After a month long search Norway has finally decided who will represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest coming May. 3 semi finals provided us with 9 acts competing in last Saturday’s final for the ticket to Malmö! Norway is eager to win after Alessandra’s 4th place in the competition last year. So MGP pulled out all the stops this year and saw several previous winners come back! Such as Margaret Berger (2013), one of Subwoolfer’s 2 lead singers (2022) and Fan favourite KEiiNO, who represented the country in 2019 and gloriously won the televote. An exciting jury voting saw KEiiNO top the scoreboard. However that was not enough to keep folk rock band Gåte from winning the televote and snatching the MGP crown!
Norway at Eurovision
Let’s have a look back at Norway’s history at Eurovision. They debuted in 1960 and have since only been absent twice. In 61 appearances so far they have managed to win and subsequently host the competition 3 times. Their first victory was in 1985 with Bobbysocks and their infectious song “La Det Swinge”! Exactly 10 years later they took the trophy back home again following Secret Garden’s victory with the song “Nocturne”. Their third and most recent victory was in 2009 when Alexander Rybak won with a record amount of points with his song “Fairytale”. A record he held for a long time until a new voting system was put in use in 2016, where the jury and televote points were split in 2 separate votes.
Successful as they may have been, Norway has had quite a few downs to accompany the ups. Apart from 12 top 5 placements they also hold the record for the most last places: 11! 4 out of those times they received the infamous ‘nul points’ (not to be confused with niallpoints)! But let’s focus on the good stuff! Since the introduction of the semi finals Norway has managed to qualify 16 times out of 19! On 3 of those occasions they were automatic qualifiers. On top of that, they have reached the top 10 three times in the past 5 editions, most recently last year with Alessandra!
Norway 2024
For this year Norway has chosen the band Gåte to represent them! They are a folk rock band from Trøndelag that mix folk music with rock and electronic elements. The song Ulveham is a modern interpretation of a Norwegian medieval ballad called “Møya I Ulveham” (The Maid in Wolf Skin). It tells the story of a young girl that is being transformed into a needle, a knife and eventually a sword by her evil stepmother. Since the people continuously appreciate the girl, the stepmother becomes desperate and finally transforms the girl into a wolf. To take revenge the wolf attacks the stepmother, drinking her blood and thus lifting the curse. Sort of like a cross between Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood. Where do they come up with this stuff?
Because the song was based on a medieval ballad, it was feared that it would be in breach of the EBU’s rules regarding originality. And the decision was made to change the lyrics, without changing the meaning of the song. So how will Ulveham fare in Malmö? Will Gåte drink the blood of their competitors and win? Or will they be left behind in the woods (aka the semi final)? Read what we think in our reviews below. As always we have added our totally unbased but honest predictions!
niallpoints Review
Niall
This an absolutely stunning entry from Norway and I’m very excited to see this live in Malmö. To turn a stage that you are sharing with 8 other acts into your very own concert for 3 minutes is an absolute talent, one I’m sure they’ll be able to repeat with another 25 countries in May.
Gunnhild has an absolutely enchanting vocal throughout which mixed with both the melodic and rocky music is enough to give you goosebumps.
Early prediction: Top 3
Tomas
First of all I must apologize to Gåte for my earlier review during our MGP reaction video. I was wrong. It took me a while to connect with this entry and I hated myself for it. Because on paper, this is everything I love about a Eurovision entry. I don’t know what I was thinking! Seeing the live performance however has completely won me over! This breathes potential winner! I love the vibe of the song and the fact that it’s in Norwegian!
The staging we got at MGP was absolutely phenomenal! The lightshow, the rotating platform, the guitar tricks, the haunting vocals… everything was just perfection! The only thing I would say is: please take out the on screen visuals. They pull me out of the performance, which is a pity because the performance itself is so good! Norway is hungry for a win and 2024 might well be their year!
Early prediction: 1-5
Before you head out, why don’t you have a look at our full reaction video to Gåte’s MGP final performance below! Don’t worry, we managed to stop talking after 18 minutes (with some editing). Don’t forget: This is only our first reaction video to the Eurovision 2024 acts! Many will follow so keep an eye out on our YouTube channel and hit that notification bell! Until the next review!
