by Sofie. This entry achieved a respectable third or fourth place.
In the Melodi Grand Prix 2023, he teamed up with Kate Gulbrandsen as a songwriter for “Tårer i paradis,” performed by Kate herself. However, this song was eliminated during the first semi-final round.