popavapeur
Well-known member
oooooooooh 
Norway NORWAY 2016 - Agnete - Icebreaker
- Thread starter escYOUnited
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I don't know what happened here. I thought she was one of the best ones last night. And the song is among the best ones too. The only explanation is that people got bored of songs like this. She deserved the final more than for sure though.
for sure though.
VikingTiger
Well-known member
I was really surprised that Agnete didnt qualify last night. I had startet to warm up to the song. But I remember the first times I heard it - I didnt like it much....But now I dont even notice the tempo-change, and I find the chorus VERY good.
I loved the staging myself. The focus was on Agnete - and the scene was icy-cold (norwegian). I am pretty sure it was the song itself that didnt catch the attention of the televoters; most heard this for the first time. And maybe not the attention of the juries either?
I am not too disappointed - this is the first song since 2012 that I havent loved our entry.
I loved the staging myself. The focus was on Agnete - and the scene was icy-cold (norwegian). I am pretty sure it was the song itself that didnt catch the attention of the televoters; most heard this for the first time. And maybe not the attention of the juries either?
I am not too disappointed - this is the first song since 2012 that I havent loved our entry.
joancamo
Member
- Joined
- January 11, 2014
- Posts
- 564
I think her non-qualification was a combination of many factors, one was the feeling that it seemed like the combination of 2 songs instead of one and another one that she didn't attend the eurovision promo events, meets and greets, red carpet, press conference so she lost a lot of publicity for her entry there and I think this cost her the qualification.
VikingTiger
Well-known member
The promo events, the meetings etc.. Do you really think that matters??? The juries are not taking part in that. Nore are the generel tv-viewer. And even many fans (like myself) couldnt care less about what happes in interviews, on the red carpet etc. I never read or listen to interviews with the artists. What interest me is the songs and the performance. If they are a "nice person" or not... well... I couldnt care less.
To me it was clearly the norwegian song that people didnt like this year. Dozens of red carpets, promos or interviews couldnt have saved Norway this year...
ag89
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 17, 2015
- Posts
- 1,729
Norway and Denmark this year were the countries I didn't even think of during the Eurovision season.
It's like they even didn't participate. I know, Norway had its own issues this year and Danish song did nothing to me so I definitely had a feeling Norway plus Denmark were not there at all.
It's like they even didn't participate. I know, Norway had its own issues this year and Danish song did nothing to me so I definitely had a feeling Norway plus Denmark were not there at all.
Time for me to review the Norwegian entry this year
Agnete - Icebreaker
Status: Yes! You've got my stamp of approval!
Song: In recent years, Norway have sent this, that and the other. I've witnessed their last victory to date as I started watching the contest in 2009, and it seems like after two years of cheapness (2011-2012), they've found themselves again and achieved respectable results from 2013. I loved "I Feed You My Love" and "A Monster Like Me" and I was curious about what they would send after selecting ballads two years in a row. As far as I remember, "Icebreaker" got mixed comments on the forum, mainly because it was perceived as two different songs in one. The song is about promising someone to be there for him/her since he/she goes through difficult times and can't fight his/her way through life alone. Knowing Agnete's health issues, the lyrics actually lead to another interpretation, she might be talking to herself, to her dark side that makes her suffer. It is about the glimmer of hope that she'll get better one day and she must not give up on life. Personally, I find the lyrics touching and the images used are so well expressed: "Like a northern light, you're dancing over every border line, passing every sign, between reality and fiction"... I'm not going to analyze all the lines in detail - we don't know if there was an actual hidden message behind them - but that part could accurately describe how she perceives bipolarity. Anyway, I'm lyrically positively surprised, it is rather well written and open to interpretation. Musically: it starts with slow electronic arrangements and Agnete's soothing voice, it is kind of dreamy somehow and reminds me of the beginning of Euphoria which uses the same build-up and musical patterns. When the pre-chorus starts off, a light beat slightly accelerates the pace while still being in line with the original tempo. The transition from the pre-chorus to the chorus has been "controversial" and one of the main reasons why the song received negative comments. Yes, the tempo, the beat and the melodic lines are different from the rest (it is slower) and I just love it personally: it is actually what makes this song special and interesting, tempo change is a bold decision when it comes to the chorus, we don't hear that that often and I guess we've never had something similar before in Eurovision. BUT I still don't understand what is so disconcerting about it, it does not make the song sound "wobbly" and the atmosphere remains the same Go listen to Lana Del Rey's "West Coast" or Girl's Generation "I Got A Boy" and you'll see what "4 songs in one" actually means. 
So, let's get back to the song: during the chorus, synthesizers and discreet electronic sounds enhance the powerfulness of it, I like how the line "Frozen water" - the way Agnete sings it - turns into a musical hook that may be remembered, it is quite catchy to me. When it ends, there is a smart transition of a few seconds playing on "music fade", which re-introduces the listener to the slightly faster arrangements of the beginning. During the bridge, they decided to keep the faster pace without the beat, which enabled them to keep the tempo constrast of the last chorus without sounding repetitive since the verses had already the same arrangements, and they used a long vocal note to make the final transition, which I find clever and nice to listen to, it was unexpected. Overall, this is a nice pop song with electro arrangements, the originality of it comes from the tempo change introduced by the choruses, which imo makes the listener keep on paying attention to what's going on since it's not the same beat from start to end. I appreciate the soothing atmosphere of the verses (in line with the lyrics that tend to introspection) that clash with the explosion of the chorus (it actually fits the image of an "Icebreaker", as breaking ice definitely makes noise). Honestly, this is a really good song to me: modern without being totally formulaic, accessible and rather catchy without being in your face... Besides, there is a coherence between lyrics and music. Strong effort from Norway imo.
Voice: I discovered the song live (during the semi) so I couldn't judge her vocals at first listen, but now that I know the studio version, I can say Agnete did a really good job, I almost prefer the live performance to the original track. She seemed to sing effortlessly and took care to reproduce the different vocal shades (soothing and strong) throughout the song. She held the long note like a champ too, and even allowed herself to make some slight melodic changes towards the end. There is nothing more she could have done to do justice to the song, thankfully, she didn't oversing it.
Staging: I have to admit that I didn't remember anything visually when I first watched the semi. When re-catching the performance, this is actually subtle but pretty good: Agnete started singing in the dark, but unlike her colleagues who opted for that idea this year, the light was not pointed at her back but her calves, which enlightened a part of her dress until other white spotlights were lit to create light games. Agnete stood on a little platform just above one of the stage's pool of light, and a female dancer in a partly translucent black dress started dancing on the second platform. The lights turned blue, the floor was covered in smoke and the backdrops briefly displayed a "blue wave" that looked like a slice of ice. During the chorus, the smoke columns were used and another blue ice-inspired background appeared, strobe lights added a little bit more life to the stage while accompanying the electronic sounds of the chorus. I found the dancer kind of out of the place visually, but meaning-wise it made sense as she represented her "dark side" as I said previously. The camera shots showing the blue floor surrounded by white lights at the beginning of the two last choruses were beautiful imo. During the bridge, moving shades of blue and green were reminiscent of the northern lights previously mentioned in the lyrics. All this was very subtle too me, but very nice to watch and imo sufficient, the performance didn't need more than that. To me, it's probably the best Norwegian staging since Fairytale, it doesn't say much, but I genuinely think everything was well put together. Agnete wore a long white skirt and a matching white top - with shoulder pads and sleeves - that let show a part of her stomach. Both garments had motifs resembling lace or moucharaby. It was nice.
Outcome: Norway failed to qualify for the first time since 2011, placing 13th both with juries and televoters, and 13th overall. I didn't see that coming tbh, without thinking this effort would be top 5 in the semi, I strongly believed she was a safe qualifier. I can't understand why it didn't have enough appeal tbh: modern song, good vocals, lyrics with an actual meaning, more than decent staging... I'm confused that it didn't even appealed to one of the parties: both definitely rejected it. Whatever, "Icebreaker" placed 6th in my personal ranking, I love the song and - even though I didn't expect them to reach the top 10 in the final - they deserved at least to get through imo. Every year there is a great injustice in terms of non-qualification, and out of all the countries that didn't get through, Norway is the one for me. Anyway, thank you for your 2016 contribution guys, I enjoyed it very much and think it was robbed. See you next year, I hope to hear another good song from you.
Agnete - Icebreaker
Status: Yes! You've got my stamp of approval!
Song: In recent years, Norway have sent this, that and the other. I've witnessed their last victory to date as I started watching the contest in 2009, and it seems like after two years of cheapness (2011-2012), they've found themselves again and achieved respectable results from 2013. I loved "I Feed You My Love" and "A Monster Like Me" and I was curious about what they would send after selecting ballads two years in a row. As far as I remember, "Icebreaker" got mixed comments on the forum, mainly because it was perceived as two different songs in one. The song is about promising someone to be there for him/her since he/she goes through difficult times and can't fight his/her way through life alone. Knowing Agnete's health issues, the lyrics actually lead to another interpretation, she might be talking to herself, to her dark side that makes her suffer. It is about the glimmer of hope that she'll get better one day and she must not give up on life. Personally, I find the lyrics touching and the images used are so well expressed: "Like a northern light, you're dancing over every border line, passing every sign, between reality and fiction"... I'm not going to analyze all the lines in detail - we don't know if there was an actual hidden message behind them - but that part could accurately describe how she perceives bipolarity. Anyway, I'm lyrically positively surprised, it is rather well written and open to interpretation. Musically: it starts with slow electronic arrangements and Agnete's soothing voice, it is kind of dreamy somehow and reminds me of the beginning of Euphoria which uses the same build-up and musical patterns. When the pre-chorus starts off, a light beat slightly accelerates the pace while still being in line with the original tempo. The transition from the pre-chorus to the chorus has been "controversial" and one of the main reasons why the song received negative comments. Yes, the tempo, the beat and the melodic lines are different from the rest (it is slower) and I just love it personally: it is actually what makes this song special and interesting, tempo change is a bold decision when it comes to the chorus, we don't hear that that often and I guess we've never had something similar before in Eurovision. BUT I still don't understand what is so disconcerting about it, it does not make the song sound "wobbly" and the atmosphere remains the same
Go listen to Lana Del Rey's "West Coast" or Girl's Generation "I Got A Boy" and you'll see what "4 songs in one" actually means. So, let's get back to the song: during the chorus, synthesizers and discreet electronic sounds enhance the powerfulness of it, I like how the line "Frozen water" - the way Agnete sings it - turns into a musical hook that may be remembered, it is quite catchy to me. When it ends, there is a smart transition of a few seconds playing on "music fade", which re-introduces the listener to the slightly faster arrangements of the beginning. During the bridge, they decided to keep the faster pace without the beat, which enabled them to keep the tempo constrast of the last chorus without sounding repetitive since the verses had already the same arrangements, and they used a long vocal note to make the final transition, which I find clever and nice to listen to, it was unexpected. Overall, this is a nice pop song with electro arrangements, the originality of it comes from the tempo change introduced by the choruses, which imo makes the listener keep on paying attention to what's going on since it's not the same beat from start to end. I appreciate the soothing atmosphere of the verses (in line with the lyrics that tend to introspection) that clash with the explosion of the chorus (it actually fits the image of an "Icebreaker", as breaking ice definitely makes noise). Honestly, this is a really good song to me: modern without being totally formulaic, accessible and rather catchy without being in your face... Besides, there is a coherence between lyrics and music. Strong effort from Norway imo.Voice: I discovered the song live (during the semi) so I couldn't judge her vocals at first listen, but now that I know the studio version, I can say Agnete did a really good job, I almost prefer the live performance to the original track. She seemed to sing effortlessly and took care to reproduce the different vocal shades (soothing and strong) throughout the song. She held the long note like a champ too, and even allowed herself to make some slight melodic changes towards the end. There is nothing more she could have done to do justice to the song, thankfully, she didn't oversing it.
Staging: I have to admit that I didn't remember anything visually when I first watched the semi. When re-catching the performance, this is actually subtle but pretty good: Agnete started singing in the dark, but unlike her colleagues who opted for that idea this year, the light was not pointed at her back but her calves, which enlightened a part of her dress until other white spotlights were lit to create light games. Agnete stood on a little platform just above one of the stage's pool of light, and a female dancer in a partly translucent black dress started dancing on the second platform. The lights turned blue, the floor was covered in smoke and the backdrops briefly displayed a "blue wave" that looked like a slice of ice. During the chorus, the smoke columns were used and another blue ice-inspired background appeared, strobe lights added a little bit more life to the stage while accompanying the electronic sounds of the chorus. I found the dancer kind of out of the place visually, but meaning-wise it made sense as she represented her "dark side" as I said previously. The camera shots showing the blue floor surrounded by white lights at the beginning of the two last choruses were beautiful imo. During the bridge, moving shades of blue and green were reminiscent of the northern lights previously mentioned in the lyrics. All this was very subtle too me, but very nice to watch and imo sufficient, the performance didn't need more than that. To me, it's probably the best Norwegian staging since Fairytale, it doesn't say much, but I genuinely think everything was well put together. Agnete wore a long white skirt and a matching white top - with shoulder pads and sleeves - that let show a part of her stomach. Both garments had motifs resembling lace or moucharaby. It was nice.
Outcome: Norway failed to qualify for the first time since 2011, placing 13th both with juries and televoters, and 13th overall. I didn't see that coming tbh, without thinking this effort would be top 5 in the semi, I strongly believed she was a safe qualifier. I can't understand why it didn't have enough appeal tbh: modern song, good vocals, lyrics with an actual meaning, more than decent staging... I'm confused that it didn't even appealed to one of the parties: both definitely rejected it. Whatever, "Icebreaker" placed 6th in my personal ranking, I love the song and - even though I didn't expect them to reach the top 10 in the final - they deserved at least to get through imo. Every year there is a great injustice in terms of non-qualification, and out of all the countries that didn't get through, Norway is the one for me. Anyway, thank you for your 2016 contribution guys, I enjoyed it very much and think it was robbed. See you next year, I hope to hear another good song from you.
RomanFromRussia
Well-known member
Boring performance with mediocre and unremarkable song. Predictable flop.
GianlucaTomoe
Banned
This is not the Finland 2012 thread.
RomanFromRussia
Well-known member
And I speak about the Icebreaker.