Norway: Gåte wins MGP – To Eurovision 2024 with "Ulveham"
The Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix 2024 took place tonight inside Trondheim Spektrum. After four shows, Gåte won with the song "Ulveham" and will represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö
Over the past three weeks, Norway had been gearing up toward the Final of Melodi Grand Prix 2024, with three heats and 18 songs.
Tonight it was time for the nine finalists to compete, going all out to win the right to represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
After an intense evening and voting from both the Norwegian public (60%) and an international jury (40%), the result was clear: Gåte was the winner of MGP 2024 and will represent Norway in Malmö with the song "Ulveham."
"Ulveham" was written by Gunnhild Sundli, Jon Even Schärer, Magnus Børmark, Marit Jensen Lillebuen, Ronny Graff Janssen, and Sveinung Eklo Sundli.
Melodi Grand Prix 2024 – Final
Gåte
Gåte is a Norwegian group that plays a mix of rock, metal, and Norwegian folk music. The band consists of Gunnhild Sundli, Magnus Børmark, Jon Even Schärer, Mats Paulsen, and John Stenersen.
After having their breakthrough in the beginning of the 2000s, Gåte quickly established themselves as a national treasure in Norway. They quickly made the transition from the practice basement to large stages thanks to their distinctive blend of aggressive rock and traditional Norwegian folk music.
In 2002, they won the Norwegian award Spellemannprisen for newcomer of the year with the album "Jygri." In addition, they were nominated in the rock category in 2004 for the album "Iselilja" but didn't win.
The group took a break after playing its last concert in 2005. They made a comeback in 2017 with the single "Attersyn," followed by the album "Svevn" in 2018.
Rewritten Ulveham
Their song "Ulveham" had to be rewritten for the Norwegian MGP Final. That was the message the group received just a week before the Norwegian Final. So, the lyrics we heard tonight were different from the lyrics in Heat 2 of MGP.
The first version of "Ulveham" had exactly the same lyrics as a 1,000-year-old medieval song. Norwegian broadcaster NRK decided that Gåte's song must be rewritten with new lyrics for the MGP Final, as the contest requires original songs. The song's title and historical theme stayed the same.
Melodi Grand Prix 2024
Melodi Grand Prix 2024 consisted of four shows: Three heats and a final:
- Heat 1: 13 January 2024
- Heat 2: 20 January 2024
- Heat 3: 27 January 2024
- Final: 3 February 2024
In each of the heats, six songs were performed, and three songs qualified for the Final (decided by 100% televoting). In the Final, the result was based on 60% televoting and 40% international jury.
All shows were hosted by Marion Ravn and Fredrik Solvang.
Norway in Eurovision
Since their debut in 1960, Norway has participated in Eurovision 61 times. They have won the competition three times:
In 2009, Alexander Rybak's Fairytale received the most points ever in the old voting system: 387 points – getting 12 points from 16 countries. However, Norway holds another Eurovision record; the country that has finished last the most times – 10 last place finishes!
Since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004, Norway has been very successful; qualifying for the Grand Final 16 out of 19 times.
