All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 39 entries in random order. Part eighteen of the series is dedicated to the Norwegian entry.

Basic information

Performer:	Didrik Solli-Tangen
Song:	My heart is yours
Language:	English
Music:	Hanne Sørvaag, Fredrik Kempe
Lyrics:	Hanne Sørvaag, Fredrik Kempe
Draw:	3rd in the final

The song

My heart is yours is a classical ballad. Through the lyrics, the singer confirms that he is loving someone no matter the distance between them:

And when I cannot see you
I know you're still there

Because my heart is yours I'll never leave you
Though we are far apart I'm by your side
My love is never gone, I feel it rise again
Through it all now my heart is yours

The performer

Didrik Solli-Tangen is from Porsgrunn in the county of Telemark. According to himself, his music experience before he competed in MGP was limited to some local concerts in his home area, and some competitions. He had originally been the drummer of his first band but was later chosen to perform backing vocals.

Didrik Solli-Tangen is trained in classical singing and he is currently studying at the Barratt Due muikkinstitutt in Oslo. 2009 Eurovision Song Contest winner Alexander Rybak is an alumni of that institute, too. In 2009, Didrik performed as an opera singer in various town in the United States.

The singer entered the Norwegian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest after having been discovered by songwriter Hanne Sørvaag. He could win the national final will therefore represent his country on homeground. My heart is yours is also a commercial success and peaked at number two in the single charts.

The songwriters

The Norwegian entry was written by Hanne Sørvaag and Fredrik Kempe. Hanne Sørvaag is a singer and songwriter, who has released two albums so far. She has also written songs for many international artists. Among others, she co-wrote the songs My destiny for American Idol finalist Katharine McFee and Bring me down for Nikki, which was a top four hit in the Netherlands. She co-wrote the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008: Disppear was performed by No Angels and finished equal 23rd and hence last in the final in Belgrade. Hanne Sørvaag is Norwegian but she currently lives in Sweden. Fredrik Kempe is known in the world of Eurovision due to his frequent participations in the Swedish national final Melodifestivalen. He took part twice as a singer and 13 times as a songwriter so far. His songs represented Sweden twice in the international contest: In 2008, Charlotte Perelli finished 18th in Belgrade with Hero while Malena Ernman came 21st in Moscow last year with La voix.

The national selection

MGP, short for Melodi Grand Prix, was to select the Norwegian song and singer for Oslo. The format was the same as in recent years featuring three semi finals, a last chance round and the grand final. Didrik Solli-Tangen was the clear winner among the eight finalists, who had been reduced to a top four, before the "super final" was held.

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Norway was the third Scandinavian country to join the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 and despite a strong debut with a fourth place, the country turned out to be one of the most unsuccessful ones over the next 25 years. However, a first victory came in 1985, a second one followed in 1995 and in 2009, Alexander Rybak brought the contest to Norway again. In total, the country finished in the top five nine times. However, Norway still keeps the record for the most last places as they finished at the very bottom of the scoreboard ten times, which means during more than 20% of their participations.

Vi ønsker Norge og Didrik Solli-Tangen lykke til og et fint resultat i Oslo!

Videos

Performance in the national final/Preview video:

Performing Torna a Sorriento with Alexander Rybak:

Performing Stay (faraway, so close!) by U2 ca. five years ago:

Singing a duet with Fredrik Kempe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX1zyikUnk

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Portuguese entry.

Previous parts of this series:

1. Ireland
2. Belarus
3. Albania
4. Denmark
5. Russia
6. Bulgaria
7. Switzerland
8. FYR Macedonia
9. Armenia
10. Spain
11. Poland
12. Croatia
13. Finland
14. Greece
15. Ukraine
16. Lithuania
17. Belgium