On Saturday, 15 February, Norwegians descended on the Oslo Spektrum for the 2025 edition of Melodi Grand Prix to select the country’s Eurovision entry.
Opting to abandon the format we’ve all been accustomed to in recent years, NRK has dropped the semi finals with gold pass entries “direkt til finale”, in favour of an abbreviated final-only show with a curated lineup of 9 songs vying for the nation’s top spot.
Tone Damli had the first song: “Last Song” (because that’s not confusing at all). It was a bit of a throwback with a mix of the 80s with some Kylie Minogue vibes thrown in. A catchy song that could definitely be a song in rotation on the radio.
Second up was Sondrey with “Vagabond”: an R&B-trance-type number reminiscent of some mid-2010s hits by Chris Brown or Ne-Yo, maybe? For sure a strong pick, and great choreography to boot.
Third was Nora Jabri and “Sulale”. I’ll call this a mix of Balkan and Latin flavour? I really don’t know. It could be either or, but I’m terrible with musical geography, so what do I know? After some excessive sulalalalalala lelelele’ing, the song was done. Pretty good overall!
Norway certainly didn’t follow in Malta or Italy’s footsteps for this final… No ads for a bank in Valletta or €60M in ad revenue here! (thank goodness!) I was getting whiplash writing this. Nearly no time between songs. I finished writing about one song in the middle of the next… oh wait, a guy making a god awful state with a… popcorn cannon? Anyone see that Michael Jackson meme of the “crackle” sound a vacuum makes when picking up dirt? Well you will now. I was thinking of that the whole time seeing that mess…
Anyhow…
Fourth, was Wig Wam and “Human Fire”. The 80s have made another appearance? If Denmark couldn’t make it to the final in 2021, I’m not sure the 80s is the best choice in 2025. But this really was a great rock entry with a sick guitar solo. It really brought me back to the day.. when I was only a figment of someone’s imagination. Although I still think 80s when someone says “20 years ago”. How can I feel so old but make that comment at the same time? Anyway, moving on.
Fifth? We heard from too many L’s in a row, and their song “Paracite”. Going into the live show, I believe this was one of the fan favourites to win. This performance was modern? Creepy? Alienistic? Those dancers were all over the singers like my cat with me when it’s feeding time. Maybe I actually have a parasite as a pet? Definitely checks out it seems.
The sixth performance of the night was from The night’s winner, Kyle Alessandro, who’s off to Basel with “Lighter”. Music, vocals, and choreography? On point. The (medieval armour?) outfits? Please revisit this. I am confusion. Oooo fire from the floor! But I thought he was his own lighter? Still confusion. All jokes aside, I loved this though; my personal favourite of the night.
Seventh was Nataleen and “The Game”. An amazing Dancefloor bop well deserving of second place.
The penultimate performance was Ladybug with “Hot as Hell in Paradise”. Good performance. Okay song. Placed last for the night.
Finally, another blast from the past with Bobbysocks! Literally from the 80s, having won the Eurovision Song Contest for Norway exactly 40 years ago. “Joyful” was just that.
And I’ll leave it there for this review of the contest as I’m already over my word limit count (in case you couldn’t tell by the next to nothings I wrote for the last 3 songs) and you’ve probably stopped reading by now anyway!