Parts of the Latvian community are furious after the comedy revue group Cheesy Keys, consisting of young male artists, were responsible for the interval act during the super final of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix 2003. There they were supposed to give old Norwegian Eurovision entries a “Latvian touch” through use of national costumes, instruments and language. In fact, their cultural inspiration came from Russia.

“The interval act draw a picture of my country as if it was a part of Russia, and that's simply not true. The reactions in Latvia have been very critical, the use of Russian and even Soviet symbols are improper, even for humouristic purposes,” the Latvian ambassador in Norway, Normunds Popens, told the broadsheet paper Aftenposten. The critics are repeated by Jan Wessel Hegg, the Norwegian ambassador in Latvia, who uses words like “painfully embarrassing”, “wounding”, “blunder” and “unfortunate for Norway as a country”.

During their performance, Cheesy Keys, who were introduced as Latvia Balalaika Extragavanza, were wearing costumes of the Cossack people, an ethnic group in Russia, and played several balalaikas, a typical Russian instrument looking like a guitar, but triangular and bigger. Nocturne (1995), Sámiid ædnan (1980), Intet er nytt under solen (1966), Stress (1968), Voi voi (1960), Mil etter mil (1978), Romeo (1986), Casanova (1977), Mrs. Thompson (1991) and La det swinge (1985) were some of the songs given a “revamp” by the group, as well as the Eurovision theme itself. The interval act can be viewed as a part of the super final at this page by clicking on MGP – andre del. The interval act starts after approximately 32 minutes.

The most popular news paper in Latvia, Diena, used an entire page to report on the Norwegian interval act, including an interview with the head of Melodi Grand Prix 2003, Stina Greaker, where she admits that she doesn't know anything about Riga and doesn't find that necessary either.

The Norwegian broadcaster NRK also received critisism from the popular dance act Soda, who finished on a disappointing ninth place due to the fact that the vocalist Kine Westvik (pictured) sung out of tune plenty of times during an overall bad performance. The band accuses NRK for having given priority to the visual and hardly caring about the sound at all, which made Kine extremely nervous, preventing her from singing appropriate.

In the meantime, Jostein Hasselgård, the Norwegian participant in Riga, sung an alternative version of his winning song I'm not afraid to move on during a radio interview, which now has been put online by the broadcaster on this page. There you can also hear him sing the self composed song Everyday you play.

The online news paper Nettavisen wrote that 1.35 million Norwegian televiewers followed the show, approximately 30% of the entire population, and a higher amount than last time Melodi Grand Prix was organized in 2001.

I'm not afraid to move on is currently occupying fifth position among the 16 entries made public so far on Eureka's poll. Spanish singer Beth has a crystal clear leading position with Dime, while Estonia's Eighties coming back by Ruffus has the lowest amount of supporters.