The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — recently got stuck in a storm of schlager outside of Oslo, and were forced to retreat to our hotel room. Once there we dried off and discussed “Thunderstruck” by Erlend Bratlund. Were we left thunderstruck? Or did we want the gods to strike him down? Read on to find out..
“Thunderstruck” — Erlend Bratlund
Angus: ‘Thunderstruck’ reminds me a lot of ‘Stay’ by Tooji. Which is worrying because a) Tooji couldn’t deliver the high notes live and b) ‘Stay’ finished last in Baku. With the benefit of autotune this is a confident composition. Stripped of it on stage though, and Erlend might be left high and dry.
Score: 7.5/10
Francheska: I’m still shocked that “Thunderstruck” is an actual English word, but I digress. I actually don’t see that much of ‘Stay’ in ‘Thunderstruck,’ but more ‘This is the Night’ from Greece 2009. It’s highly energetic, you can’t help but dance along, and this could look amazing at Vienna! Erlend clearly has the pipes, and underwent some serious self-exile so I have no doubt that he will have the chutzpah to succeed.
Score: 8.5/10
Renske: This is a song with its own emotions! I’m not afraid of Erland’s vocals failing. They 100% won’t. With its personal message, this song has a lot of potential and could score well.
Score: 8.5/10
Ramadan: He is trying to be Sia, but sorry to say you’re definitely not. I’m not feeling it like the rest of the Wiwi Jury. It’s way too shouty and there’s no real passion. MESSY.
Score: 3/10
Anthony: If this wins Melodi Grand Prix, Norway will give stormy weather some major style! As for the song itself, this is one of those uptempo pop songs I could imagine being performed at Melodifestivalen from neighbouring Sweden. The gradual vocal build-up takes a while to get going, before the chorus hits you with full pelt. Not bad but not outstanding either.
Score: 6/10
Josh: You know that song that comes on the radio, and you know every word even though you really hate it? That is this song for me. You can’t deny the catchiness and the fact you want to shake it like a polaroid picture to this song, but there are dozens of Eurovision songs that I could list that sound exactly like this. I want something new and exciting! This is just so… meh.
Score: 6/10
Max: There’s something about Erlend’s voice that reminds me of Ola Salo from the Ark and obviously you can’t help but think that this is Tooji 2.0. I believe if this was sent to Vienna it’d meet the same fate. “Thunderstruck” has everything I like in a potential Eurovision song: stomping choruses, drums, and a killer key change but I can’t help but think I’ve heard this song in one form or another a million times before.
Score: 6.5/10
James: Hello Mr. Eyebrows! This is all very drama-school. The lyrics. The intonation. It just radiates that sort of feeling. But how modern! Always good to see that Norway and the rest of Scandinavia try to treat this whole competition with a modicum of professionalism. Lyrics are slightly cringing, but Erlend does show off his vocal range and the climax towards the end gets me excited… perhaps a little too much. Definitely a great song for some impressive pyrotechnics and sassy dancing.
Score: 6/10
Colin: This song is not very inspiring. It’s just a typical pop song, and will have very slick staging, but when it is compared to Sting by Eric Saade it is blown out the water. If it were to go, Norway would probably qualify for the final.
Score: 6/10
Sopon: Weather metaphors! Cliches! Awful clashes between vocals and backing tracks! Everything else I hate in music! This is pretty much what makes up Erlend’s poor joke of a song.
Score: 0/10
Patrick: This is modern, this is catchy and it’s not a female vocalist! Damn this is a great song and with a great performance it could do really well in Vienna. Erlend is a stunning singer in his genre and he could have a lot of fans not only in Norway. Okay, Tooji messed it up for Norway in 2012 but why not try it again with a male vocalist? Fingers crossed!!
Score: 9/10
Deban: Erland raises the game in the Norwegian national selection with vocals that one can only gasp at. A national treasure since since winning Norske Talenter seven years ago, Bretland has been through it all, including his remarkable weight loss, and a spell of early retirement. Now, he’s BACK and there’s nothing stopping him now! “Thunderstruck ” is a pop explosion that hits you hard from the first beat, and keeps you hooked right to the finish.
Score: 9/10
Robyn: The curse of Sia strikes again – another big shouty anthem of self-love. The song also reminds me of “Only Love Survives” (the pre-chorus is particularly similar) and, well, that style didn’t turn out so well for Ryan Dolan. I get the feeling the song might come across better live, but at the studio stage I’m not so impressed.
Score: 6/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 0 and a high of 9.
The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6.64/10
NRK scrapped the semi-finals this year Otna.
Its my no1 most favorite liked song from the 11 in Norsk Melodi Grand Prix..
10 /10
One of 3 songs on repeat from the MGP. It won’t win but will finish in the top 5.
However he does remind me of Adam Lambert, which is sometimes a good thing (vocal range) and bad thing (too dramatic).
Thunderstruck is good. Thunderstruck is not great. I’d say it’s probably my 5th or 6th favourite in the line-up.
That said, I would expect him to make it through the semi if they chose him, so it wouldn’t be a terrible choice at all.