Norway will send Carl Espen and his song ‘Silent Storm’ to Copenhagen in May. Espen was the strong favourite with the bookies and with WiwiBloggs readers. In a result solely determined by televoting Espen emerged victorious with 53, 712 votes. He was joined in the super final by Linnea Dale (2nd), Mo (3rd) and Knut Kippersund Nesdal (4th).
Espen won the Third Semi-Final and despite the mellow nature of his song has steadily gained momentum all week with the bookies with odds as low as 2/13. Norway also remains the strong favourite to win the contest with less than two months until the Grand Final in Copenhagen. Margaret Berger, last year’s Norwegian act, performed a medley of new single ‘Scream’ and her 4th place Eurovision hit ‘I Feed You My Love’ at the Spektrum with her lyricist Karin Park.
So what do y’all think? Can Carl go all the way or will his storm blow over in the semi-finals? Thoughts in the comment box below!
Angus Quinn contributed this report from the U.K. You can follow him on Twitter at @Angus_Quinn17. Then like our Facebook page to keep up-to-date with all the latest news and gossip.
@Mex
Thanks for your opinion ! 🙂
Im not entirely sure about the qualifiers, it was just a guess…. and knowing me it may change by the day!
Im only sure on Belarus and Switzerland NQ.. the rest is open :p
Thanks again!
@Mex, Ireland have managed to qualify for the last 4 years without any “friends”. AND, this year, unlike many years, we have the UK voting in our semi. I’d say we’re a fairly safe bet to qualify.
@Heyy Your qualifiers from SF2 made my day. Hahah… “Romania, Greece, Austria, Malta, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Poland”. Romania, Greece, Norway – yes. Everything else is open. I have to strongly disagree about Austria, Ireland & Slovenia. Why? Austria has its unconventional look of a singer that will NOT amaze the public but in the contrary, they will despise that look, me thinks. It’s simply too much for the stomach to cook. 🙂 Ireland – that irish sound is not strong enough. Zero friends, as well. Slovenia – last year they had GREAT song and ended last. This year’s… Read more »
Am I the only one who thinks that this song is a carbon copy of a coldplay song? (forgot which one)
Either way the televoters will ignore this song and the jury will give it an average score.
Shame Linnea didn’t win. Satisfied with Carl Espen though, he”ll do well.
Semi 2 becoming even harder to predict: I think these are safe qualifiers: Greece Ireland Norway Romania Austria I suspect Malta and Finland will also go through without any problems…. The three qualifiers from the remaining eight countries: Belarus is rubbish. Wont qualify Macedonia isnt so appealing, and I suspect juries will trash it, followes by low voting allies. So non qualifier Poland is a tough nut, it may have Igranka’s and Samo Shampioni’s fate… unsure Switzerland is damn boring, but it may sneak 10th place I love Slovenia, but with a lack of voting allies, im not sure of… Read more »
BEST SONG: ELISABETH CAREW – SOLE SURVIVOR !!!!
@Eugene UK
Maybe the lack of votes in their NF tells us that Espen will finish Top3 and maybe win, because as their voting patterns declined, their placement in May rose. 🙂
I love the song itself, for me it hasn’t to be big and loud to be succesfull, but Carl sounds he is not the right singer for this song, because the only thing i was missing when I was listen to this song was the goosebumps…
This kind of song should give you the goosebumps all over when you sing it right.
I was missing one factor, the fact that carl himself really believe what he is singing and showing that when he is singing it.
I just love it. Great song and stunning performance!
He’s gonna wind the Eurovision this year.
I’m so happy this song won. It might be my favorite, or at least among top 5 with Hungary, Sweden and Israel. Song is really emotional, well written and also well performed. Not all songs need to start off with a strong beat to be great. Look at most other ballads or film music. For me, this is great!
1.San Marino
2.Denmark
3.Ireland
4.Spain
5.Hungary
6.Sweden
7.Estonia
8.Montenegro
9.Romania
10.Greece
11.Switzerland
12.Slovenia
13.Macedonia
14.Belarus
15.Norway
16.Ukraine
17.Iceland
18.Germany
19.Israel
20.Armenia
21.Italy
22.Georgia
23.Finland
24.Albania
25.Latvia
26.France
27.United Kingdom
28.Portugal
29.Moldova
30.Lithuania
31.Poland
32.The Netherlands
33.Malta
So boring. Even Portugal is better
I had such High Hopes for Norway this year…oh well…
Carl won this with 53712 votes.
Last year, Berger won with 90032.
Tooji won with 137480 votes.
“Haba Haba” won with 248601 votes.
Someone’s interest for ESC declines rapidly!
Yes, I think we can agree his voice isn’t the strongest but I think the fact that his voice is weak at points and the strain in his voice only adds to this song. And disagreeing with a couple of you I think this song would be ruined if sung by a female singer, his voice is what makes this song so unique although I agree the staging needs improving. But having said all that I still don’t think it could win, it’s my personal favourite and it makes me cry everytime I listen to it but I don’t think… Read more »
OVERRATED
The song is good, I do like it. But the live performance doesn’t sound that great. I’m glad it won because it was my second favourite, but is not in my Top 10 overall.
Good song, bad singer. He is seriously out of tune in places and when he forces his voice it gets worse. Maybe he’ll get some help in the next seven weeks…..?? I still think Hungary is a good each way bet. I do not see the appeal of Armenia, nor Romania.
I don’t see it making its way out of the semi’s. It may work if you keep the song and replace the artist. The song is so subtle that you need someone vocally powerful to bring make it work. That didn’t happen tonight. I’m shocked and disappointed.
We have the winner at ESC!!!!!!!
This is great, honest, simple, and he do feal what he sings.
It’s a beautiful song, AND I LOVE IT
PS : He didn’t sing it so well tonicht.
My top 5: Norway, Hungary (cam also be a winner because is more consensual than Norway), Israel, Greece (truelly mains stream up beat disco…) and the UK. I also love Mother from Belgium (if it passes the nf), although it’s dated. Paula selling haas the best voice but the music ,mmmmmm
The Norwegian Steve Perry
Well, it isn’t the masterpiece that some are calling it to be, but it still is a really good song. It gains momentum by the time and I do like his voice. Lyrics are really dramatic and I love them. Really honest performance. Well done Norway.
One sole comment: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS! It’s hilarious and ironic to me to see almost everybody here not liking this song! A remix maybe should help you or try listen to it drunk, who knows? 🙂 Gratis Carl Espen, amazing musical moment. A honest song is always a BRILLANT song no matter how much you try do dissect it and technically analyse it 🙂
I like the song, I’m just not sure how televoters will view this song
Btw I wouldn’t pay attention to the odds .. The have been very wrong a number of times … Eg Azerbaijan 2010 and France 2011
Well armenia seems to be totally overrated .. Top 8 or 5 but not a winner … I like it the more I listen to it but it doesn’t have mass appeal an that’s what takes to win except 2011 and 2008
Between this, Sweden & Armenia, I’ll pick Armenia for the win (because these 3 are Top3 in the odds @ the moment). Because of its originality among these 3, that’s why.
When is the final date now for entries to be selected ..
Is it the 18th of March ..
A Scandinavian disaster this year. Between Carl, Pollaponk, Basim and Softengine, this truly has been a terrible year for our Nordic friends. Sanna is the only one who has any potential to do well.
The worst ballad and one of the worst songs this year. Poor show, Norway, poor show. Linnea would have been the best option, and any of the other Super-Finalists would have been a better choice.
I share the same qualms as others about his vocal performance. From this video, it seems like he’s not actually that great of a singer. He really struggled with the quiet parts at the beginning, and overall the vocals were just lacking. The song is fairly good, though. Piano line a little bit generic, but they make up for it later in the song.
I also agree with the betting odds in that this has some chance at winning. You don’t necessarily have to be the strongest vocalist to win.
The Nordic 2014 tragedy is now
complete.
i love it voice is great good luck from AZERBA?JAN
A little disappointed, but not that much as I knew he was gonna win. Carl will qualify but won’t come anywhere near winning.
@CookyMonzta Linnea or any good female singer would be a better option
@Goldberg: You know something? You may be absolutely right. What if they had given this song to Linnea? 🙂
I wanted Linnea to win, because she carried that same vibe Margaret brought to the ESC last year, which would certainly have guaranteed another top-10 finish for Norway, maybe top-5. Carl was my 2nd choice, and I think his chances depend upon the mood of the televoters and whoever are in those jury pools. If the mood is great, and the people are looking for a REAL song this time, he could win or place in the top 5. If it is sour, or he is lost in a sea of spectacular stage shows, it could be somewhere down the… Read more »
This song is a winner. However the singer is not, I mean this song desperately calls for a female voice.
Thank God Poland will drown this rubbish out…
This was so unexpected. NOT! 🙂
I doubt this will do good in Copenhagen. This is the exact same thing as Didrik 2010 and viewers never vote for slow ballads like this. Sorry Norway but this is just so boring. The song is alright though but he has no charisma at all.. He seems terrified performing at stage. There’s a lot of better ballads this year and this will definitely be forgotten among those.
It’s a very good song, but I doubt it has any reasonable chance in winning. This song is so mellow, it requires a perfect place in the running order. If it gets placed in between songs like those of Romania and Greece, it’s going to get forgotten and be a complete disaster. I think this is going to be one of those entries which don’t do as good as some fans think it will, based on betting odds.
I love this a lot 🙂
Norway, what are you doing? Of course the only song in the Super Final I didn’t like won the whole thing. It’s a little too mellow to win this year I think. There are stronger vocalists than Carl. It’s a mid pack song.
Bad mistake. With Linnea , Norway have good chance for result like last year or maybe and to win at Eurovision 2014. With to acting Carl with boring song , Norway will flop in final like Didrik Soli Tangen from Norway 2010 or maybe small chance to be in top 10 like France 2011 with Patricia Kaas she had on 8 place ( 4 with juries and only 17 with televote).
@Dhani
Are you forgetting the awful show they gave us in 2010? I hope to God they don’t win…
Carl deserves to win this year’s Eurovision. “Silent Storm” is a powerful, powerful song.
What is wrong with Europe this year? They have been choosing such awful songs for Eurovision. Talk about a disaster!
Thanks Norway for choosing a great song! My favorite so far this year 😀