Norway: NRK presents the 3rd semi-final MGP 2021 competing acts
The Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, has uveiled the 3rd semi-final contestants of Melodi Grand Prix, the show that will determine the nation’s ESC 2021 hopeful.
During a press conference at the NRK haeadquarters in Oslo, the acts of the second semi final were unveiled along witt the song titles of their entires.
According to the NRK schedule the competing entries of the semi finals are going public every Monday ahead of each one of the semi finals while during the semi final one prequalified act performs its Grand final entry, which is released one day before the show.
Third Semi final acts
The four acts that will compete next Saturday in semi final three are the following:
1. Ole Hatz – “Vi er Norge”
(Lyrics and music: Rein Mellbye Van Vliet, Eirik Næss, Ole F. Hartz Gravbråten, Magnus Hagen Clausen ogPetter Bjørklund Kristiansen)
Already as a six-year-old, Ole Hartz (24) knew that music was what life was all about, and signed up for everything it was possible to sign up for: piano lessons, drum lessons and and the marching band. All he did was related to music, and all he thought about was music. Still, he had never thought he would ever perform his own song on live TV during MGP.
Ole grew up in Åmot in Modum municipality and has gone from being a favorite among local audiences, to becoming a signed artist with several million streams and an ever-growing fan base in both Norway and Sweden. He is not afraid to experiment with melodies and fun text lines, something he also does inthe newly released song “Jeg vil ha ribbe”. Forthat song, he collaborated with TikTok star Ida Celine.
2. Big Daddy Karsten – «Smile»
(Lyrics and music: Karsten Dahl Marcussen, Are Næssetog Pål GauslaaSivertzen)
Karsten Dahl Marcussen (32) is from Arendal on the South coast of Norway but lives in Oslo. Big Daddy Karsten found the rap genre at a young age, a genre he finds to have an open, honest and tough way of expressing where he felt he could say a lot in a short time. His first album came with the duo Folkefiender together with the rapper Ego. He was also central as a battle rapper when VGTV (online TV) created Skeez-TV. Big Daddy Karsten has been the headliner at the biggest Pride celebrations in Norway, and has played at festivals such asSkral, Hove and Canal Street.
Karsten was not open about being gaywhen he first started rapping and there were perhaps some who didn’timagine that the big, masculine rapper was gay, due to stereotypes. When he came out of the closet in November 2016, it led to a lot of attention and it was pointed out in the public that few rappers around the world dare to be openly gay. At the time of writing, Big Daddy Karsten is Scandinavia’s only openly gay rapper.
3. Dinaye – «Own Yourself»
(Lyrics and music: Christian Ingebrigtsen, David Thulin og Dina Matheussen)
Dinaye, Dina Matheussen (17) from Asker outside of Oslo started her career as a dancer and started singing when she was only 12 years old. She also has a black belt in karate!
Dinaye is known for dancing inspired by Michael Jackson and in 2014 she impressed with the dance in “Noray’s got Talent” on TV 2, where she made it to the semifinals. The 17-year-oldalso comptededin MGPjrin 2016 with the song “Sterk ogRå” where she made it tothe gold final. She also participated as a dancer for Amina Sewali at MGP in 2017.
Through Norwegian Idol 2020, she proved her talent for both singing and dancing and received standing ovations for her interpretation of Beyoncé’s song “Run the World (Girls)”. In 2019, she had a hit on NRK P3 radio with the song “Vi er ett”, where in the music video also got to show her Ethiopian roots.
The young artist is involved in writing her own lyrics, and “Own yourself” is about the choices you make in life, and how you choose to present yourself to others and to yourself. Dinaye is half Ethiopian and in part of the song she sings in Amharic.
4. Emmy – «Witch Woods»
(Lyrics and melody: Olli Äkräs, Elsa Søllesvik, Morten Franck.)
Emmy Kristine Guttulsrud Kristiansen (20) from Sande in Vestfold comes from a musical family. She sang long before she could speak and has among other things been active in the choir «Soul Children». In 2011, Emmy’s older brother participated inMGPjr, which made her dream of doing that herself once. In 2015, the dream came true, and Emmy took the stage in Oslo Spektrum with the song “Aiaiaiai” which has been streamed more than 1.1 million times.
After MGPjr, she becamefamiliar face to many and gained new fans among the younger part of the population. She got to travel around and do concerts and meet fans. She has also released several singles, including the song “Bjørnar” which has been her biggest hit.
Emmy is also a songwriter and has written over a hundred songs despite her young age, and she studies visual communications at the University of Southeast Norway. Now she is ready to show more of her musical qualities on the big MGP stage!
Pre-qualified act
In addition one more pre-qualified artist out of six will be showcasing her song:
Kaja Rode: «Feel Again»
(Melody: Magnus Martinsen, Mirjam Johanne Omdal, Andreas Gjone og Erika Dahlen)
Kaja Rode is a 22-year-old singer born in Oslo. She participated in Norwegian The Voice in 2017, where she made all the judges turn around at the blind audition. She grew up in Ulsteinvik in Western Norway and attended music specialization at the Volda High School. Despite her young age, Kaja has performed on many stages and has extensive experience performing at various events. She is inspired by artists such as Sam Smith, John Legend and Sia, and is also inspired by many Norwegian artists.
Kaja studies Retail Management and works with songwriting. She is excited to be pre-qualified at MGP, in a collaboration with songwriters who came to be through NRK and MGP. This has resulted in a song that really shows us who the artist Kaja Rode is.
«Feel Again» will be released Friday January 29th.
MGP 2021 dates
The Norwegian national selection commenced on January 16 with the first semi final show and continues this Saturday with the 3rd semi final show and will conclude on February 20 with the Grand final.
This is the Melodi Grand Prix schedule:
Semi-final 1 – January 16
Semi-final 2 – January 23
Semi-final 3 – January 30
Semi-final 4 – February 6
Semi-final 5 – February 13
Second Chance Round – February 14
Grand final – February 20
