We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Norway.
Alessandra Mele
Alessandra Mele will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest. She wrote the song “Queen of kings” together with Henning Olerud, Stanley Ferdinandez and Linda Dale.
20 years old Alessandra was born in Pietra Ligure, Savona, Italy. She has an Italian father and a Norwegian mother. Music has always been important in her life. She first took part in a talent show when she was only 6 years old. She rose to fame last year when she participated in The Voice Norge. Espen Lind was the coach she chose after the blind audition. She reached the live shows. Eurovision came right after The Voice. Her song “Queen of kings” reached the #1 spot in the Norwegian charts. It’s also a hit in Finland, Hungary, Iceland and Sweden.
Melodi Grand Prix
Alessandra’s “Queen of kings” has won Melodi Grand Prix 2023. Ever since Norway participated for the first time, in 1960, the song has been chosen through Melodi Grand Prix. The name always remained the same. The way of selection, however, was different. This year, there were 3 semifinals and a final. Through Melodi Grand Prix history there were many remarkable participations. In 1961, Per Asplin sang “S’il vous plaît” which was not a success in those days. However, a revamped version by De Lillos became a huge hit in Norway 26 years later! Another man who is part of Melodi Grand Prix history, is Jahn Teigen. He won three times, but took part on numerous occasions. Most remarkable was his 1976 song “Voodoo“, a duet with Inger-Lise Rypdal.
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
Norway started participating in 1960. The first victory came in 1985, after “a long and thorny path”, as 1986 host Åse Kleveland stated. Bobbysocks brought the victory home with “La det swinge”. Ten years later, it was Secret Garden with “Nocturne”. The most recent Norwegian victory was in 2009: Alexander Rybak won the contest with “Fairytale”, a Eurovision classic. In recent years, in 2019 to be precise, KEiiNO won the televote with “Spirit in the sky”. Overall, the song became 7th.
The bookmakers
The bookmakers predict a 4th place for Norway. That would confirm again that the days of bad scores and zeros are completely over for Norway.
The song
And of course, this is the song:
