Norway: Heidi Ruud Ellingsen will host Melodi Grand Prix 2019 with Kåre Magnus Bergh

It is Norway’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and a one night extravaganza broadcast live from Oslo each year.

And now we know that the new co-host for Melodi Grand Prix 2019, will be Heidi Ruud Ellingsen, who will present the show alongside returning co-host Kåre Magnus Bergh.

Ellingsen describes the role as a “glorious mission” and says she sees her job as getting, “the artists to shine”.

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Si hei til de som skal lede MGP 2019! ?Kåre Magnus Bergh og Heidi Ruud Ellingsen. Les mer i #linkinbio? #nrkmgp

A post shared by Melodi Grand Prix (NRK) (@nrkmgp) on Dec 5, 2018 at 11:14pm PST

Who is Heidi Ruud Ellingsen?

Ellingsen is a singer and actor, who rose to fame as the winner of the first season of Dream Role, a reality singing series to find an actor for the female lead role of Singing In The Rain.

She’s since gone on to appear in multiple musicals, including Mary Poppins, Les Miserables and Flash Dance.

In addition to theatre rolls, Ellingsen also voiced a character in the Norwegian dub of Ice Age 4.

When is Melodi Grand Prix 2019?

The dynamic duo will host Melodi Grand Prix 2019 live from Oslo’s Spektrum Arena on March 2.

Speaking about Ellingsen’s appointment, Kåre Magnus Bergh says he’s excited:

“She’s a very exciting and talented woman, that I think will fit nicely into the format.”

Bergh added that he thinks her background in performance will be an asset:

“She can sing and dance much better than I can!”

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Det er en stor glede å ønske Heidi Ruud Ellingsen velkommen til MGP. Hun blir Kåre Magnus Bergh sin programledermakker under finalen i Oslo Spektrum 2. mars. #nrkmgp #eurovision

A post shared by Melodi Grand Prix (NRK) (@nrkmgp) on Dec 5, 2018 at 11:09pm PST

Bergh has hosted the show since 2015, hosting alongside Silya Nymoen in 2015-16 and 2018, and with Line Elvsåshagen for a single year in 2017.

The presenter news comes on the back of MGP boss Stig Karlsen’s promise to deliver a “spectacular” show in 2018.

On the challenge of building hype around a single night event like MGP, Karlsen said her aim is to stretch the string as far as possible:

“More than one million Norwegians have high expectations for the MGP evening, and we have to deliver!” We’ll see if the hard work has paid off in three months time.

When will we know more from Norway?

The next news from Norway about Melodi Grand Prix 2019 should arrive in late January 2019.

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Lørdag 2. mars inviterer vi til det som ser ut til å bli historiens største MGP-finale i Oslo Spektrum. Billettene til superlørdagen legges først ut senere i høst, men vi deler sted og dato med dere allerede nå. Vi vet det er mange som reiser langveisfra, og at flybilletter og hotell skal bookes, før oppladingen virkelig kan starte. Vi gleder oss til å ta dere i mot i et feststemt Oslo Spektrum, der både kjente artister, og nye stjerneskudd skal fylle den mektige scenen. Noen overraskelser blir det også. Hvilke artister og låter som er med i MGP 2019 blir offentliggjort under en pressekonferanse 25. januar. ?: Julia Marie Naglestad

A post shared by Melodi Grand Prix (NRK) (@nrkmgp) on Sep 28, 2018 at 4:54am PDT

Songs and artists will be announced at a press conference on January 25, which should give the first indication of who is likely to represent Norway in Israel in May.