God Kveld Europa! Godmorgen Australia , Good evening Europe!

After three weeks of Semi Finals ,tonight, Norway holds its MGP Grand Final in Trondheim, Norway, to decide who will represent the nation in Liverpool in May .

Nine acts will appear in tonight’s final and here we have the running order .

1. JONE —Ekko inni Meg ( Echo in me)
2. Eline Thorp — “Not meant to be”
3. Skrellex — “Love again”
4. Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
5. Umami Tsunami –”Geronimo”
6. Atle Pettersen — “Masterpiece” 
7. Swing’it — “Prohibition”
8. Elsie Bay —”Love you in a dream”
9. Alessandra Mele – “Queen of Kings”

Join me, Sarah , at 19.50 CET , 18.50 GMT for our live blog as we watch the fun and action live from Trondheim, Norway . You know the drill by now, REFRESH THIS PAGE to see my thoughts and opinions on the acts as they perform and the show overall. Please feel free to leave a comment or two , it’s always good to see how different the musical tastes are in us all !

You can watch all the action live HERE

LIVE BLOG STARTS HERE

You’re a bit early . Come back at 18.50 GMT ,19.50 CET to join the fun and action in Norway .

And welcome back! Shortly we hope to be going live to the Spektrum, Trondheim to start the MGP 2023 Grand Final. Hosts tonight , as has been during the last three weeks, will be Stian and Arian . You’ll have grown to love them by now 🙂 .

We have a problem with the live stream folks! Hopefully this will be rectified as soon as possible!

We finally in ! And currently getting a look back at past Eurovision song contests!Now for the parade of the finalists tonight .

Arian and Stain, our hosts for tonight .They are explaining about how the show will run tonight. Tonight the winner will be chosen by 50/50 Public vote and International Jury vote.

Are we ready? Yes we are ! First act up .

JONE —Ekko inni Meg ( Echo in me)

Jone qualified from the 2nd semi final .I admit to having not seen his performance before as I was away for the 2nd semi . We start off with Jone , dressed in black and red ,alone on stage with a backdrop of the heads and shoulders of different girls basically repeating what he sings . It all looks very futuristic. Joined by backing dancers It’s a real bop , this song and Jone really does sell it well. A very powerful performance and a great start to the show

Eline Thorp — “Not meant to be”

Eline qualified from semi final 3, just last week, so she will be fairly fresh in people’s memories. She’s held in quite high regard , looking at some of the internet and social media reviews and comments. She’s kept the performance pretty much as in the semi final dressed in a pink suit, with ( very) short skirt. The song has a slow start then builds up more powerfully . She’s joined on stage by a drummer , guitarist ,etc . She includes a bit of rap in the song but it sounds very indie in nature. It’s good but coming second in the running order, will it get overlooked by other strong entries coming later ?

Skrellex-“Love again”

Skrellex was considered a surprise qualifier from semi final 3 . There was a lovely little introduction film before the song of her with her mum , who helps with her stage outfits .The performance is very much the same as in the semi so far, with Skrellex starting off stood on top of a podium of stairs, she then walks down onto the stage and is joined by her 4 backing dancers. It’s flamboyant, it’s slick , reminds me of DQ who sang for Denmark in 2007. Good performance , certainly stands out !

We have a break now and an interview in the Green room with Jone and Alessandra, who you will see later .

Ulrikke Brandstorp “Honestly “

Ulrikke needs no introduction . She won the 2020 edition of MGP with “Attention” but sadly didn’t get to go to Eurovision due to the contest being cancelled due to Covid 19 restrictions.She’s back for another try at representing her country. Ulrikke is undoubtedly an accomplished performer , bringing another powerful ballad to the stage. She’s in the same silver dress as in the semi final , which looks like it’s been sliced halfway through. She’s joined for a very anthemic ending by 4 backing singers/ musicians She gives the usual accomplished performance. Yet……this just doesn’t give me the same vibes that Attention did. Its gone down well in the arena. Has she done enough to convince voters and jury that she is the one for Liverpool?

Umami Tsunami –”Geronimo”

This is held in quite high regard by fans and reviewers alike . Umami Tsunami are three young , very energetic young men , who bring a fresh , more 21st century appeal to their performance. They are in all white, what looks like boiler suits , there’s a lot of rap, dance and slick choreography as they are joined by backing dancers, also in white. It’s certainly one you’d play at a party or night club .This is more likely to appeal to the younger vote . That’s woken me up !!

They are happy with their performance.

Five songs down already ! These Nordic countries don’t waste any time !

Atle Pettersen “Masterpiece”

Atle starts off alone in stage in a dark setting with minimal spotlights.We then get different coloured strobe effects. Towards the end ,we have some backing vocals . I can’t help but think he should have backing singers join him towards the end , to give maximum effect and a more powerful finish. It feels a very safe song to me. Could struggle amongst the stronger songs.

Swing’it — “Prohibition”

I have been looking forward to seeing this as I wasn’t around for the semi final this qualified from and have heard snippets about it .As their name suggests, it’s a very lively ,jazzy style , swing style song, with trombones, clarinets , it wouldn’t have looked out of touch in a night out on the West End . Dressed in waistcoats, caps, hats, it’s entertaining and stands out by being something different from the modern uptempo songs and ballads. I have a feeling this could do quite well. It probably won’t win but the older voters may vote for this in droves.

Elsie Bay —“Love you in a dream”

Elsie took part in last year’s MGP and was a favourite to win but was beaten by Subwoolfer. She’s back for another go and qualified from her Semi Final . Elsie ‘s hair is very tightly tied up in a bead braids and is dressed in black , with some smoke around her on stage .The staging is dark and she’s joined by two contemporary dancers , also in black. Elise sings with emotion throughout . Th e stage teh lights up , looking a bit like a darkened ballroom. It’s very engaging and reminds me a bit of Norway 2015, “Monster like me” by Mørland and Deborah Scarlett. This will do well .Can she win? If Norway want something unique and different , this is the one .

Alessandra Mele – “Queen of Kings”

Alessandra has become a big fan favourite , according to social media comments and is hugely fancied to win tonight . Will Norway agree? She’s kept the same performance as in the semi final .Starts of with a gospel like backing vocal . Alessandra in her warrior like outfit, joined by four female backing dancers, this is very powerful and something which will go down well at Eurovision . Alessandra is one hell of a performer, she is confident, sells the song well. They loved it in the arena ! Is she the one to beat ?

So that’s it, you’ve heard them all . It’s time to vote ! Stian and Arian starting the voting , literally with a bang !

We get the usual recap of all the songs performed tonight. Who is your favourite tonight?

Back in the Green Room and Swing ‘it are giving us a musical rendition of “Fairytale”

Ulrikke and Skrellex enjoying a chat in the Green room

Now a little history of NMGP ……….Gosh , you can’t believe how primitive it all seemed in days gone by , but then I suppose it was just normal then.

It looks like one big party at the Spektrum, Trondheim , tonight !

Now we’re being treated to an interval act and they are back !! Still wanting to eat grandma !!!!

SUBWOOLFER!!!!I still remember that dance routine !

Ohhh,they have stripped off their yellow gear, including masks and we see the faces behind the masks at long last !! Not long left of their reign as MGP champs now .

Great to see them again. Hoping we are getting somewhere near the end of the voting soon as we get another recap of the acts .I have to say that the quality of acts this year in the MGP has been overall very high .Well done NRK !

And the voting has finally closed !!!! We should be getting the International jury results soon….STARTING NOW !!!

UK voting first …. 8 -Jone 10 – Atle Petersen

12 -Alessandra

FINLAND – 8 -Ulrikke 10-Unami sunami

12-Alessandra !

Azerbaijan – 8 to Elsie Bay

10-Alessandra

12 -Atle Peterssen

SPAIN – 8 to Atle 10 to Ulrikke 12 to Alessandra

UKRAINE -8 TO Elsie 10-Atle 12 to Alessandra

Czech Republic – 8 -Ulrikke , 10 -Atle Peterssen 12 Eline Thorp !

FRANCE – 8 to Ulrikke 10 -Elsie Bay 12 to Alessandra

ICELAND – 8 to Eline Thorp 10- Alessandra 12 -Atle Peterssen

NETHERLANDS – 8 -Ulrikke 10 -Alessandra 12 Atle Peterssen

SWEDEN 8 to Jone 10-Atle 12 -ALessandra

Well, that was interesting ! Alessandra doing MUCH better with juries than I thought she would . Ulrikke not doing as well with juries as I thought she would . Atle is a bit of a surprise but it is a jury friendly song .

As it stands after Jury votes ……

Remember the public vote can change everything ….we’ve got to wait for that a bit longer as we have another interval . Time for a toilet break me thinks !And to top up my wine glass !

We’re having a brief look at the already selected entries for Liverpool from other countries. Come on Norway, the tension is too much !!

Here we go……..The public Vote !This is tense !!!!

They are starTing from the bottom and working up

Swing it – get 43 points

Skrellex- 40 points

Unami Sunami -30 points

Jone- 30 points

Eline Thorp -eighteen points

Elsie Bay -34 points

Ulrikke -78 points

Atle -28 points

It’s Ulrikke or Alessandra !!

And …it’s Alessandra !!!!!!

Well, that was interesting ! I never thought Ulrikke would do better in public than jury vote but this has been won convincingly by Alessandra !!Both Jury and public favourite !

She’s very happy !!

We are now getting a reprise of the winning song , with Alessandra joined on stage by all the other contestants.

So that’s it folks ! Congratulations to Alessandra who will now go on and sing for Norway in Liverpool ! A great show put on by Norway tonight. What do you think? Do you think Norway made the right choice? Have the results surprised you this evening? Let us know what you think.

Good night Europe ,Good morning Australia and and thank you for following our blog, it’s been fun !

Author : Sarah Rudman

Source : NRK