Norway Melodi Grand Prix 2018 Review & Ranking.

Norway grabbed the moment last year with Jowst and Aleksander Walman who placed 10th in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest with their song ‘Grab the moment’ bringing Norway back to the final after they crashed out in 2016.

Below is my official reviews and rankings of Norway’s hopeful entries including the three returnees and the one Eurovision Song Contest winner!

Ida Maria – Scandilove - Ida has made her MDP singing debut after writting Ella's 2017 MGP song "Mama's Boy" with a schlager-tastic track ‘Scandilove’. This entry is a fun up-tempo and basically bonkers song! And we LOVE it! The chorus ‘can you make love like a Scandinavian?” is amazing! Ida has an interesting tone of voice but it absolutely compliments the song. ‘Scandilove’ harks back to ‘The Hungry Hearts’ of MGP fame. I can only imagine the staging potential of ‘Scandilove’ although lyrically the song sounds like a joke entry, Ida Maria admits in the end of her song “yeah, I’ve run out of metaphors”. This entry is an undeniably catchy and infectious earworm, which will have you humming the chorus for days! 9/10

Rebecca – Who We Are – Rebecca a backing singer for Eurovision 2015 alum Morland,has debuted in MGP 2018 with a song written by the aforementioned Morland, “Who We Are” has a beginning that sounds similar to something from Leona Lewis circa “Bleeding Love” era, the introduction builds with suspense and power, to a somewhat let down chorus, the chorus seems to lack the same power in the first chorus but by the second time around the song climaxes and the chorus booms, powerful and strong. Rebecca’s vocals are rich and smooth, showing she is clearly a talented singer and she can no doubt kill this song live. Overall a strong entry a few tweaks to the first chorus could make this song a winner! 7/10

Charla K – Stop The Music – Charla K makes her debut to MGP in 2018 the beautiful sing brings her equally as hauntingly beautiful song ‘Stop The Music’ Charla’s vocals are amazing on this track, when her vocals combine the choir in the chorus it becomes magical! For a song called “Stop The Music” I wish this song would never stop, the song will be sure to get the live crowds arms swaying in the air, this song is very much a strong entry and I am sure Charla K will bring it to the lives, although we have to wonder what the staging possibilities are for this kind of song? She will need to bring staging this song deserves, AMAZING STAGING!

Alejandro Fuentes – Tengo Otra – Again we see the “Despacito effect” take another victim in a National Final as Alejandro Fuentes sings his song “Tengo Otra” has definitely taken inspiration from one of the biggest songs of 2017. I feel like this is very ‘copy and paste’ from most of the other national finals although it is a very respectable entry against the others in this final we doubt this will make an impact. I also have a feeling Alejandro’s vocals have undergone a bit of digital remastering as well. We don’t have a great feeling about this song and fear Alejandro will be drowned out amongst the rest of the Norwegian field. 5/10

Aleksander Walmann – Talk To The Hand – HE’S BACK!!! Aleksander Walmann grabbed the moment with Jowst and now he is back with the song “Talk To The Hand” produced by his former Eurovision partner Jowst, this song oozes swagger and attitude something which Aleksander will be able to deliver live! The song is one of my favourites of the national selection and I would love to see Aleksander go to Portugal. Seeing how involved he and his team are within the community I feel he may have this. Staging potential for this song is unlimited! Perhaps he may be joined by a pose of dancers maybe he will break out some moves of his own? This song has Eurovision potential but I won’t be mad if he is beaten by some of the other great songs are this is such a strong national final! 9/10

Stella & Alexandra – You Got Me – The second returnee of MGP 2018, Stella Mwangi, won MGP in 2011 and went to Eurovision with her African inspired song “Haba Haba” but this year she’s back and she’s RAPPING! Stella raps while her duet partner Alexandra sings the chorus, the song somewhat lacks that special something, and that makes this throwback song feel dated, Alexandra’s chorus work doesn’t do the song justice, meaning the song feels lifeless and flat. The song is also a little repetitive, but this could be brought to life on stage but as a studio cut it doesn’t sound like a winner. 6/10

Vidar Villa – Moren Din – The only Norwegian language song in the final comes courtesy of young Vidar Vila, the song, instrumentation wise is okay, but non-Norwegian speakers and voters will be glad they don’t speak Norwegian, as this song is appalling lyrically, ‘Moren Din” is a song about falling in love with their friend’s mum. The song is a lesser version of “Stacey’s Mom” this song is one of the creepier songs to ever be brought into the ESC community and it has me wishing it never had been. This could have a chance of making an impact, if he were to take the joke act route and fully commit to it. 3/10

Tom Hugo – I Like, I Like, I Like – The song has initial likeability and funk, the chorus is good and has a groove to it but the song feels like a downgrade compared to Aleksander Walmann’s entry, this song feels too similar to that and it could be forgotten if placed too close to Aleksander on the night. The chorus does become a bit repetitive and annoying, the breakdown before the final chorus is good, l but the song fails to make any impact in the final chorus. Tom could bring this to life with some dancers and backing singers on the night and he may challenge for one of the four spots in the super-final. 7/10

Nicoline – Light Me Up – Nicoline is a Eurovision veteran although not in the way Aleksander and Stella were, Nicoline wqs a backing singer for Agnete and “Icebreaker” and Margaret Berger with “Feed You My Love” but this year Nicoline is stepping out of the shadows and making her solo debut into MGP with the song “Light Me Up” the song is a modern contemporary pop song, Nicoline is also a professional dancer so expect she will bring the moves to the stage. Nicoline is experienced on a live stage and will no doubt bring it! 8/10

Alexander Rybak – How To Write A Song – He’s back to reclaim his record! But not with this song will he even come close to his record score of 2009! Rybak’s attempt is quite weak and harks back to the 2016 interval act “Love, Love, Peace, Peace” in fact it seems Alexander has taken the song quite literally and has wrote a song using those steps, this is a disappointing attempt at a comeback for Rybak, although I never did understand the appeal to his 2009 win, I can see how some people may have liked the song. But this song is a disappointing flop from the former champion! 6/10

My ranking of Melodi Grand Prix 2018:

1) Aleksander Walmann – Talk to the hand

2) Ida Maria – Scandilove

3) Rebecca – Who we are

4) Nicoline – Light me up

5) Charla K – Stop the music

6) Stella & Alexandra – You got me

7) Alexander Rybak – How you write a song

8) Tom Hugo – I Like I Like I Like

9) Alejandro Fuentes – Tengo Otra

10) Vidar Vila – Moren Din

I overall I would be happy with ANY of my top 6 going to Eurovision or winning MGP but the bottom four at this stage would provide Norway with another non-qualification.

Norway was represented by Jowst and Aleksander Walmann last eyar in Kyiv, where they placed 10th in the grand final behind Australia. Watch their performance below!