The fifth and final semi-final of Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2021 is fast approaching. And with that, the sixth pre-qualified entry is set to land. Rein Alexander’s “Eyes Wide Open” will officially hit streaming services just after midnight local time on Friday 12 February. However, it has appeared on YouTube a few hours sooner.
As a pre-qualified finalist, the MGP fan favourite won’t have to compete to qualify from semi-final five. Instead, he has the opportunity to showcase “Eyes Wide Open” to audiences, a step ahead of his competitors in the bid to represent Norway at Eurovision 2021.
Rein Alexander “Eyes Wide Open” (Melodi Grand Prix 2021)
Rein Alexander made it to the final of MGP 2021 with his dance-pop anthem “One Last Time”. Despite a huge amount of fan support, Rein failed to progress to the superfinal. Fans expressed outrage at this after it was revealed that NRK used a backup 30-person jury to replace the public vote after the online voting system crashed. This year, Rein is hoping to take home the victory.
Songwriters: Rein Alexander Korshamn, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Kjetil Mørland
Rein Alexander has travelled the world exploring his musical style. Born and raised in Norway, the singer has lived and worked in Sweden, Iceland, Italy, the USA and the UK. He has received awards from prestigious music schools including the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Reykjavík Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts. Rein is also known for his appearances as Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables”, Shere Khan in “The Jungle Book” and Gaston in “Beauty and The Beast.”
In the press release for his MGP appearance, Rein Alexander told NRK:
“I have been looking forward to this for a year now. I have been lucky to be able to work with last year’s winners Christian Ingebrigtsen and Kjetil Mørland. Together we have made a great party song, with the message that we must take care of each other to have this joy of life every day.”
Melodi Grand Prix 2021: Semi-Final Five
The fifth semi-final of MGP 2021 will see five artists perform.
Rein Alexander will showcase his track as a pre-qualified finalist. The four acts competing in semi-final one are:
- Ane.Fin – “Walking In My Sleep”
- TuVeia – “Bli med meg på gar’n”
- IMERIKA – “I Can’t Escape”
- RIVER – “Coming Home”
The winner of semi-final five will join Rein Alexander, five other pre-qualified artists and the four other semi-final winners in the MGP 2021 final. This is what the final lineup looks like right now:
- Atle Pettersen – “World on Fire”
- Blåsemafian feat. Hazel – “Let Loose”
- Emmy – “Witch Woods”
- Kaja Rode – “Feel Again”
- KEiiNO – “Monument”
- KiiM – “My Lonely Voice”
- Raylee – “Hero”
- Rein Alexander – “Eyes Wide Open”
- Stavangerkameratene – “Who I Am”
- TIX – “Ut av mørket”
Also, the contenders who failed to qualify from their semi-finals will get another shot at the final in the second chance round on Monday 15 February. One more act will make it through. After that, we’ll have the full lineup of the MGP final.
What do you think of “Eyes Wide Open”? Which is your favourite MGP 2021 entry? Sound off in the comments below.
It’s actually quite good, but I do prefer ”One Last Time”. It’s Keiino for me this year.
I don’t know what ‘party’ this is suppose to be for…maybe some kind of theme song for a political party? I really thought Rein was going to continue to bring this viking schlager vibe again, but I guess he was just playing dress up last year and now he’s moved onto some DC comic villain musical number
I can imagine that this would be sounds more epic in live stage. Yes it was pretty disappointed to hear the song since i put such a high hopes on Rein’s entry. We’ll see and still it’s an interesting song
Not bad at all. Better than last year. Sounds a bit too much like it’s trying to be a Bond theme. Third place for me so far.
I don ‘t like this song from Rein . I expected a better song from Kjetil Morland. I think that Keiino can win again. I like their song. Other songs I like are: TIX, KiiM, and I hope that Imerika will make it to the final. I like her song very much.
I did not expect something iek this from Kjetil Morland, but I think it perfectly suits Rein Alexander. This will come alive on stage. Rein is a powerful vocalist.
‘Birds flying high, you know how I feel…’ Oh, wait!
OK. So it is Keiino again for Eurovision.
I expected something else. :/
Anyway, I think TIX should win this
It would certainly be interesting if Norway, Denmark, Sweden, two or three of them go with songs in their national languages. If nothing, it would be a change of pace for them.
Tix confirmed he’d translate to English if he wins.
If so, that is the reason why I will not vote for him. It’s a nice song, but I want to know what I’m voting for. I can make some excuses for Albanian or Serbian performers who later decide to switch to English, because their selections forbid them from doing so in the first place. However, to translate the winning song from any national final that allows lingual diversity feels illogical. People should know which song they are picking.
He’s performing the song in English in the NF.
Okay then. But he’ll have to wow me in a short period, as I’ll listen to it only once before voting. I hope he knows what he’s doing and that the English version is as good, or better than the Norwegian one.
One Last Time was better in my opinion, but I also like Eyes Wide Open. Idk why, but Eyes Wide Open somehow reminds me of Uku Suviste’s Pretty Little Liars, but with a mix of Efendi’s Cleopatra.
Well I have conflicting feelings about this. Its a good song, nowhere as good as last year though, feels like he’s lost his schlagger edge with his, which was his selling point in my opinion. And with that, I can breathe a sigh of relief and can’t see anything in keiino’s way now to win! I thought Rein may have been their biggest competition (especially being the last to be released), but can’t see him beating them with his. See you in Rotterdam KEiiNO!
I enjoy it a lot, but still doesn’t change my two top spots. TIX (only if he sings in Norwegian – I don’t trust that English version he’s got in his sleeve) and Keiino are still my favourites from this (amazing, I have to say) national final.
Ok now I can say it, KEiiNO has to go to Rotterdam. Kim is great too but not memorable enough.
After to listen all songs my favorite is the same as the begging:
1. Keiino
2. Raylee
3. Imerika (Is probably that she win this SF)
4. TIX
5. Atle Pettersen
6. Emmy
7. Blåsemafian
8. Kaja Rode
9. Stavangerkameratene
10. KiiM
11. Rein Alexander
I Hope the last semifinal would be between: faith Bloody Faith and psycho
It’s between faith bloody faith and pages for me!
Lyrically I find this very disappointing, indeed frustrating. The sentiment is of course important but if you’re going to tackle such a subject, you have to offer more than just wanting to wake up with “eyes wide open”. To what exactly? And in what way is that going to make things better? Ambiguity works in certain situations but not here, on such a fundamental part of our human existence – without a clearly articulated message it comes across as empty words like “love, love, peace, peace” Plus I miss the electronic-led uplift of One Last Time. All in all, this… Read more »
No thanks. TIX remains my winner.
TIX? LMAO easily the worst song of the bunch.
Mmmmmmm … im quiet dissapointed…
raylee for Rotterdam i hope ..
Party Song?…..No (But a great track with cool elements – kinda reminds me of something Take That would release)
the song is a dumpster fire, but his persona works amazingly for eurovision. he sorta looks effortlessly cool and pulls off that dodgy style of his easily.
Wow, i love the first 30 seconds, but I was a bit dissapointed where the song goes after that. I mean it’s a great song, but I expected more after the first 30 secs . His voice is amazing and the performance will probably lift the song, however i’m not sure whether that will be enough for a victory. But, I would love to see this in Rotterdam.
Surprised > verses are not that original but the chorus is quite contemporary compared to what he did last time. Not bad at all….
I quite like it. I was hoping that it would be be the best by far, as I wanted Morland to go Rotterdam as it initially was planned, but alas, it is not a clear winner. I think it will be a close race between Raylee, Keiino, Rein, Emmy and Immerika.
Emmy is definitely not a contender to win, sorry
It’s good but not amazing.. The staging will elevate it for sure.
For now i’m in team keiino.
I’m not really impressed by this… Well if things go well on Saturday, my top11 for the final will be: 1. IMERIKA 2. KEiiNO 3. Kaja Rode 4. Emmy 5. Raylee 6. Blåsemafian 7. Stavangerkameratene 8. TIX 9. Atle Pettersen 10. KiiM 11. Rein Alexander However I think the winner will be either KEiiNO or TIX. I hope IMERIKA will deliver and surprise us though, that studio version is so good. I think this is a really really strong selection. Much stronger than last year (even if I probably prefer Attention to any of these ahah). I like all songs… Read more »
Go IMERIKA!
After those dissapointing Melodifestivalen snippets this sounded a lot better. Will fit well into the final of MGP!
This one is clearly a performance piece and not a song aiming for the charts, so we’ll have to wait to see what they planned in terms of staging to have an idea of how competitive it can actually be. Even if fails to impress, I like when people try more theatric things in national finals. And I think it’s cool that Morland never repeats himself. For now, what I can say is that I’m always up for a Bond theme vibe and Rein’s vocals have lots of character.
I don’t need to express myself. You seem to know my thoughts and put it into words better than I could do it. hihi.
I would be scared if I felt like this. 😛 Had you like IMERIKA’s song too?
I am so scared, hihi. Yes, IMERIKA it is in this semi, I hope she can convey the song live!
Rein has such a great voice and energy. These lyrics feel very deep and heavy. On first listening, I am more drawn to the lyrical than musical aspect, though. The chorus is okay, but so far, I miss a bigger hook, maybe. Still, good luck, Rein! MGP will be a hard NF for me to rank and rate, because most songs are somewhat within the similar range of quality, or shall we say, they all offer different experiences. So, I guess that personal impact will have more to say here, considering there are no objective duds. I assume my list… Read more »
Looking forward to seeing your list, Colin!
Thanks, Lebanese esc fan! I guess I might post that one on Wiwi, then. Maybe under the ”Who should win” or ”Wiwi jury picks” articles. Hope you’ll like it (or at least enjoy in it, even if your ranking is different). That said, I’d be happy to see your (and as many more) rankings / ratings / reviews as well. 😉
Can’t wait for your list, Colin! Aiming for mine on Sunday morning. Hope to see yours sometime soon after that. 😉
I can’t wait to see your list as well. It’s an interesting NF, and I already see many different opinions online. It will be cool to read yours. Mine will probably be done in a week or so. Tomorrow I’m totally about Dora – voting and rearranging my post-NF list. That might be done on Sunday. 😉
Imerika or Raylee for the win please <3 If Imerika does a great performance on Saturday I think she may win, because as soon as I heard I thought this is the winner.
I really hope IMERIKA can deliver, because I loved the studio version.
James Bond …..is that your misplaced theme song? If yes, give Rein Alexander a call.
Now that all the songs have been revealed, I’m really wondering who the 4 “potential esc winners” are. Perhaps KEiiNO, TIX, Raylee, and Imerika? But honestly, these strike me more as mgp rather than esc winners.
I think he said four potential mgp winners and not eurovision.
but I agree I think one of these four will win. My first choice would be Imerika, the second Raylee. Keiino and Tix have their qualities but for me are not working as full packages (staging of both is quite bad, especially Tix’s and the production of Monument is quite dated and too schlager for my taste even tho I do enjoy it)..
notchu calling monument’s production dated and then stanning zero… i doubt they considered raylee a potential winner based on the song alone, hence why they didn’t make her an automatic finalist. it’s the performance that made the song really.
she rejected the offer of being an automatic finalist
Really? That’s interesting. Admirable, but risky.
well, I would not call Hero dated it’s inspired by 80′ and yes it’s not current, but it is modern, while Keiino is neither :/ Agree that Hero probably won’t win tho, but for me it’s a perfect package – very well produced song, amazing stage and a great and attractive performer. Keiino is well produced, staging is lacking a lot, and they have great voices but I feel their charisma/performance is quite forced and calculated, and sometimes I do cringe when watching it. Still I love them and Monument is a good song, but I think there are better… Read more »
I very much doubt that Raylee will be in the top 4
It’s catchy!! I really enjoy it. I suspect it will be a top 4-5 finisher for me at MGP.