“I Can’t Escape” beat out “Coming Home” in the Gold Duel of tonight’s Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix to advance to the Grand Final on February 20, 2021.
On the way to the Gold Duel, “Coming Home” beat “Bli med meg på gar’n”, while “I Can’t Escape” emerged victorious against “Walking In My Sleep”. The non-qualifying songs will have a second opportunity to return in the Second Chance round on Monday, February 15, 2021, for the last spot to the Grand Finale.
Duel One:
RIVER’s “Coming Home” advanced over TuVeia’s “Bli med meg på gar’n” in the first duel, with an emotive, yet fun, pop-country song.
We went back to the Norwegian countryside with a very agrarian-inspired staging for TuVeia. The staging was very lively and dynamic filled with acrobats and cartoon farm animals. There were even pop-up animals coming from behind the pastures. The artists themselves joined in the tricks and cheers. The song was a refreshing and unique way to start MGP, down to irreverent but fun clucking.
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RIVER brought their pop-country entry with so much positive energy and a pared-back staging. The obvious emphasis was on the song and the vocals and they delivered on that front. The pyrotechnical works were a good touch to bring even more energy to the stage. The song and performance were incredibly intimate and brought happy vibes to the MGP stage.
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Duel Two:
In the second duel, IMERIKA’s “I Can’t Escape” beat out Ane.Fin’s “Walking In My Sleep” with an emotionally-charged ballad that built towards quite the stage moment.
Ane.Fin gave us a memorizing stag performing, it felt almost surreal. And then we get the attitude drop onto a bold red stage. The performance was full of sass, empowerment, and incredible lo-fi vibes. There was a lot of great contrast and an extremely dynamic staging with great vocals.
Source: Eurovision National Finals YouTube Channel
IMERIKA brought an extremely pared-back staging to begin ger emotional ballad. Colorful projections contrasted with the black void behind her in an extremely metaphorical stage. Slowly the stage begins collecting more beams of lights and the accompanying instruments in its trajectory towards the build. Then the climax hits with a powerful lights show that still manages to keep the focus on IMERIKA.
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Some Eurovision fans may have noticed that the link for MGP 2021 totally crashed in the middle of Ane.Fin’s “Walking In My Sleep” for about 30 minutes. That was a bit awkward for everyone.
Tonight’s Pre-Qualified Artist:
Rein Alexander’s pop-funk “Eyes Wide Open” had its debut on the MGP stage, having been released the song earlier this week. The 49-year-old from Bergen is a versatile singer, having trained and work in various countries and having become a sensation in the Norwegian theater scene. He is well remembered for having narrowly missed out on the Superfinal at MGP 2020 despite huge fan support. This year, Rein is hoping to turn that around and win MGP 2021, and as an automatic qualifier, he is off to a good start.
You can see his performance below:
Source: Eurovision National Finals YouTube Channel
Next Monday, the fifteen songs that did not qualify directly to the final will have one last chance to get a coveted spot to the MGP Final next Saturday. Next Saturday, February 20, 2021, Norway will choose their representative at Rotterdam!
What do #YOU think of tonight’s performances? Is there an act #YOU felt was unfairly eliminated from MGP? Let us know in the comments below, in our forum, or on social media.
