The competition is heating up in Norway as Melodi Grand Prix 2022 semi-final three draws to a close. Four acts entered the arena, but only one act left with the golden ticket to the final. Tonight, that award goes to Oda Gondrosen with “Hammer of Thor”.
Scroll down for full results.
Oda Gondrosen wins Melodi Grand Prix semi-final three
Duel one
Mari Bølla “Your Loss” vs. Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor”
It’s rematch time. Mari Bølla and Oda Gondrosen competed on the same series of Idol in 2020, with Oda finishing as second alternate to eventual winner Mari.
The youngest Idol winner in history (15 at the time of her victory), Mari Bølla makes her MGP debut at 17 years old. Her pop-punk come hip-hop power anthem “Your Loss” is a nod to self-love and knowing your own worth.
In her performance, Mari, dressed in a white trouser off-the-shoulder blouse combo, was joined by dancers in silver dance costumes who strutted around a decadent golden three piece suite. It’s a slight mismatch considering the punky building blocks of the song. After a slight stumble when the song kicked in, Mari swiftly recovered and delivered a strong vocal performance.
Oda Gondrosen, 25, is bringing Norse mythology to the MGP stage with “Hammer of Thor”. A big favourite with fans, Oda won our poll as wiwibloggs readers voted her their favourite act to win semi-final three.
A vision of KEiiNO’s Alexandra Rotan, Oda wore all black: long gloves, a cape, trousers and a warrior tunic. She was joined on stage by four drummers, marching by her side as she belted the high notes with expert clarity. Her facial expressions matched the sinister nature of the song; she stole the thunder, and she’s proud of it.
Result: Oda Gondrosen wins
Duel Two
Sturla “Skår i hjerte” vs. Vilde “Titans”
A smelter by day, 27-year-old Sturla burst onto the music scene in 2020 when he made it onto the A-list at NRK P1. Now, he’s bidding for the big leagues at Eurovision.
In his performance, Sturla wore a white t-shirt and gold chain necklace beneath an oversized tan-coloured suit. This staging was similar to Paul Rey’s “The Missing Piece” staging at Melodifestivalen 2021 — with golden lights surrounding the performer as he sang his heart’s song. However, an abundance of wide shots and little to fill the stage caused the atmosphere to feel more empty than it did cosy and warm.
Tjøme-born singer-songwriter Vilde moved to Oslo to pursue a music career after she graduated with a music degree from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Her bid for Norway at Eurovision is the power-pop anthem “Titans”.
Vilde made a bold statement in a jewel-encrusted lime green pantsuit. The stage show was well-choreographed, with four dancers in white tulle performing ethereal movements around the singer. She started out strong, but fought her way through some noticeable vocal wobbles in the second chorus, which showed in her body language as a shake to the nerves.
Result: Vilde wins
Gold Duel
Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” vs. Vilde “Titans”
Result: Oda Gondrosen wins
NorthKid perform “Someone” live
Pre-qualified finalists NorthKid performed their song “Someone” in exhibition.
Subwoolfer, who were forced to reschedule their semi-final three performance after testing positive for COVID-19, will instead present their song “Give That Wolf a Banana” during semi-final four.
What do you think of tonight’s result? Did the right act win? Sound off in the comments below.
to all teh ppl who didnt vote fro mari bolla
YOUR LOSS =)
A song that can only exist within Eurovision. Does Norway know it is 2022.
Finally my favorit win the heat lol
Northern Kid and Someone is a hybrid of everything and nothing. Won’t do and a pre-qualifier that baffles me. Leaves me cold and disappointed!
I certainly like Nordic countries trying to be a little more Nordic but this doesn’t really do it for me. Nice idea though.
It does get stuck in ur head though.
Agreed
Am I the only person who was really impressed with NorthKid? I think it’s a quite good song that has no chance in this contest but seems like it would have a huge life on the radio.
I see Rasmussen and Jamala have had a baby and called her Oda… which is nice, eh?
Best two songs got to the gold final. They were both pretty equal in terms of quality (they’re good but not really in the running to win the selection) and they went with the one that was staged better.
Can’t really complain. It’ll be a good addition to the final!
I mean, the selection in this semi wasn’t the best, so I was kind of indifferent to who would go through. But Hammer of Thor is just sooo repetitive. What are they even trying to say with the song? I’m guessing they just thought they found a cool sound and wanted to combine it with something bad@ss like the Nordic gods. And who’s more bad@ss than Thor? As Ariana Grande would say: Thank you, next.
Just yes I so agreed
Repetitive and for me the staging was simplistic
Anyway it wasn’t bad but I liked the other ones better . Even sturla !
weak semi, all songs were bad
For me it’s the best SO FAR
And what about semi1? Was that good?
Really good performance – I would love to hear her in Turin, great voice
this hammer of thor song is pretty awful
so awful that it won? lmao go cry elsewhere
the hammer of thor & oda have convinced!
i must wait for semi 3 to see the first very good sung live act – she is now the dangerous dark horse.
🙂
Oda performed very well and had the best staging so far in MGP, so it was easy to see she would be qualifying from this heat. But it’s also true that nobody yet done anything to challenge the overall impression that MGP is between Elsie and Subwoolfer. Maybe the last heat still can bring it, I believe Maria and Sofie can surprise us.
Maybe guilty pleasure worthy but nothing more in my opinion. Epic scandinavian entries are great when done right (imo Rein Alexander from 2020 was really amazing) but this entry is not to my liking. The staging was impressive though and this song is indeed made in order to be performed live.
Agreed
It’s not going to win Eurovision , but I kinda like it.
this song is camp in the worst possible way
well not cap BUT DEFINETELY not the best choice
And audience at home love this kind of camp from Scandinavian countries.
i need to carry on tower of babylon
tower of babylon sweetie i’m so sorry…
A well deserved win. Now only if Maria or Sofie win the golden ticket next week, we’ll have ten at least solid songs to choose from. Bravo, Norway!
i think sofie should win this hoke thing =)
Agree about Sofie and Maria! Both songs are amazing and are by far my favourites from heat 4. Hope one of them wins both are great!
This heat was pretty bad…
imo heat one was a lot worse
i liked heat one. TrollfesT was fun, Eline was AMAZING. And frøde was a good winner, even tjough eline slayed.
It’s just if I were to rate the heats heat 1 would be dead last
Great staging for Hammer of Thor. Great voice from Oda. But seriously the most simplistic and repetitive lyrics imaginable.
Repetitive, sure. I can’t argue with that. But simplistic? For me, they tell the story reminiscent of the legend of Prometheus. Gods who have all the knowledge and all the power, and a little person who is brave enough to claim it, and stand-up to their wrath. Pretty cool stuff!
it has a nice story but the lyrics were repetitive
what i a bit found simplistic was the staging
i did like it but i liked all the others a lot more
Maybe you remember a band named The Beatles
I do. And as I was watching Hammer of Thor—I thought to myself “it’s as if the spirits of George, Ringo and John had returned from the dead to compose this masterpiece”.
So hyped for her! My personal favourite song from this year’s MGP and that was a fantastic performance.
As an aside, I think Marie’s song was also fantastic and very well performed! She would also be a much welcomed addition to the final!!
she has a good voice but i just dont liek her song! vilde and ESPECIALLY mari Bolla were so much better omg im abt to cry rn-
actually her song aint abd but i the others i mentioned were way better! I even liked sturla better than this !!!
YAY!!