Introduction

In the Norwegian national selection, which is called MGP Melodi Grand Prix, there were three semi finals and one big final, which all took place in the Oslo Spectrum. Unlike other years where the show toured all over Norway this MGP was more compact. There were nine finalists and one clear and outstanding favourite: Carl Espen. He won the Norwegian national final with the song “Silent Storm”, which has been composed by his cousin Josefin Winther.

Carl Espen Thorbjørnsen was born in 1982 in Osterøy, close to Bergen. He grew up with two siblings in a family were music was has been cultivated. Both Carl and his cousin Josefin followed their passion for music. In an early age Carl has won a talent contest in Osterøy. While Josefin has become an established artists and songwriter, who is now living in London, Carl has firstly chosen a solid way as carpenter, worked as a doorman for a nightclub, went to the Kosovo as a soldier, but he was always singing and inspired by Josefin. Josefin has also discovered that Carl’s voice is truly outstanding. Therefore she especially wrote a song for him, from which Carl knew from the first second that this truly is his song. He has already signed a record contract with Sony Music.

“Silent Storm” is a heart warming ballad with a unique atmosphere and depth. The song is about searching for one’s place in the world and describes that someone finds out that this is not the place he wants to be. This can cause a silent storm within a person. Carl’s voice is magnificent, almost fragile, even if he looks like a rock star. “Silent Storm” is one of the strongest ballads this year and can certainly get a top position in the Grand Final. His unpretentious and natural appearance will definitely polarize as the ESC is popular for glitter and glamour, but maybe exactly this contradistinction can make the difference. A top favourite in Copenhagen!

History

Participations: 53

Debut: 1960

Biggest success: 3x 1st place 1985 “La Det Swinge” by Bobbysocks, 1995 “Nocturne” by Secret Garden, 2009 “Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak, 1x 2nd place “I Evighet” by Elisabeth Andreassen, 1x 3rd place “Intet Er Nytt Under Solen” by Åse Kleveland in 1966, 3x 4th place, 3x 5th place, 1x 6th place, 2x 7th place, 2x 8th place, 3x 9th place, 1x 10th place

This year, Norway celebrates its 53rd anniversary in regards of participations in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the past Norway had the bad luck being last or ending up with zero points, but things have changed. Altogether there have been three victories: “La de swinge” by Bobbysocks in 1985, “Nocturne” by Secret Garden in 1995 and “Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak in 2009. Beside of that there were 16 Top 10 places, so there is nothing to complain about. The most memorable performances out of these were: “Romeo” by Ketil Stokkan in 1986 (12th rank), “Alle mine tankar” by Silje Vige in 1993 (5th rank) and “I Evighet” by Elisabeth Andreassen in 1996 (2nd rank).There have only been two years, Norway did not qualify for the grand final in 2007 and 2011. Last year Margaret Berger could achieve a great 4th rank in Malmö with “I Feed You With My Love”.