The past three Saturday’s have given six lucky acts a place in the Norwegian final. Minutes ago Sie Gubba and The Lucky Bullets qualified via the so-called "Last Chance" competition, making the line-up for the final on the 12th of February complete.
All 21 songs competing in this year’s Norwegian selection have been performed during three ordinary heats. The TV viewers have been voting and six songs chosen for the final. Tonight 8 songs competed for the absolute last chance to still be in the running for a chance to represent Norway at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest.
The 8 acts are made up by the third and fourth position in the three previous heats and the two 5th placements that received the most votes:
From first heat: 4. place Sie Gubba and 3. place Use Me
From second heat: 4. place Mimi Blix and 3. place Endre
From third heat: 4th place Susperia and 3. place The Lucky Bullets
Best two 5th placements: Gata’s Parlament and Pernille and Marius
The procedure:
Tonight’s "last chance" heat was decided by duels. In first round, where voting (only SMS as it needs to go fast) was open from first song is starting to the end of the second one, the duels were as follow:
1. Use Me v. Pernille and Marius
Use Me sings My Heart Goes Boom, the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in year 2000, when asked how they feel. Pernille was thrilled about the audience and wondering if they could beat Use Me who have had a lot of posters up in the city during the week. The winner was Use Me.
2. Sie Gubba v. Mimi Blix
Sie Gubba have a 19 year old bandmember and they are quite impressed about how well he does on stage in such a young age. Mimi wants to add that the audience was fantastic. The winner was Sie Gubba.
3. Gata’s Parlament v. The lucky Bullets
Gata’s Parlament says that they actually voted for their opponent and that they don’t mind if they lose to them. The Lucky Bullets wanted to show that rockabilly is cooler than hip hop, but they walks down the stage to the green room singing the song from Gata’s Parlament. The winner was The Lucky Bullets.
4. Endre v. Susperia
Endre thinks it was fantastic being on the stage and then he wants to send a greetings to some old school friends in the area. Susperia is really exhausted when they come down from the stage. They have clearly used a lot of energy and can barely talk. The winner was Susperia.
After a 40 minutes break the show was back with two more duels. This time you could vote for all four remaining songs as soon as first song started and until it was announced that voting was over.
The two duels were:
1. Use Me v. Sie Gubba
2. The Lucky Bullets v. Susperia
The two lucky winners, who qualified for the last available places in the final, are…… Sie Gubba and The Lucky Bullets.
Sie Gubba and The Lucky Bullets gives a little taste of what they can do together when they in green room sings Voi Voi from 1960. This song is classic in Norway as it was their very first Eurovision Song Contest entry. Back then Nora Brockstedt finished 4th with this song.
The show:
The three ordinary heat tonight’s show has featured a previous Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest participant being musically paired with a national finalist. Tonight things were a little bit different as both parts had represented Norway in the international contest; Maria Haukaas Mittet (at that time Storeng) and Wig Wam. Maria came 5th in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with Hold On Be Strong; three years after Wig Wam brought home a 9th place with their In My Dreams.
Maria starts out in a white romantic dress and Wig Wam’s singer in a dark Dracula coat, which he then takes off. The give a very interesting performance of In My Dreams, which is clearly inspired by Phantom Of The Opera. The song is made into a dramatic ballad and is nothing else but fantastic. Maria takes clothes off quite a lot of times – one of the outfits being Bobbysocks‘s dress from 1985. Maria’s song Hold On Be Strong is mixed into the song and later it ends with Sing For Me, a Phantom Of The Opera trademark line.
