Four acts graced the Melodi Grand Prix 2020 stage in Fornebu during the second semi-final of Norway’s Eurovision selection. And in the end it was Rein Alexander, who managed to stalk his way to the final in Trondheim with “One Last Time”.
Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2020 Results
Tonight’s semi-final was the second out of five. It focused on artists whose origins lie in Eastern Norway.
It saw Jæger, Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn, Rein Alexander and Tore Petterson battle for a final spot, while automatic qualifiers Didrik & Emil brought their entry “Out of Air” for the first time.
In each semi-final, only one act can qualify for the MGP 2020 final. In the coming weeks, twenty artists will sing for five tickets to the grand final, where they will meet five automatic qualifiers.
To earn that ticket for the final, each of the semi-finalists has to battle another semi-finalist first. The two winners of the battles proceed to the “Gullduel” (“Golden duel”), and the winner wins the right perform in Trondheim during the Melodi Grand Prix final. Unlike previous years, the winner is determined by online voting through the Norwegian broadcaster’s website.
MGP 2020 Semi-final one duels
First duel: Tore Petterson vs Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn
The first duel of the night was Tore Petterson against duo Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn. Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn emerged on top.
Tore Petterson with “The Start of Something New” at Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn with “Fool for Love” at Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Second duel: Jæger vs Rein Alexander
In the evening’s second duel, we saw Jæger battle it out with Rein Alexander. Rein Alexander went on to the next round.
Jæger with “How About Mars” at Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Rein Alexander with “One Last Time” at Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Gullduel: Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn vs Rein Alexander
Having both won their respective duels earlier that night, Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn and Rein Alexander progressed to the Gullduel. There could only be one winner, and tonight that was Rein Alexander. We’ll see him again at the grand final.
Didrik & Emil with “Out of Air” at Melodi Grand Prix 2020
The second of five pre-qualified acts also performed — brothers Didrik & Emil Solli-Tangen with “Out of Air”.
Melodi Grand Prix 2020 semi-final one scoreboard
1. Rein Alexander with “One Last Time” – advanced to the final
2. Kim Wigaard & Maria Mohn with “Fool for Love” – eliminated
3/4. Tore Petterson with “The Start of Something New” – eliminated
3/4. Jæger with “How About Mars” – eliminated
Are you happy that with tonight’s result? Should someone else have made the final instead? Let us know in the comments.
Follow all of our Norway Eurovision 2020 news.
Picture credit: NRK
First of all: I’m Norwegian. I’m Viking . I live far up north – above the Arctic Circle. We fight the hard winter – we fight the bad summer. As we have always done. I’m proud of how Rein represent us this year. Not just for Norway – but for all of Scandinavia (you might need to look it up to see). Rein Alexander is a highly educated opera singer – some skills ESC has been lacking most of the time! You wanna know how Rein really can use his voice? Just listen to this – not Meat Loaf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyoyAiuffyE
As Rein said about these lyrics: Replace me, you and we with “I”. It’s a song about I/yourself.
They were all great performers even if the songs in this semi weren’t all that great
Don’t really like the song but Rein brought a smile to my face. The performance is fun and its very eurovision, I mean where else would this exist in the real world.
Semi-Final 3, Fanmade (remake)
Julie Bergan
Alan Walker ft Ina Wroldsen
Emelie Hollow
Unge Ferrari
Lol artists like those would’ve been pre qualified for the final
Semi-Final 4, Fanmade
Ruben Markussen
Isak Danielson
Emilie Nicolas
Highasakite
Semi-Final 3, Fanmade
Julie Bergan
Alan Walker ft Ina Wroldsen
SKÁLD
Unge Ferrari
SKÁLD is French not Norwegian
Yeah, I know
Lucas, it says, that the group is very influenced by Scandinavian culture and Nordic mythology
But I am not sure if MGP allows Non-Norwegian participants tho
Ah, okay!!
I really don’t get it. He’s dressed like a viking, but his song doesn’t have anything to do with vikings (in comparison to for example Denmark 2018). A campy disconnected mess to me. Next please.
Apart from that, this was a superweak semi-final.
The song has a double meaning. As Rein said about these lyrics: Replace me, you and we with “I”. It’s a song about I/yourself. And still: It’s truly about our Viking heritage. I’m Norwegian btw.
Rein Alexander and One last time.. no thanks. So outdated because we have experienced these kind of entries many times before. (And Roger Pontare 2000 was way better 😉 )
One last time has the potential to even win the televoting. Juries will hate it i am sure, but that song is all we love about eurovision: Pop, dramatic, epic, and a nice stage perfomance which can be even better in May. Norway is slaying again
This is Rasmussen x KEiiNO and they both slayed the public vote and I can see that for Rein too. This is very Eurovision and the public outside the fanbase loves that. I do too and I hope Norway will send him.
I don’t like any of them but it was clear a schlager viking would make it in Norway. It could even win the whole thing. I’m a bit tired of Scandinavian countries wanting to exploit the Viking theme though. We had enough with Rasmus, which was okey. But a Viking with a schlager song? That’s too much. This could be the next KEIINO, fans will lost their s**t but I’m pretty sure I don’t want it. Year 2020, guys.
What i really hate from esc fan is that they’re so toxic and didn’t realize that not every song need to be everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve seen most of comment just trashed out the song they didn’t like. Calm your tits and hold your thumb for making negative comments or at least gave them constructive criticsm.
Disposible bags of hot trash
That Out of Air song has to be the corniest song I’ve ever heard. Who chose that crap?
Head of delegation
Norway has found a formula: putting all the effort on all the televoting beloved crap that has worked in Eurovision in the past in the hopes of repeating last year’s feat of being #1 on the televote. It’s not about the best music … but the best tricks to conquer the televote while being deservingly dismissed by the juris. This time is Rasmussen meets Ruslana … last week was Fuego-wannabe … next week maybe some drag queens or a heavy metal band dressed as clowns. The absurdity has no limits …
It’s shocking how weak all 5 of these songs were. It felt like I was watching Latvia or Belarus national final and not MGP. The MGP shows from the last 2 years were epic with so many modern and worthy winners. Tonight was tragic and embarrassing for Norway.
Fully agree. It’s very bad so far.
Absolutely agree. I was kind of shocked about the weak level. omg norway :-((
Watching both the norweigan and the lithuanian show yesterday was like night and day.. Hopefully it was just a bad mistake and the remaining pre-qualified entries and semifinals are strong
I found the 1st SF to be pretty boring so was really happy with this one. I found something to like about all of the songs so wouldn’t complain about the result. Still, I feel as the best one got through.
Much better, Norway! Looking forward to the third one!
I hope Alan Walker will be in one of the next semis
Hope too, with a singer Ina Wroldsen
Yes Rein, you killed it my man! Dramatic, that slight schlager cheesy goodness, a big epic voice and killer beat, captivating stage effects, dancing and that fire in hand trick – its pure Eurovision and as far as I’m concerned, if this doesn’t make it all the way to Amsterdam then Norway will have lost out. I can just imagine that if the production was this good at the National final, he can bring a tonne more tricks and drama to the grand final!
This was not the national final 😉
You mean they should Invite him to EIC ? All the way to Amsterdam
Did not like the song or performance. Performance, been there done that kinda cliche. song is cheap and dated.
He should win the whole thing
Rein for Rotterdam please 🙂
It startst to get ridiculous now. So they have 5 semis only to send their own version of Fuego or Rasmussen? Its bad. Didrik and Emil staging was very weird….
An obvious win
Rein Alexander = Viking Schlager Realness. Unlike the Danish Vikings in 2018 who wanted peace, Norwegian Vikings want WAR. Bring It On!
As Rein said about these lyrics: Replace me, you and we with “I”. It’s a song about I/yourself. But yes – still our Viking courage..! 🙂
Best performance of the night won. Ready package and what a voice! Solli-Tangens’ song was nothing special. I can’t remember anything about the song, only remember pictures in the background.
I don’t understand didrik n Emil’s song at all
It was the only good song
If Rein go to Eurovision result will be like Denmark 2018 ( TOP 10 with televote, out of TOP 20 with juries) in total from 8 to 12 place in final.
yup…and that’s why people think Eurovision is trash tbh
Disgusting..
I hope he dont read that. havent your parents raised you?
Bad decision.
Honestly I would have preferred jaeger
I am big on drama, so it had to be Rein. What a performance! He really killed it tonight and it stood out by a long way. Not sure it is a finished product, but definitely a worthy winner tonight.
Well, my third favorite out of four songs won…. what to say? Congrats to Rein because he did really good on stage. My favorite finalist is still Raylee. I like brothers Solli-Tangen too, even if there is something off about the whole thing. And no, it’s not a ”romantic” note (sometimes I feel like Eurofans are incapable of grasping songs about love other than the romantic one and make everything awkward). It might be the fact that the song has sad lyrics, yet it’s performed with semi-gleeful demeanor. Still, it’s enjoyable.
Raylee is Ruslana’s Wild Dances all over again, just a more ridiculous version with a heckin lion in the background
Well, we are currently choosing between four flawed songs, so I picked one. Raylee is really charismatic and sells that fire on stage quite well. It’s a guilty pleasure type of song and we need those too. If we had 41 try-hard emotional masterpieces, it would get overwhelming.
Please: Do not offend Ruslana by comparing to this trash…!
I believe “How About Mars” had potential. It was the first entry in this MGP actually trying to do something different, though they maybe took that a little too far in terms of staging (meaning that they should trim down the visual tricks). But with this system (duels + lone qualifier) there’s no room for growers and “One Last Time” came with a ready package. The dancers were doing too much? Definitely. But, for good or for bad, it was entertaining. And Rein killed it. In any case, Norway can and must do better than in those 2 first semifinals.
I feel How About Mars was too complex and pretty messy probably. Song wise and performance wise. I don’t imagine families liking and voting for that.
One Last Time is way more accessible for locals I guess.
True. I think they were spot on with the visuals (her hair and costume, the background), but tried too many tricks at the same time. I enjoyed it a lot, but I imagine a big part of the audience having trouble to connect all the dots. While Rein’s performance was linear and way easier to follow.
I watched this one. There were lots of great vocals throughout the night. The choreography for the most part was not to my taste – especially not for Didrik & Emil (Oh dear.) The problem with Jæger’s song was for me that it was a bit too repetitive. That, plus sci-fi tends not to sell well at ESC. But I hope Jæger has a great career ahead of her – I do think the performance was good art. The duet (Kim & Maria) I loved musically, although the staging for that fell totally flat. Sorry for that; not their fault.… Read more »
I never imagine handsome guys to look so dorky when they move. Which is weird because I look even dorkier when i attempt to do anything more than walking or running.
Did you subtly try to complement yourself there ?
I felt some “Sisters” vibes coming from Didrik & Emil. In the sense that the song is OK, they are good singers, but it’s hard to stage the entry without looking tacky and/or uninteresting. Those spinning kids were unintentionally funny. Even Rein’s dancers were much more subdued in comparison.
I did find it interesting, though. It actually made me laugh and watch it til the end. Interesting does not always mean good but I gotta give it to them, I did not turn the video off.
That’s true, at least it kept me watching to the end (to check what else they would come up with).
Didrik & Emil reminded me UK 2016, at least the beginning of the chorus sounded very similar
The song from Didrik & Emil was written in 2013! So it’s not a copy of UK 2016
I don’t think it’s a copy either, but I can see why many people like Žilvinas found similarities. It’s more about the vibe than the songwriting.
i was rooting for anna but at least they picked the second best option and not one of the other two which were tragic
The song how about Mars was more current but the staging was disjointed , she should have had dancers too
Like the pre-chorus seemed dull with those hand movements when it’s actually the strongest part of the song !!
As a performance I knew rein won it
So refreshing to see comments about a scandinavian country without having a troll like Rasmus who says he hates negative energy while he calls Greek people Turks and crazy and Polish people nationalist and trash. Back to MGP, i totally agree with the results. Peace
Okay , you don’t have to always mention rasmus !
You’re doing what he does now
last time dude, promise 😉
If you 2 were my friends in real life i would never talk to you again. You behave really bad.
Don’t fool yourself , I would never have spoken to you in the first place , low Self-awareness repulsed me , esc1234 I could be friends with
Cause speaking for you is bad behaviour according to you , toh I’d rather not
Whatever haha. Dont respond on anything i write please again
Sure dud
I feel you should get banned:
1. Your are the negative energy here and a swede hater.
2. You spread false information about me
3. I support Northmacedonia in the name isssue and dont like the online voting in JESC when Polands always win and im From Sweden so nothing you say is right and that bothers me. Your better of banned.
I wonder, what part of “Love, Love, Peace, Peace” is confusing?
(That question is addressed to all readers.)
When certain elements don’t follow the love , love , peace , peace , those elements need to be taught to either change their behaviour or should be put in a correctional facility
False information? OK, everyone, please go and visit the article about North Macedonia representative and see yourselves rasmus, the famous swedish troll, trashing a whole nation (while he claims that others do so to sweden) and saying that all Greeks are crazy and Turks. I could have said a million bad things about your country but i have never. I JUST SAID I DONT LIKE BJORKMAN PRACTISES IN THE CONTEST. You on the other side, are saying that more than 11 million people are crazy and Turks. P.S 1 Fascism is over, you dont have any right to say who… Read more »
Dont write my name or respond to me ever again. You have crossed the line
afraid of facts agneta? Truth hurts i know
man, you said that wiwibloggs is full of crazy Greeks. Dont do unto others what you dont want done unto you. You should apologise no one hates your contry lol
It was 2 there and Both were greeks who wrote the worst so i maybe i Said to much
Well deserved. this was my favorite from SF2. This was epic, enjoyable and he looked like a caveman and looked hilarious, from my personal perspective.
Gotta say, I didn’t expect Rein Alexander to win this semi-final.
I love how Jægers staging was a mix of three Australian stagings. Damis graphics, Isaiahs board and Kate’s craziness. Absolutely loved the stagings of tonight, even though some of the songs are not my cup of tea.
As predicted, it would be between Anna and Rein. I wish they had started in separate duels. The gold duel would have been much more interesting if it as to be between them!
I quite enjoyed the live performances. Anna’s staging was really cool and interesting I thought. Rein’s voice was fantastic and I always have a soft spot for the viking/Rasmussen/fantasy esque performances
LOL I just watched the brothers, don’t care about the rest. That performance is hilarious. I’ll take entertainment that is (I’m guessing) unintentionally funny over no entertainment any day. I don’t see this working well at Eurovision but honestly, I’d pick this one out of the already revealed entries.
Not gonna lie, JAEGER’s performance was the first of this NF I acc enjoyed and think can make an impact in the actual ESC but guess I can’t change the result….
What kind of impact would that be?
Caveman is back? God forbid us all… This contest is turning into monsterfest…
The only decent act in the semifinal, deserved qualification.. “How About Mars” was ruined by the performance, it was just too much.. not even going to mention the other two songs
The performance to How About Mars was cool, I don’t know what you are talking about
Agree to disagree, if you think that her dancing was cool..
How about Mars was 1000 bettter (song and peeformance was interesting) i can’t understand how Norwegian Gandalf won
#Rassmussen 2.0, #Gandalf 2.0, #Pontare 2.0
(Yes his show was also interesting, but song is not good at all)
Rein 110% deserved the qualification, but imo he needs to change the staging a bit. The random modern dancers didn’t work for me.
I really dislike the winning song. The other songs were much more interesting and/or fun. This is like Ramussen only worse.
It’s nothing Roger Pontare hasn’t done before, but I think the song could work in Eurovision with a slightly more refined staging.
when spirits are calling my name was a bop tbh
One Last Time probably wouldn’t be too out of place at Eurovision, but would it qualify I don’t know.