12points.tv

Today NRK started their quest for Eurovision 2012. Norway seems determined to get the contest back. The Norwegian broadcaster has started the difficult the difficult task to find Norway's ESC hope in 2012. With Alexander Rybak's victory only two years ago, the Norwegians have not given up hope yet, after two years of not having been too successful. Didrik Solli-Tangen did not have the country return to the top ten in 2010 as all Norwegians expected, and catchy Haba Haba by Stella Mwangi did not even manage to make it to the final! 2012 will bring new chances!

Norwegians didn't choose this song to go to ESC2012. Shame on you all!

I have been covering Norway's Melodi Grand Prix this year and watching in horror as songs that could win many points for Norway get left behind by the public vote. Then again - my criteria for a successful Eurovision song is usually weighed in how over the top it is, and this could be something the Norwegians just find simply revolting. Like the Swedes, they may want something they feel most comfortable with. But this song, "Shapeshifter", happens to be excellent and very well thought out. It's a travesty that this won't make it to Baku... or will it? Norway picks three songs in each of their 3 semi-finals, but the song with the best fourth-place ranking will make it into the MGP Final. So there is a small chance it could compete again, but what a waste of a good song in the meantime.

Here's the result of the 12points jury: did we find the song had shape, or was relatively shapeless?

Song/Lyrics - 12/12
This melody owes a lot to artists like David Guetta and Usher, which is a good thing. About time some modern dance songs made their way into Eurovision, sung by an artist who really knows how to handle the genre. The lyrics are very goofy - they sound like they were written after Rikke read all the "Twilight" novels. This song has a lot of what Eurovision semi-final songs seem to lack this year - fun. 

Performance - 12/12
Great. Confident and happy and seamlessly performed. Rikke is the strongest singer I've seen so far in MGP. The fact that she can hit those high notes and flip right back into her chest voice, a la Whitney Houston, is a skill that is lacking in a lot of Eurovision singers today.

Choreography (including Arm-ography and Hair-ography) - 10/12
Rikke's nerdy backing boys are hilarious and a-dork-able. This loses the top score because a few of them threaten to upstage her while she's singing. And also, the lyrics are more about wolves and primal desires and she has a bunch of nerds dancing with her. But I'm being picky. Watch the choreography carefully, especially what goes on in the background.  Very interesting.

Key Change Effectiveness - 0/12
A key change wasn't deemed necessary, but the song does well without it. Nul points though, according to the jury.

Camp Factor - 12/12
Totally OTT. And Rikke looks fantastic in what she is wearing.

TOTAL: 46/60.  Would have loved to have given this some more points, but the key change dragged it down. Let's hope this song still has a last minute chance in the final. If you like Rikke, check out this soul oddity from last year's Melodi Grand Prix.

News Round-up of the day. Nanne, Lena and Eric, Swedish diva's that will release albums this autumn.

Today their manager declares the Irish twin brothers, John and Edward are not gay. The guys are currently taking part in Big Brother in the UK. 

News Round-up of the day. As it is expected to be one of the most interesting places for tourists during Eurovision, the Seaside Boulevard in Baku will be extended to 2 km.

The first six months of 2011 brought 15% more tourists to Azerbaijan. Actually it doubled the last ten years! Most of them are from Russia, Iran, Georgia and Turkey. Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest gives Azerbaijan the opportunity to show the world it's a desirable travel destination.

News Round-up of the day. Jedward in the spotlights again, last night they sang their new song Wow oh wow in 'the Late Late show'.

TROS, the dutch broadcaster, closed the suitcase last night at 00.00h. About 450 entries were submitted to get a ticket to the National selection. At the end of november names and songs will be announced. The National selection will take part on 26th of february 2012.

News Round-up of the day. Norway determined to do well, is making its national final bigger than ever.

24 songs in stead of 21, no more last chance heat, a pre show every thursday before a semi final. These are some of the changes presented by NRKtoday. Ørland, Larvik and Florø will host a semifinal. The final will be in Oslo like in recent years. 

A ballad, a teenager and some car repairmen advance to the Norwegian final.

Tonight was the first of three heats of Norway's Melodi Grand Prix. 24 songs compete to take over from last year's song and perhaps beat last year's entry Stella Mwangi for big hairstyles. The three songs Norway chose were:

1. HIGH ON YOU by Reidun Sæther. A clearly nervous Reidun sang well, and even had a catwalk as part of her song.
2. SOMEWHERE BEAUTIFUL by Nora Foss al-Jabri. General Eurovision chatter says that this song will win MGP. An excellent performance - and she's only 15.
3. DON'T TOUCH THE FLAME by The Carburetors. Rock and roll, slicked back hair and some nice sideburns... that's about it. 

Have a listen to "Somewhere Beautiful" - what do you think?

News Round-up of the day. The Norwegians have presented one more candaidate in MGP 2012: Kim André Rysstad.

Rysstad, a folk musician and big Withney Houston fan is ready for his biggest asignment ever: Melodi Grand Prix. A total of eight artists have been revealed so far for the Norwegian Eurovision selection.

News Round-up of the day. Slovenia will take the next step towards finding their star for Baku, tonight.

Eight artists (Manuela Brečko, Flora Ema Lotrič, Gašper Rifelj, Nika in Eva Prusnik, Nika Zorjan, Nadja Irgolič, Brina Vidic and Eva Boto) will become seven in Misija Evrovizija. The show can be watched live on the web.

No less than six national selection shows will be televised this weekend. Her is an overviews, so you won't have to miss any of them.

Malta kicks off tonight, starting the night with 25 artists ending it with the 16 that will line up in the final tomorrow. Our favorits (in this order) are 1. Kurt C; 2 Claudia F; 3. Fabrizio F 4. Deborah C, 5. Annalise. Tune in at 20:35 CET.

Tomorrow not only the Maltese national final will take place, but also 4 more will do their best to get closer to finding their representative in Baku. Watch the show here at 20:35 CET.