Photograph by Julia Marie Naglestad

Norway 🇳🇴 2019 / “Spirit in the Sky”

Grand Final | 6th | 330 points

Semi Final 2 | 7th | 210 points| Qualified

KEiiNO, a pop supergroup consisting of Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan, and Tom Hugo, won Norway’s national selection process, Melodi Grand Prix, with the song “Spirit in the Sky” and will represent their country at Tel Aviv 2019. The group came together in late 2018 and debuted themselves in January 2019, with Rotan and Buljo both coming from collaborative works with other people and Hugo having had a solo career in Norway and Sweden and as a songwriter.

Hugo, having written songs for J-pop and K-pop stars and maintaining his own solo career, began writing Keiino’s debut track in the summer of 2018 with his husband. In the process, Hugo brought Rotan, whom he had wanted to work with, and Buljo, an ethnic-Sami singer, to complete writing the track. While the group did intend to go to Melodi Grand Prix with the “Spirit in the Sky”, they did not intend for their journey together end there and have released a handful of singles in preparation for a debut album since Tel Aviv 2019.

“Spirit in the Sky” is rooted in traditional Sami culture, with its message reflecting the need to be who you are no matter your gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. While the song’s lyrics recant the struggles of fighting to be who you are and looking for a light to go on, the title lyric is the helping spirit animal, an aspect of Sami beliefs, that serves as a guiding line in the darkness. The song features the unique combination of modern electronic pop and traditional joik, a singing style of the Sami people.

Though they performed poorly amongst the jury voters, KEiiNO won the audience televote in both their semi final and in the grand final.

Follow KEiiNO on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Listen to their extended discography on Spotify.