On the eve of the fourth semi-final of Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2021, the fifth of six pre-qualified tracks has been released. Atle Pettersen’s “World On Fire” dropped just after midnight local time on Friday 5 February.
The song will receive its live debut during the fourth semi-final of MGP 2021, on Saturday 6th February. Unlike the four other acts performing tomorrow night, Atle won’t compete for a spot in the final. Instead, he will exhibit “World On Fire” as a guaranteed finalist.
Atle Pettersen “World On Fire” (Melodi Grand Prix 2021)
Atle Pettersen is a 31-year-old singer-songwriter from Skien, Norway. His breakthrough came in 2010 when he appeared as a contestant on The X Factor Norway, releasing his debut single “Light On” in the same year. In 2011, he won the Norwegian version of Dancing With The Stars. Atle is also known for his work as the lead vocalist of Norwegian band The Scheen, who won the Emergenza Festival in 2014 – the world’s largest music competition for unsigned bands.
Songwriters: Atle Pettersen, Jesper Borgen, Magnus Clausen, Alexander Pavelich and Peter Daniel Newman
For the past four years, Atle has hosted the Norwegian musical variety show Beat For Beat. Now, he’s ready to develop his own music career. Atle told NRK of his excitement to bring “World On Fire” to the MGP stage:
“My whole life has been leading up to this moment. Finally, I will be on the MGP stage.”
Melodi Grand Prix 2021: Semi-Final Four
As a pre-qualified finalist, Atle Pettersen will perform “World On Fire” live during the fourth semi-final of MGP 2021. Also performing in the fourth semi-final and competing for a spot in the final are:
- KiiM – “My Lonely Voice”
- Landeveiens Helter – “Alt det der”
- Marianne Pentha & Mikkel Gaup – “Pages”
- Royane – “Circus”
The winner of Saturday’s semi-final will join Atle Pettersen in the final and compete to represent Norway at Eurovision 2021. So far, the MGP 2021 final lineup looks like this:
- Atle Pettersen – “World On Fire”
- Blåsemafian feat. Hazel – “Let Loose”
- Emmy – “Witch Woods”
- Kaja Rode – “Feel Again”
- KEiiNO – “Monument”
- Raylee – “Hero”
- Rein Alexander – “Eyes Wide Open”
- Stavangerkameratene – “Barndomsgater”
- TIX – “Ut av mørket”
As well, the non-qualifying semi-finalists will get one last shot at the MGP final in the second chance round on Monday 15 February. One more act will make it through.
What do you think of “World On Fire”? How does it compare to its competitors? Sound off in the comments below.
I really don´t like neither Timberlake nor Mars and it´s in this style of music. Goor for listening but rather not for ESC.
This guy is super hot
Not great but one of the best in MGP. My fav now.
So far the only option is Keiino. I never wished for someone to win as much as I wish for Keiino! I’m totally feeling Monument.
I agree but I hope that “Pages” can tomorrow qualify for the final. It´s a strong contender, too.
A lot of Norwegians watch mgp just for the contest, not because of Eurovision. Nrk therefore pre qualifies well known artists such as TIX and Atle Petterson to give a better show, it isn’t all about the winner and how well they’d do at esc.
It’s the kind of song that can get better with staging.
Studio cut is nice but not amazing.
Hod of Norway said there are 4 potential eurovision winners in Mgp, but I’m not sure I found even one(maybe keiino and rein Alexander ).
It’s a nice song! I like it.
“My whole life has been leading up to this moment.” Wow.
This Bruno Mars / Justin Timberlake inspired pop is not really my thing, but it is well done. The song has a catchy hook and he sings it with passion and flair. I also enjoy the 80s inspired percussion. My worry is that it doesn’t sound so distinct and could be mistaken for a thousand similar songs. But it’s definitely well made.
This is contemporary and something you would listen on the radio. Thumbs up
AWEFUL throw away pop without a soul!
Raylee for the win – great catchy song. But that incredible flash dance performance blows my mind – and she is gorgeous…x
So agree with u !!! It grows on me progressively… at the beggining i wasnt a big fan of Hero but right now its so addicting.. Raylee will calm down all the keino s fans !
Tested Raylee on a panel of UK-listeners. All thumbs down! They are not MGM-listebers/viewers. Would they put her on their play list. I’m afraid they all laughed!
Only simps like Raylee’s song.
What is the criteria for someone to qualify straight for the final? Can someone explain? Thanks.
Based on an interview with the Norwegian HoD, I would say any of the following could earn you a direct ticket to the final:
. Name recognition (probably Tix and KEiiNO to a much lesser extent)
. Ensuring diversity (Kaja’s disco diva banger and Stavanger’s norwegian language midtempo folk)
. Song quality (This is rather subjective but I would argue that “Monument” and perhaps “World on Fire” might fit the description)
I think Atle Petterson is known, too. Didin’t he win Dancing with the Stars or so in Norway?
In short, nrk chooses the songs they think would give a diverse and strong show in terms of production. They choose 6 AQs to make sure we don’t just have a final full of 12 witch woods. Nrk isn’t choosing AQs thinking ‘this song could win’ but rather ‘this song would give a good show which would appeal to a wide range of people’.
Nice Chorus melody, but the track is a bit “by the numbers” for me otherwise. And, about the lyrics: Haven’t we had enough of setting the world on fire by now? Lyricists: If it’s a tired metaphor then why use it? Is it postmodern minimalism to you? 😀
Massive winner vibe.
I know it is subjective/opinion based, but you are joking, right?
Serious.
it’s quite an improvement over last week’s direct to final song…for some reason it reminds me of some previous songs from Mello in terms of structure and beats…I can’t quite place it…not saying it’s plagiarism, just think it’s a familiar sound…this is final material but it doesn’t scream winner unless girls get behind him…I still think the final will come down to the songs we heard Week 1–Keiino, Tix or Blasemafian…they all seem to come with the fanbases or feel the most epic
Well, pop music is by definition generic, so it’s not surprising that this song is reminding you of other content. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—pop music is so popular and accessible because of its use of simple hooks, catchy earworms, and repeatable choruses—just makes it harder to stay (or start) fresh.
I disagree about this being much better than last weeks AQ. Kaja Rode has a phenomenal voice and the songs gives something different which we don’t yet have in the final. I think she could do well
however I agree it’s probably between Keiino, tix or rein Alexander (who everyone has seemed to have forgotten about)
Keiino will win anyway though. Similarly to Alexander Rybak in 2018, even if the song isn’t that good people will vote simply because they have done well before. That said I definitely think monument is as good, if not better than , spirit in the sky. Unlike Alexander who went from fairytale to that’s how you write a song…
I agree with you. But this time there is TIX who is popular. His song is doing better in the Norwegian charts. So I feel like he might win just because he is known.
Also on my radar are KEiiNO, Rein Alexander and Reylee. I think those 4 will make the guld final. And in the end between TIX and KEiiNO or Rein Alexander.
Personally I would be fine with each of them. If one of those 4 will go to Eurovision, I will be fine with
To say his “whole life” has been leading to the MGP stage is a sweet thing to say and I really do hope he enjoys his experience. That said, I hope he realises that to win this kind of thing his enjoyment of the experience needs to be something the audience can share in. It’s not a bad song, it’s a little dated but sounds radio friendly. It actually makes me think of Take That, but seven years ago. That’s my hang up—will this song set the “world on fire”—probably not—but hopefully for him he has a stage performance that… Read more »
Interesting comparison to Take That from seven years ago. So that would be “These Days?” Yeah, nice one; I can hear that. 🙂
Yes that’s right 🙂 There’s a little hint of ‘These Days’ here—something in the way the beat skips and the use of head voice, which I’ve always thought Gary Barlow used wonderfully in Take That’s second era (his vocals on Patience and Rule The World are just beautiful to me). Take That did a wonderful (if a little patchy) live cover of The Greatest Showman’s ‘Never Enough’, a few years ago. Some of the sounds he makes with his voice are just sublime; the tones and his accent. I’ve just watched it again before posting this, I still love it:… Read more »
My ex was in love with Gary Barlow’s voice-that-effortlessly-goes-over-the-break. How many of you Barlow lovers are there?! 😛
Of course I’ll always remember him for “Back for Good,” because I’m just a bit old. Only Barlow could sing about “her lipstick mark still on my coffee cup” and make it sound purely romantic, ahaha.
Ha, well this certainly made me smile 🙂
Back for Good, a classic of course! I always liked how he sings the word ‘cup’ to get all the twang out of it. Good music is timeless 😉
I was thinking the other day that many modern songs, and that includes NF and ESC offerings, sound very similar. Radio and Spotify friendly. Not many artists have the courage to experiment. Not many countries wish to take the risk. That’s why for example I miss Turkey in ESC, bringing that middle Eastern flavour to it. I wonder how come no one has ever tried Diwali riddim style track on ESC (‘Never Leave You’ by Lumidee or ‘Love Is Wicked’ by Brick & Lace). I’ve been a devoted viewer since 1994 and as much I’ve never been a massive fan… Read more »
Ricky, there are thousands of artists taking risks and going against the grains, all across the world! That’s what good art should be doing, seeing the world from a new perspective.
The problem isn’t that there are no artists who want to experiment and take risks—of course there are plenty—the problem is the capitalist culture industry that promotes the production of music primarily for financial profit rather than artistic expression. It’s not the only game in town but it’s certainly the most dominant.
I am sure if someone well-connected (like Ricky Gervais) were to start a new music production company, the output would be highly experimental, entertaining and intriguing all at the same time. It could even be specifically designed for the ESC National Finals. There’s a nice dream. 🙂
It’s a solid pop track. Too safe to my taste, but that can be elevated with good stage presence and creative staging decisions. In other words, he can become the “male Raylee” of this MGP.
For me he’s the complete opposite of Raylee. Raylee has been a chameleon in MGP. I don’t know who she is because she completely changes to fit whatever is demanded of her by the song and staging. The hair and outfits wear her, it’s like fancy dress. She could come next year as a punk rocker, and the following year as Evanescence. From Atle’s song and boyband aesthetic, I can easily get a sense for who he is as a ‘popstar’, what kind of music he would like to make (or will be directed to make). The problem there, where… Read more »
I was just implying he can be the guy with a wide appeal dance pop entry on this edition of MGP, it wasn’t my intention at all to compare them as artists. But since you got me there, let me address the subject: I don’t know Raylee out of the MGP context, but it bothers me that both songs they gave her use her merely as a vehicle. I feel I still don’t know her and she’s acting like a model on photoshoots or an actress on one of those talent shows for celebrities. She did well and showed stage… Read more »
Yes. But the winners will be Keiino or Rein Alexander 😉
We’re now less than one week away to Rein’s song release, I’m very curious. I trust Morland, but he has big shoes to fill, I love his 3 previous attempts.
I’m glad so many people seem to like it. To me it’s very underwhelming. Sounds like a song that would’ve struggled to make it out of a semi-final tbh. Maybe the live performance will be great and elevate the whole thing.
Physically he has something of Eric saade, cute song, and cute guy.
This is sooo good, might be my winner
Issa BOP
Seems like a lot of people like this song, but for me it’s nothing special. It’s very olly murs. And by that I mean it’s a good song but it is definitely quite dated , would’ve been good back in 2012, 2013 etc. But it’s just not very 2021. A nice addition to the final though 🙂
My top for the final so far:
Hardly any other song this season has had such an impact on me as this one. Honestly, if everything were done right, this could place in the top 5 in Eurovision. It has mass appeal, but it isn’t utterly generic. This has a serious chance to win MGP this year, even though there’s stiff competition!
It’s a lovely song! I like it.
I really like it, now it’s in my top 3 (MGP final):
1. Monument
2. Hero
3. World on fire
4. Which wood
5. Let’s loose
6. Ut av mørket
7. Feel again
8. Barndomsgater