The first songs for Norway's Melodi Grand Prix 2009 have been decided, and today Norwegian broadcaster NRK made the titles and writers of eleven of them public.

The following songs will compete in the three semifinals of the Melodi Grand Prix 2009, which will be held in Kongsvinger on January 24, Bodø on January 31 and Grenland on February 7. It has not yet been clarified which song will enter which semifinal, or which artists will present each song.

Additionally, NRK confirmed that the usual four broadcasts will now become five, with a live Siste Sjansen round at Ålesund.

Two of a Kind
Music: Trond Andreassen
Lyrics: Trond Andreassen and Christian Bloom

Trond is known as the vocalist and songwriter for the rock band Ricochets, which he formed together with Alexander Kloster-Jensen in 1998. The band soon gained a reputation as one of Norway's best live bands, and toured Norway, England and Scotland. They have released three critically claimed albums: Slo-mo Suicide (2000), The Ghost of Our Love (2003) and Isolation (2005).

Ride
Music and lyrics: Marte Wulff

Marte Wulff's debut record Jacket (2006) grabbed a lot of media attention and airplay, and was nominated for the Spellemannsprise "Newcomer of the Year" award. Since then, he has released Safety Pins (2007), and is known amongst other things for the duet Racing with Erik Faber, which went to the top of the charts in Norway.

Seven Seconds
Music and lyrics: Simone Larsen

Simone is known as the vocalist and songwriter for the band D'Sound, which was formed in 1993 and debuted with the record Spice of Life in 1996. The band won the Spellemannsprisen for "Best Pop Album" with Beauty is a Blessing (1998), and in total has released five albums. In 2005, Simone released her first solo album Last Days and Nights.

Men, Men, Men!
Music and lyrics: Hilde Marstrander

Hilde was born and raised in Oslo, and was involved with starting up The Rebelettes, was part of the surf band Honey Lulu's, and formed Chicas del Coro with Hege Austheim in 1998. In 2001, she wrote Drive On with Vidar Busk, which was a radio hi, and she has written several songs for the blues band Texas Twisters. Hilde works as an editor, journalist and illustrator.

Do It Again
Music and lyrics: Hanne Sørvaag and Harry Sommerdahl

This duo wrote the American Idol song (and Maria Arredondo's number one single in Norway) Brief and Beautiful. In a short space of time, Hanne has managed to break into the international songwriting market. As well as having written songs for American Idol, she is noted for being the composer of Disappear, which represented Germany with No Angels at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Belgrade.

Tricky
Music and lyrics: Hanne Sørvaag og N2, Niklas Bergwall og Niclas Kings

Find My Girl
Music and lyrics: Alexander Stenerud

Alexander Stenerud is familiar from his participation in the band Zuma, formed in 1995 with Henrik Njaa. Their debut album Juno was released in 2001 and sold 18,000 copies. The band has achieved several big radio hits from both Juno and their other album Rainboy (2003). Zuma has been nominated for the Spellemannsprisen and Hit Awards, and was in the Siste Sjansen round of the 2008 Melodi Grand Prix with the song Always Always.

Fairytale
Music and lyrics: Alexander Rybak

Alexander is a musician, composer and actor. He has taken to the stage with Arve Tellefsen and Morten Harket, amongst others. He won the Kjempesjansen show on NRK in 2006, and in 2007 he played in the Oslo Nye Teater and was awarded the Heddaprisen for his contribution.

Sweeter Than a Kiss
Music and lyrics: Christian Ingebrigtsen and Laila Samuelsen

Laila is the vocalist for The Tuesdays, and is a well-known songwriter who has penned hits for Alejandro Fuentes, Maria Arrodondo, Venke Knutson and many others. She has collaborated as a writer on over 25 albums.

Christian is one of Norway's best-selling artists as part of the band A1. The group topped charts internationally with hits such as Everytime, Caught in the Middle, Take on Me and Summertime of Our Lives. He started his solo career in 2003.

U Look Good
Music: Suferosa and Lars-Erik Westby
Lyrics: Mariann Thomassen

Surferosa is a Norwegian pop / rock band which was formed in 2000. Their debut album was called Shanghai My Heart (2003) and since then they have released The Force (2005) and The Beat on the Street (2008). Mariann is Surferosa's frontwoman, while Lars-Erik is a producer and composer. He has recently worked with diverse artists such as Surferosa themselves, D'Sound and Karen Jo Fields.

Butterflies
Music: David Eriksen
Lyrics: Tone Damli Aaberge and Mats Li Skåre

David Eriksen works as a songwriter and producer, and has worked with international artists such as Clay Aiken, Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson. In Norway he has worked with Name, Venke Knutsson and Tone Damli Aaberge, amongst others. In 2005, Eriksen was a member of the jury on Norwegian Idol 2005.

Mats Lie Skåre is a songwriter and producer with Eccentric Music, together with David Eriksen and Thomas Eriksen.

Tone Damli Aaberge is known as the second-placed contestant in Norwegian Idol 2005, and since then has released Bliss (2005) and Sweet Fever (2007).