God kveld Europa , God morgen Australia ! Yes, a week goes by very quickly and here we are again , ready for Heat 2 in Norway’s quest to find its act for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to be hosted in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Just to recap on last week , after an exciting evening where the four acts competed in two duels , two going forward to the “Golden final” , Blåsemafian , ft Hazel with their song ” Let Loose ” was chosen by the Norwegian public to go through to join 6 already prequalified acts in the Final on 20th May . We also got a live performance of Keiino’s entry ” Monument”, which they will perform in that Grand Final as one of the prequalified acts .

The four acts competing tonight at the H3 Arena, Fornebu, Norway for a place in the Final on 20th February are as follows :

Raylee ( you may remember her from last year’s contest) ” Hero “

Maria Solheim -“Nordlyset”

Daniel Owen-“Psycho”

Ketil Stokkan -” My Life is ok “( Ketil represented Norway in ESC 1986 with “Romeo ” and in 1990 with ” Brandenberg Tor”)

As with last week, we will also get a performance from one of the acts already prequalified for the Final , tonight we have:

Stavagerkamerantene -“Barndomsgater”

Tonight’s show will take the format of last week where the four competing acts will compete in duels , to be drawn by tonight’s hosts Ronny Brede Aase, Kåre Magnus Bergh and Ingrid Gjessing Linhave , with the winner of each duel going forward to compete against each other in the Gold final , the winner going forward to the final on 20th February.

You can watch the action HERE .Please sit down, relax and join me, Sarah , when I will be bringing you my comments as the action happens and giving you my views on the acts as they perform, please feel free to shout out and say what you think too ! 🙂 . You can follow the action by

REFRESHING THIS PAGE !

Join me at 19.50 CET ,18.50 GMT when we will be going live to the H3 Arena in Norway to start the proceedings for tonight

And …welcome back! In a matter of just 10 minutes or so, we’ll be going live to the H3 Arena in Fornebu for the show. Just waiting for NRK to kindly let us in ….

And, we’re in !! Just looking at the Norwegian lottery

Here we go …. over to the H3, first with a recap of last week …remember him ?

over to our lovely hosts now, Ronny , Kare and Ingrid explaining the proceedings for tonight

Here goes :

First Duel Ketil V Daniel

Second duel : Raylee V Maria ….so two men competing against each other and both women competing against each other !

First up Ketil …well known in Norway for past Eurovision entries and he’s back for another go !

Ketil Stokkan ” It’s ok “

Ketil looks like he’s taking part in a Zoom meeting ! with lots of shots of people in the background ! Ketil very casually dressed in blue , with three women scantily dressed in red sparkley outfits . I’m afraid this is more or less what I expected ,just a pleasant little song , very repetitive , telling us all that we are all ok ! It’s just that , ok ! Sorry Ketil

Ketil finishes his performance and gets the chance to connect remotely with family and friends , including a fan from England who remembers his entry from 1986, Romeo !

Daniel is a young Norwegian singer and dancer, I am expecting this to be very different from Ketil !

Psycho is a very modern pop tune a bit in the mould of Benjamin Ingrosso and Dance you up , the staging doesn’t look unlike Benjamin’s too with the flashing red lines on a dark background, he’s joined by four backing singers performing a dance routine . It’s an ok song but I am still not over excited !He might get the teenage vote as he’s quite a good looker !

Daniel now having an opportunity to see fans and family virtually , who are singing Psycho as a tribute to him.

So……that’s the first duel, we’re getting the recap now . By the way , the result tonight is decided entirely by a public vote . I think that Daniel will take this duel, sorry Ketil !

Both back on stage now ….this is tense for both of them

As expected , Daniel has won this duel !!

They are now recapping last week’s duel results , fans of Jorn, who participated last week but didn’t make it through singing a tribute to his song ,, looks a bit cold there !

Ready for Duel 2 …Raylee v Maria

Raylee ” Hero “

Sharp eyed viewers will remember Raylee making the MGP final last year with ” Wild”. Can she do it again this year ? The song is called Hero….not to be confused with Mans’s 2015 song !Oh wow ! Raylee has gone for a sexier look this year and has got rid of the tight plaited hair and gone for the loose curl look .Still wearing the tight all in one suit . It’s a good song but for me , not quite as powerful as ” Wild “

Having her hair done ???? Now I know we have covid restrictions and hairdressers are closed but ……..

Maria Solheim “Norlyset”

Maria is dressed all in green sat on what looks like a fountain edge with a green forest backdrop. It’s a nice, gentle song , her voice reminds me a bit of Silje Vige who sang “Alle Mine Tanker ” back in 1993 for Norway , as it’s quiet but pleasant, it’s very folk like with a bit of country sound . It’s pleasant , I quite like it, it is very different from what’s been offered tonight .However, will it be strong enough to beat Raylee ?

Recap of songs now before we get the result of this duel…who do you think will go through? I think Raylee may take this one but what do I know ?

Here we go……. and ……….

And RAYLEE has won the 2nd duel…that’s 2 out of 2 for me ! 🙂

Stavangerkamerentene ” Barndomsgator”

Four men on stage, casual dress all in hats. It’s a pleasant song , performed well with good use of pyrotechnics . It’s a good performance, for me hasn’t made quite the impact that Keiino did last week

We’re now getting the after performance chat ,they seem happy with their performance

A bit of Norwegian humor now, two of the hosts out spying on the streets ! Haha !Not knowing any Norwegian, it’s a bit hard to know exactly what they are doing !

So here we go…the Gold Round , first up Daniel Owen and Psycho

It really is just like watching a second Benjamin Ingrosso, with backing singers . The staging is very similar to that used by Benjamim in Lisbon in 2018 . It’s modern, danceable to ,but for me very repetitive .Might get the younger person’s vote for his looks more than the song !

Raylee ” Hero “

I can’t help while watching this , thinking back to the 1980’s and watching a scene from the film Flashdance ! Raylee has the Jennifer Beals look about her tonight and some of her dance moves are very similar to those used in the song Flashdance, what a Feeling ! Maybe her inspiration ? I still don’t like this as much as Wild

They are back on stage now, Raylee just out of the shower again !!!

We’re getting the result in a minute ……this is tense !!!!

And Raylee has done it !!!! Not a great shock really

Goodnight everyone, Good morning Australia !

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : NRK