Pictures: Universal Music, Ylvis

One of the most-talked about entries in Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2022 is Subwoolfer‘s “Give That Wolf A Banana”. The prequalified duo consisting out of brothers Keith and Jim are bringing the surreal and comedic to the Scandinavian selection.

Some Eurovision fans have been pointing out that the duo sound like an awful lot like another Norwegian duo of brothers: the popular 2010s duo Ylvis. And to be honest, don’t Subwoolfer’s masks remind you of a certain animal?

Who are Ylvis?

The Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis — that’s the Bergen-born brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker — were well-known in the Nordic nation throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.

In 2013 they became a world famous one-hit wonder with their song “What Does The Fox Say?”, which charted in over twenty countries. The song’s music video has over a billion views and was one of the first viral music videos on the platform. 

As with many one-hit wonders, they struggled to sustain their fame. Their prime time talk show was cancelled in 2016 and, although the brothers have toured with various theatre shows throughout the country, their work came to an abrupt end during the pandemic. It would make sense that now is the perfect moment to think of Melodi Grand Prix.

6 clues Melodi Grand Prix 2022’s Subwoolfer could be Ylvis

They are a duo of brothers

Perhaps the first and most obvious clue that Ylvis could be Subwoolfer is that both the duos consist of two brothers. Similar to Ylvis, the brothers that make up Subwoolfer have a considerable height difference.

They share the same aesthetic for making tracks about animals

“Give That Wolf A Banana” sounds like the perfect follow-up single to “What Does The Fox Say?”, which is not surprising. After all, their 2013 smash hit never actually got a proper follow-up song. 

It is their type of humour

Not trying to repeat the same argument we had in our earlier Circus Mircus post, but again, it all sounds like something Ylvis would and could do. During their career, Ylvis have recorded a tribute to Norwegian diplomat and humanitarian Jan Egeland and travelled to Kyrgyzstan to try to break through in the country’s local music industry. So pretending to be an intergalatic music duo and participating with a joke entry in Melodi Grand Prix wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they ever did.

Subwoolfer sound incredibly similar to Ylvis

The Ylvis brothers have two unmistakable voices. And these two voices sound extremely similar to the vocals on Subwoolfer’s Melodi Grand Prix effort. On top of that, Ylvis don’t have a Norwegian accent in English, as the brothers grew up in different African countries, speaking English as their second language from a young age.

They are desperately trying to hide their identities

Generally, joke acts and other acts do not care if their real names are revealed. It never harmed Hatari or Verka Serduchka. But when it goes as far as taking on pseudonyms, there is indeed often something to hide. In 2014, during the Belgian selection, the group Day One was led by a mysterious masked woman singer, who was rumoured to be Kate Ryan. And after six years, she was revealed to be Kate Ryan. 

They are signed to Universal Music

The Norwegian branch of Univeral Music promote the yet-to-be-discovered Subwoolfer on their label. It’s unusual for an unknown act without a track record to be signed to a major label. On top of that, the same goes for becoming a pre-qualified act. And, coincidence or not, Ylvis are currently signed to Univeral Music too. 

Do you think that Ylvis might be behind Subwoolfer’s Melodi Grand Prix 2022 entry? Or do you think it might be someone else? Let us know in the comments below!

Read all our Norway Eurovision news here

46 Comments
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Colorized Hive
1 year ago

Here is a fun fact. I think it’s Måns Zelmerlöw with Alexander Rybak and Tix as DJ Astronaut. Why? Because they are friends and consider themselves “brothers” and both have said to try and push their way into every songcontest they can, either as artist or special act. Since neither were invited as acts I think they just did it this way. The short one does sound a lot like Måns and with the sound effect on the voices it could well be. It would also axplain a lot of other things, like why were they in Italy at the… Read more »

ylvis fan
ylvis fan
1 year ago

Whoever thinks Subwoolfer is Ylvis misses the whole point of Ylvis’s humour. Ylvis has funny songs, Subwoolfer is just random Also, they sound nothing alike.

Manuel Pedraza
Manuel Pedraza
1 year ago

I Guess they really are, their suits, their height. Their techno vives. My children ( 7) LOVE them both Subwoolfers and Ylvis. Greetings from Leganés Spain

alphaza gzrenk
alphaza gzrenk
1 year ago
Reply to  Manuel Pedraza

Techno? Just call it for what it is, it’s Pop music. Blend and generic Pop music

Juuseven
Juuseven
1 year ago

Did they sing live in MGP?

I couldn’t notice any mics on them!

Amanda
Amanda
1 year ago
Reply to  Juuseven

I think they are inside the masks maybe? But you could hear that it’s live, they sounded shaky in some places

Dennis
Dennis
2 years ago

You forgot the most obvious clue. Ulv is wolf in Norwegian. Ylv(is) = Wolf —> Give That Wolf a Banana.

Kaneda71
Kaneda71
2 years ago

The moment I saw Subwoolfers I thought about Ylvis 😀

Per
Per
2 years ago

The Norwegian press spotted the cars of Ben Adams (from the group A1) and Gaute Ormåsen outside the concert arena where they have their rehearsal 🙂 it is definitley them, similar soft voices aswell

Pinkrosessheila
Pinkrosessheila
1 year ago
Reply to  Per

I listened to both Ben Adams and Gaute Ormåsen on Spotify. The rhythm and lilt of their singing doesn’t match Subwoolfer at all. Their voices are much more “take me seriously” and even less soft than Ylvis. That the Norwegian press saw their cars outside during rehearsal doesn’t prove anything. Everybody who is anybody goes to Eurovision, sometimes to score rights to a new song. Also, if they are performing, they are much more likely to use entourage-type transportation rather than their own cars for the sake of safety and privacy. As was mentioned in the article, and verified by… Read more »

Westcoastviking
2 years ago

First time i heard IT, i got The Ylvis vibe. They have their own kind of humor. The Kurgistan stunt should not be viewed as nothiing less then a joke. IT was their “Borat”. The are extremely talented and master any genre. They can sing and play any kind of genre, with hysteri al lyrics. Rock (Egeland), power ballad (Stonehenge) Gospel (Massachusetts), Hip hop/rap (right amount of preassure)and Even classic Christmas Carol with all the right moodmaking factors, but hillarious lyrics. Enjoy their YouTube!! And this subwoolfer song has all the ingrediens of a typical Ylvis fun stunt.

Last edited 2 years ago by Westcoastviking
narelle
narelle
2 years ago

Whoever they are they are extremely polished and experienced with video clips and techno style music. I am favouring Ylves . I would love them to represent Norway as this is the sort of song Eurovision if not the world needs right now.

STARGATE-Norway
STARGATE-Norway
2 years ago

Belive STARGATE is behind SUBWOOLFER Fans of STARGATE the norwegian producers with billboard top 100 etc lots of succesful hits in usa.Think they are behind this
What do you all think about this.

EscEnthusiast
2 years ago

It would be a fish bait for winning: people want to know who they are and vote for them so that in Eurovision they would be forced to reveal their identitety!!! Genius =D

Annli
Annli
2 years ago

Didrik and Emil Solli-Tangen?

Annli
Annli
2 years ago

Didrik and Emil Solli-Tangen???

Rita
2 years ago

Throwing this here for posterity’s sake: I don’t think it’s Ylvis. The second part of the 1st verse “see where you’re going…” That is Ben Adams’ voice from A1. I am 99.99999% sure it’s his voice, his inflections, his pronunciation. The “drippin” and “imma” are dead ringers for how Ben would pronounce these words in a song. I’ve been listening to A1 for 20+ years now, they’re one of my favorite bands. I think I know Ben’s voice when I hear Ben’s voice. If it’s not him, then I’d be really surprised that someone has a similar voice and also… Read more »

Stian F
Stian F
2 years ago

If they do win the MGP i hope they keep the secrecy until after Eurovision at least. And unmasking at the Eurovision final if they were to go on and win would have been amazing!

RaRa
RaRa
2 years ago

I think that one shouldn’t call the Ylvis brothers serious musicians, but they’re talented. Their “one-hit wonder” song was only made to promote the new season of their talkshow, but it somehow went viral. And yes, their talkshow may have been cancelled, but they bounced back a couple of years later with an award-winning comedy-musical series called ‘Stories from Norway’.

Desiree
2 years ago
Reply to  RaRa

Ylvis did Stories from Norway after the show. (With a bit of time in the US in between that they said was awful) I’m pretty sure they quit it on purpose to do Stories. It won a Gullruten in 2018. They also did Kongen Befaller which I also think won a Gullruten. While it doesn’t sound like their voices I can list about 50 reasons it seems like them, and 50 reasons it’s not them. So it’s just up in the air for me.

johen
johen
2 years ago

No they’re not Ylvis. Stop being delusional please. They don’t even sound the same or have the same humour as Ylvis. Also, do you seriously think Ylvis would want to come back to MGP referencing a song they did a decade ago? That would literally make no sense. Wolves and foxes are different animals, how are they even related?

9naballerina
9naballerina
2 years ago

Hey! I just wanted to say that “the fox” was ment for a joke. “They made “The Fox” with assistance from Stargate, the Norwegian-born, New York-based producing duo that has also helped create hit songs for Rihanna, Katy Perry and Wiz Khalifa — except that their track, the Ylvisakers said, was intended to be bad. “From a comedian’s perspective, it would be much more fun if we misused their talents,” Bard said. “We go make that song, we come back to our talk show and we say, ‘Sorry, guys.’ ” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/arts/music/ylviss-unlikely-hit-started-as-a-joke.html So when the article say they try to sustain… Read more »

Reid
Reid
2 years ago

Anyone know if they can sing OK live?

ken jorgen
ken jorgen
1 year ago
Reply to  Reid

Yes they can, even better live

Grftn
Grftn
2 years ago

Pony X? I mean. Wolfy X.

Joe
Joe
2 years ago

So interesting, this rise in “anonymous” performers. You suppose that’s just a passing trend or what?

Stian F
Stian F
2 years ago
Reply to  Joe

We can probably thank the popularity of “the Masked singer”-concept for this one..

Cristian Silviu Bucur
Cristian Silviu Bucur
2 years ago

If they win MGP2022 can we have an unmasking like in Masked Singer?

Addie
Addie
2 years ago

That would be totally awesome!

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
2 years ago

Yes, please. + add the Masked Singer tune in for comedic purposes.

lasse braun
lasse braun
2 years ago

the song sounds like “little big” in bad.

Stian F
Stian F
2 years ago
Reply to  lasse braun

Nah… Its as good or even better than “uno” – at least the voices of Subwoolfer are more comforting to the ears than those of Little Big.

Mihamuro
Mihamuro
1 year ago
Reply to  lasse braun

If when you say “Bad”, you mean Michael Jackson Bad, you are absolutely correct.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
2 years ago

I mean, if it’s true, that’s great. What really gets overlooked is just how good a live act Ylvis are. If they’re behind this, they could elevate it and make it a genuine challenger.

Jerz
Jerz
2 years ago

Ylvis’ hit The Fox as the 2013 number-one hit in Norway before became a worldwide successful smash hit.

I was surprised that William didn’t mentioned their second hit Trucker’s Hitch that was the other Norway Top 10 hit but unfortunately, The Fox kept Ylvis an one-hit wonder status. (Wikipedia entry)

Last edited 2 years ago by Jerz
Don
Don
2 years ago

Masked Singer Norway vibes coming up, maybe we’ll see who they are if they win MGP?

ete sech
ete sech
2 years ago

When I first heard of them I couldn’t help reminiscing about Ylvis, I’m glad I’m not the only one with such idea!
I don’t like Ylvis as much as some of you, but I think it’s a good idea for them to take part of at least the NMGP

Last edited 2 years ago by ete sech
DonutLover
DonutLover
2 years ago

I knew I wasn’t the only one with this idea!

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
2 years ago

what do the fads say ?

Kat
Kat
2 years ago

I had this first thought too, as a long-time Ylvis lover… not just the sense of humor “sounding like something they would do,” but the lyrics and the jokes they make in them sound VERY much like all their other songs hahaha!!! I’ve been saying Ylvis should try Eurovision for like 7 years, so this would DELIGHT me :p

John
John
2 years ago

Ylvis was the 1st thing I thought of when I heard the song lyrics without knowing any of the other stuff you described.

Philip Holmgren
Philip Holmgren
2 years ago

All the clues are being very strong here, and the more I think about it then it would make more sense for them to compete as “secret artists”, then with their actual name. XP

mrjeffster
mrjeffster
2 years ago

I love this exposé. You’ve convinced me!

Colin
Colin
2 years ago

This sounds too good to be true! Ylvis are basically an institution one can only dream would go to Eurovision. Still, whether Subwoolfers are them or not, they have submitted a funny, clever song, which also provides a lot of creative staging potential. Ceratinly one of the main standouts of this selection!

Jack
Jack
2 years ago

I hope so! Aborter hit!!!!

Sesil
Sesil
2 years ago

I’m glad i wasn’t the only one who thought this lol. Excellently written btw!!