Tag: Nicoline

Nicoline – Feel Good Mood

“COME ON PEOPLE LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN.”

Tim: Remember Nicoline?

Tom: No!

Tim: Sounds about right. She’s the one who competed to enter Eurovision for Norway with a performance that I refused to classify as a Reject. Here’s her follow up.

Tim: And that further justifies what I said back then: proper pop star, making properly good pop songs, but sadly right now getting nowhere near the recognition that she deserves. That could change, of course – happened for Zara Larsson, though I’ve no idea where she’s got to recently – and I really hope it does. Damn, this really could be a proper ‘sound of the summer’ track.

Tom: I was going to be all cynical about this, but then the chorus kicked in. I disagree that it’s a ‘sound of the summer’ contender — the lyrics are stuck on about one note in every line, and I’m not sure those high-pitched vocal samples in the background work as well as the producer thinks they do. That said: brilliant chorus, great production, there’s definitely something good here.

Tim: It’s a great track. Brilliant. SO COME ON PEOPLE LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Nicoline – Light Me Up

“I’m damned if I’m going to allow it as a post with ‘Reject’ in the title.”

Tim: Okay then so technically this is a Reject, but for a number of reasons I’m damned if I’m going to allow it as a post with Reject in the title. It saddens me, really, because in the vast majority of countries, including, Norway, getting submitted to MGP or the equivalent means it’s like to die without a trace if it’s not chosen. And this really, really doesn’t deserve that.

Tom: Full marks to the vocalist there, for being able to perform live on stage while performing a full dance routine. A lot of Eurovision performers leave the movement to the backing dancers — this is one of the most polished performances we’ve seen.

Tim: And that there is part of my point: Nicoline is all ready to go as a perfect pop star. And not only that, but this is an absolutely outstanding pop song, easily worthy of your Carly Rae Jepsens, your Dua Lipas, your Zara Larssons. It’s Radio 1 playlist material, with a fantastic tune, wonderful production, and just listen to how wild that audience is going for it!

Tom: Huh. Really? I guess I can’t find a counter-argument other than “I don’t like it that much”, but then that’s true of a lot of Radio 1’s playlist material, so I’ll take your word for it.

Tim: Problem is: it’s not Eurovision material. It doesn’t deserve to go to Eurovision, it certainly doesn’t deserve burying way back in the first round of a country’s selection process. It deserves SO MUCH MORE than that. And it really quite upsets me that this has happened.