After three thrilling semi-finals, it’s time for Norway to choose its next Eurovision superstar. Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2023 grand final takes place this Saturday.
21 artists have become nine, but only one can win the crown and the coveted Norwegian ticket to Eurovision 2023. You’ve heard our thoughts — now it’s down to you. Who should win MGP and sing for Norway in Liverpool?
You can refresh your memory of the nine competing songs below — which is also the running order for the final. Then, vote for your favourites in our poll.
Are you feeling the “Love Again” for Skrellex? Is it “Honestly” Ulrikke’s time for Eurovision redemption? Or will Alessandra be the “Queen of Kings”? Share your thoughts below.
Scroll down to vote in our poll.
Running order
- JONE – “Ekko Inni Meg”
- Eline Thorp – “Not Meant to Be”
- Skrellex – “Love Again”
- Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
- Umami Tsunami – “Geronimo”
- Atle Pettersen – “Masterpiece”
- Swing’it – “Prohibition”
- Elsie Bay – “Love you in a dream”
- Alessandra – “Queen of Kings”
Melodi Grand Prix 2023 finalists
JONE – “Ekko Inni Meg”
Eline Thorp – “Not Meant to Be”
Skrellex – “Love Again”
Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
Umami Tsunami – “Geronimo”
Atle Pettersen – “Masterpiece”
Swing’it – “Prohibition”
Elsie Bay – “Love you in a dream”
Alessandra – “Queen of Kings”
Poll: Who should win Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2023?
Vote for as many of your favourites as you like. But you can only vote once, so choose wisely!
Melodi Grand Prix 2023
MGP 2023 will take place on Saturday 4 February at 19:50 CET (GMT + 1). This year’s show takes place at Trondheim Spektrum, and is hosted by Stian “Staysman” Thorbjørnsen and Arian Engebø.
Nine finalists will sing for their chance to represent Norway at Eurovision. The result will be determined by 50% public vote and 50% international jury vote. Unlike previous editions of MGP, there will be no duel format or super-final.
Who are your favourites? Who do you hope to see in Liverpool for Eurovision 2023? Let us know in the comments below.
I really like Atle Pettersen’s Masterpiece. My second favorite is Eline Thorp. Number 3 is Ulrikke and number 4 is Elsie Bay. “Shlager” Alessandra is really not my cup of tea to say the least. Masse lykke til til alle!
Totally agree with your “ranking” (except Ulrikke – that’s definitely a no from me – too cliched and dated for my taste). Voting Masterpiece on Saturday!
Yeah, me too! But we have to listen to all live performances up there in Trondheim before making our minds up 🙂
I only like Ulrikke and Eline Thorp, I don’t care about the others…
Unpopular opinion in this thread it seems, despite her being 2nd in the poll – but I 100% want Ulrikke to win this. I was not a fan of Attention whatsoever in 2020, but heard Honestly on Spotify the other week and was just immediately blown away by the vocals, lyrics & message. The high note in the end in Norwegian. GODDAMN IT girl. Goosebumps. It’s totally reminding me of the Eurovision movie and the ballad “Husavik” – which is also a brilliant, beautiful, Oscar-nominated song. Honestly is up there for me. So I really really don’t get the pessimism… Read more »
I terms of song it’s clearly Eline Thorp for me, the only good song per se. It’s just her performance was so laclustre and it sound simliar to Cornelia Jakobs last year, so she has no chance of winning. Alessandra has such a cheap, cliché and campy euro-dance from the 90s, especially in the chorus. But then again, that’s exactly what Norway typically votes for. Ulrikke and Elsie are both uninspired, bland ballads. The both had much better songs in previous years. Out of the betting odds favourites, I’d say Ulrikke. I like her personally and it would be nice… Read more »
I wouldn’t say Eline’s performance wss lacklustre, it was very dynamic and she sang really well.
Ulrikke vs Alessandra – so once again we have a semi1-result battle in the Norwegian MGP-final… it is going to be the new normal nowon obviously. Ulrikke’s “Honestly” might not be as breathtaking, interesting or immediate as her 2020 entry, but it is still an amazing entry that most other countries would have loved having had in their national selection, or even as an entry in Eurovision. Most people who are critical to “Honestly” are those comparing it to “Attention”, but “Honestly” is still a great tune and one of the absolute best in this years MGP, and overall in… Read more »
Jone, please
I’m rooting for Eline to get a good result. I really do enjoy all the songs and performances but hers just connects with me in a deeper way. I really love the vocals, the lyrics and meaning, the instrumentation, and the freshness. Hoping it gets some jury and televote love and surprises some people!
And most importantly, the authenticity.
eline or jon are only options, eurofans wrong again
I like Jones song, it’s just, he can’t sing it without autotune, it’s gonna be a screaming disaster at euros.
Ulrikkes song is fine, i like it, it’s just nothing special, her previous entry was amazing.
Alessandra in my eyes, has the strongest entry, a bit of everything, and she can sing, perform and has charm.
he obviosy sing good, autotune in his case was only for sound affect lol
only deaf people cant hear his vocals
also alessandra is the one who cant sing even with autotune and she lost her breath in 1 minute
Pretty sure Alessandra is using autotune. Most singers who have to dance as well (especially a dance choreography as demanding as QoK) use autotune to mask breath control, cracks in voice, and fatigue.
What a bland accusation based on no proof. She sang that song outside MGP just fine…
Unlike Maria Celin, she can handle her own song.
Im here for Alessandra, Jone or Atle. And no one else.
Alessandra has been my favorite from the start…
Atle is just a great “not a lovesong” male ballad, that Im craving every year..
And Jone is serving Norwegian russefeiring realness and reminds me so much of Tix previous music era… that it’s impossible for me not to love it.
Who I certainly dont want to is Ulrikke. That song does not deserve a victory. She has a voice yes. Cool. But the song is just MEH.
Also… Im not a huge fan of this new voting. I think the previous Top 4 or Top 4 + Gold Duel format was just fine. That’s why I’ve been liking MGP more than any other selection for so many years… And worked for MGP for so long. That I dont see a point of going down this 50:50 path.
Hopefully it won’t last for too long.
it is way better
It absolutely is not and I do t understand why they have decided to go this way, when their previous voting system has worked just fine for them.
Sure. In the past 2 years they may not achieved results they’d hope for…. But that happens sometimes…
Still doesnt mean that Norwegian public is incapable of choosing a good entry. They’ve always done in the past.
Alessandra’s song is cheap and dated… It belongs to the 2000s.
As if Ulrikke’s wannabe Disney sountrack was any better. So obnoxious and dated too.
Here’s my take; the change of format is likely to damage Alessandra the most of the presumed top three of Alessandra, Jone, and Ulrikke. I don’t see international juries locking votes in for Queen of Kings when Jone and Ulrikke have more traditional entries, normally the jury’s preference. Of course, it is entirely possible that, as it were, “game recognizes game” and Alessandra is rewarded in the end for her televote-friendly entry with a ticket to the Merseyside, but it’s too close to call. I’m backing Ulrikke, personally, despite “Honestly” being slightly weaker than “Attention” but would not be surprised… Read more »
I don’t think “Honestly” is THAT good to be honest, a bit overrated. Alessandra for the win if you ask me.
I would say the opposite. I think that Alessandra’s song is completely overrated.
Then you lack musical iq. But would love you to explain why it’s overrated ?
She has a strong vocal, good charisma, good staging, a good chorous, a strong b piece and even a high end whistle note. In what way is it lacking or overrated ???
Honestly could be a jury top 3 in Eurovision ulrikke it’s performed flawless in my ears maybe they can do some more with staging but could be another top 10 as it is right now
It also depends how many ballads etc we’ll have but it will be one of the better for sure
it wpouldnt even go to finals of melodifestivalen
For me personaly Atle is winner, but Ekko Inni Meg is so unique and catchy song, also his vocals are on point, just the lady on holo is little bit creepy but maybe they need bring her up on stage for final
Norwegian language to ESC!!! Ekko Inni Meg or Honestly for the little bit it has in it (And who knows, maybe she can be convinced to perform her Norwegian version of it in Liverpool)
I’m rooting for Jone and Alessandra <3
Not “Honestly”, that’s for sure. Either Jone, Atle or Eline. Elsie will make it for me too.
Honestly? Honestly.
It’s a little bitter sweet that freya isn’t in the final lineup, but that’s how it happens sometimes. I wish all night or us. Good luck and I hope they perform the best they can on Saturday.
My favourite is Prohibition, but it’s between the ladies (Ulrikke. Elsie, Alessandra)
I was listening to my Norway Playlist on Spotify on random mode and i thought jokingly- If any MGP song comes in, that will be the winner- and then Spotify proceeded to play Ulrikke three times in a row. My Spotify app says Ulrikke too.
Well, you said it came 3 times in a row, and Ulrikke’s song is the 3rd most streamed on spotify (with just over 770k), while Jone is 2nd with just short of 1.6 mil, and Alessandra just short of 3.5 mil. Clearly, Ulrikke will be 3rd, and that’s too much considering her song is NOT top 3 of this years MGP, honestly 😉
I’m not rooting for anyone in particular in this NF, maybe just leaning to Alessandra (she would need to work on the live performance and vocals though…), but I can definitely see Swing’It doing better than expected in this poll, both with the interational jury and in the televote.
I’m rooting for JONE. I also like Swing’it.
Ulkrikke or Atle will win the jury vote, while Alessandra or Jone will win the tele-vote.
I honestly think Ulrikke is the way to go. C’mon, she was screwed by NRK but came back strong. She deserves it!
How was she screwed by NRK? It was Covid’s fault.
I think Ulrikke is almost certainly winning the televote.
no, she is not popular
She wasn’t screwed by NRK at all. They gave her a chance, she refused, then she cried on instagram after performing on 2021 final and in 2023 she is back with even worse song than she had before.
Honestly (!) Norway would be mad not to go with Atle and Masterpiece this year. Please don’t waste this golden opportunity, Norway!
I have some sad news. Norway’s 1968 representative Odd Børre Sørensen has recently died. Rest in peace.
Jone and Alessandra are winning the Spotify battle, just like TIX did in 2021. I’m not sure if Ulrikke is even really in the race anymore.
Was Subwoolfer’s song the most streamed MGP entry last year?
I’ll try and check that out! Cos I can’t remember. But it isn’t just that Jone and Alessandra are leading, it’s that Jone is 4th in the charts with Alessandra at 10th, and nobody else is anywhere in the top 50.
Jone could be the televote winner, but having the most views or streams isn’t gonna matter on the night of the final. What matters is the quality of the live performance and how people will respond to it. If it’s really good, then people will go for it but if it’s bad they won’t.
We thought Jerry Heil was going to win the Ukrainian national final because she had the most views on YouTube, but Tvorchi won instead. So I’m not using that as a metric of who could win the national final. Anything can happen.
we didnt thought< because jerry haik is bad live and her song just weird copy of 5th elemnth and repetitive
I think Ulrikke is likely to dominate the older demographic of the televote and a lot of them don’t “Spotify”.
Definitely not out of the race!
Also a lot of Alessandra’s fans are playing it outside Norway… some of them may sign up to NRK and vote, sure, but all of them won’t.
I have a feeling Atle might win, it’s a very radio friendly song and it could come straight out of Melodifestivalen or out of an album of Uku Suviste. Even though it’s a respectable song I hope that the Norwegians make a more bold choice, something that’s either with sounds of their culture like Jone or a BOP like Alessandra’s song. Atle would be too predictable and would be forgettable at Eurovision, it’s too 2015. Those kind of acts won’t win the televote like Keiino did, but Jone and Alessandra could do it or at least come close to it
He could be a surprise winner, because he’s the only male ballad here and the other three women lead ballads could cancel each other out.
Let’s hope so!
His live performance really elevated the song so now I think “Masterpiece” is one of my favs.
I don’t like Atle, but objectively, I do think he has a chance. His whole modern pop aesthetic with the light show + strong vocal performance could definitely be a jury favorite.
Alessandra Alessandra and only Alessandra! Even though I think Jone would also do very well at Eurovision!
Jone is actually my favorite out of the selection and it’ll be really cool to have a Norwegian language song at eurovision again for the first time in a long time unless they make him translate to English.
Alessandra will not do well, trust me. The song is so overhyped. Maybe it would be ok as a Netflix soundtrack but not for Eurovision.
My pick would still be that boy Jone, hoping he can somehow elevate the live performance to a standard where the Norwegians just won’t be able to ignore him. Ulrikke’s entry sounds much more like ESC 2003 rather than 2023, honestly…
I was studying the running order, and I just realized that they all alternate between up-tempo and ballad. There are five up-tempo songs, and four ballads, so it was easy to slide the ballads between the up-tempo songs. when you divide up the finalist songs within those two groups, I noticed that the up-tempo group actually has more variety than the Ballad group. Three of the four ballads are sung by women and while they’re not exactly the same, there’s quite a lot overlapping that might split the vote so we might get an unexpected winner from either the only… Read more »
My favorite is Jone
Ulrikkes song is very simular to Faith Kakemboos “Freedom” and Tusses “Voices” the last one being thrased by the fan community
Overall, great singers in the norwegian final, the same can´t be said about the songs, I don´t see any of these entries scoring higher than 10-12th place at best
If Ulrikke would have represented us with that song, would it have recieved that much love? I highly doubt that.
Ulrikke is way better than the song
Thrashed*
So much nonsense in this post… But each to their own taste I guess…
I am a fan of both Alessandra and Ulrikke representing Norway this year. I voted for Ulrikke and I acknowledge that the cancellation in 2020 does play into that to some degree, but I do think her song would be an excellent choice. If she isn’t selected, I would be more than happy with Alessandra.
Am also a fan of Jone’s song too btw.
That’s basically what I think. I’m very much in the pro-Ulrikke camp, but I’d be fine with Alessandra (and Jone is really growing on me).
Team Ulrikke! (But also fine with Alessandra, Jone or Elsie. I just don’t want Atle to win).
Jone should win
Alessandra
Are any of them using the auto tune for the final? I think that should be a deciding factor. I believe Elsie and Ulrikke weren’t using it but not sure if anyone else is…??
Literally all of JONES female backing track is exactly that…backing track… Worse than Autotune.
UMAMI TSUNAMI of course, clear use of autotune…
I wouldnt rule out Skrellex either in this matter…
We know for sure that Ulrikke and Swing’it doesnt use it, and after having seen Alessandra sing her entry accousticly in keiino-world i am convinced she doesnt need autotune either as she did a great job there. Doubt that Atle used it as well…. Not sure about Elsie Bay…
I forgot who the artist is performing with Jone but she should come and perform live too if it’s at all possible! I don’t hate the backtrack though. Just think the other artist should get some spotlight!
I knew Umami Tsumami definitely were. I thought maybe Alessandra was too since to dance and stay on tune would require some assistance. Skrellex too maybe. Who knows!?
Eline by far for me.
Elsie is also good.
Both are chanceless tho:(
I wish Umani Tsunami could win. I mean, Kpop was never represented at the ESC so it would be something different. but yeah, we don’t know how it will work with raw vocals with no Autotune. Jone has a strong song and staging, and he’s a good performer. I doubt how that pre recorded chorus will be taken in the ESC (of if would be performed live by an out of stage singer) Skrellex song is too generic and staging kinda cheap, though she’s good. I think the winner will be between Elisa Bay, Ulrikke and Alessandra. And from those… Read more »
Corridos tumbados haven’t ever been represented at ESC either and I don’t think that that means it’s a good idea to ever see them at the contest :s
I’m pulling for Elsie—it’s just a wonderful composition— but Ulrikke and Jone are fine too.
Mgp this year is this kind of NF that when you ask most fans “which song would you like to win?” and “which artist would you like to win?”, they are going to give you a different answer.
I feel that “Queen of the Kings” is the most beloved song , but on the other side Ulrikke deserves to be in Eurovision and she has a good entry too.
Apart from Alessandra and Ulrikke, i can’t really see anyone else winning it. In any case, a few days have left and we’ll see then.
Good luck to all the contestants!!
Ulrikke deserves a Eurovision spot, but if she wins just because of that, it means taking away somebody else’s rightful chance. Creating a second “Ulrikke”, even unluckier than the first because they don’t even get to win MGP.
If Ulrikke wins it will be because mostly because people feel her entry is strong enough – and based on all songs in the national finals this year Norway would have a hell of a strong entry in Eurovision with “Honestly”, a lot of bland songs around…
The problem with Honesty is it ticks every single Norwegian Eurovision ballad cliche, and could have been sent anytime in the last 20 years. She can do better than this.
I feel very much in the minority with wanting Elsie to win, seems like both the odds and many fans want Alessandra, Ulrikke or Jone to win. I’m even debating whether I can watch the final because last year with Chanel, like, it was fun but very nerve wrecking, especially considering that she wasn’t the favourite to win. I’ll probably watch the performances and vote Elsie but I might chicken out after that and watch Benidorm Fest lmaoo. That being said though, even though I’m very much team Elsie ftw, Alessandra and Jone would be really good winners too. I… Read more »
I LOVE ELSIE SOFM
It’s literally my most played nf song along with traccion. However I don’t think she’ll do well at Eurovision, her song has a very hit or miss quality and with it being so slow (I say dramatic), and the televote being the deciding factor, she could struggle.
I STILL WANT HER TO WIN SO BAD ?
As of right now, I’ll say Ulrikke for the win, but Atle and Alessandra could easily swoop in
I also want Elsie to win
Eline is a good contender too, and Umami Tsunami should blow the roof off the place too
Amazing final!
I’m going with Atle Pettersen. Great song and an even better live performance. A real masterpiece.
Option of three: Atle P – Eline – Swing’It – depends on who is the best on the night in Trondheim!
Atle!
A pretty solid national final as always for Norway. My top vote goes to Ulrikke and I have Elsie in my second place. Even if Ulrikke is the frontrunner, anything can happen still. It will be interesting to see how the 50-50 jury-televote mix will play out given that 2021 and 2022 were televoting-only contests (and in none of them did my personal MGP winners do as good as I wanted them to) .
Also the running order for the final has been announced. Seeing Alessandra Mele close the show possibly means that she has a big televoting appeal. Elsie Bay also has a good position, which means that she is still considered a favourite. Ulrikke performing 4th is a bit too early in the show and I am kinda afraid by that. It’s still a battle between Ulrikke and Alessandra as of now in my book but Alessandra certainly gains a boost in the televoting with her running order.
Oh wow, where is it?
I saw the running order in Wikipedia
The running order is mentioned in this article and poll 🙂
The running order is mentioned in this article and poll 🙂
Atle.