Norway - KEiiNO - Spirit In The Sky

6 - 331 pts / 7 - 210 pts in semi 2

Club mix DRI

Trio KEiiNO represented Norway in the Tel Aviv Eurovision Song Contest.

The won the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix held on March 2.

KEiiNO are Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo and they wrote their song, Spirit In The Sky, with Henrik Tala and Alex Olsson.

The song is sung in English with a few bits of Sámi thrown in by Buljo.

Spirit was released as a digital single on January 25, an extended Club mix followed on February 8.
The acoustic version was released on April 12.

No physical release or promo was issued but Spirit In The Sky was released on the CD OKTA (see below)

In 2021 a new remix was released. The KAUTOBAHN remix was released on May 20.

In 2022 a ridiculous sped up version was released to satisfy the Tik Tokkers with an attention span of a gnat.

KEiiNO went on to win the televote in the final.

Here's a bit from their bio: "KEiiNO is a Norwegian-Sámi-Finnish lovechild born in late summer 2018. With a goal of creating arctic pop-bangers they mix Sámi joik, Nordic folk and camp pop in a synth heavy sound". That sums up the sound of Spirit nicely.

OKTA
On May 15 2020 the band release their long awaited debut album.
The album has 10 tracks of which six have already been released as digital singles (including Spirit In The Sky). You can buy the CD from the KEiiNO website
(Hugoworld HW 2003)
OKTA TRACKS:

01 Take me home

02 Black leather - feat. Charlotte Qamaniq (Inuit singer from Canada)

03 Would I lie - feat. Electric Fields*
* Electric Fields were the runners-up in the 2019 Australian Eurovision selection (Australia Decides) with the song 2000 And Whatever.
04 Spirit in the Sky

05 Dancing in the Smoke

06 Roar like a Lion - feat. Te Hau Tawhiti (Māori vocal group)
07 Praying

08 Colours

09 Louder - feat Drezus (Indigenous singer from Saskatchewan, Canada)

10 Bed with the wolf

A new edition OKTA Guokte with more tracks is released in 2022.

It comes in a deluxe booklet version, only 2000 copies available.

Shopping links here at the KEiiNO website.

The new tracklist

1. MONUMENT
2. UNBREAKABLE
3. Take me Home
4. Black Leather (feat Charlotte Qamaniq)
5. Would I Lie (feat. Electric Fields)
6. Spirit in the sky
7. Dancing in the smoke
8. Roar like a lion (feat Te Hau Tawhiti)
9. Praying
10. Colours
11. Louder (feat. Drezus)
12. Shallow
13. Summer of my life
14. Bed with the wolf
15. VENUS
16. End of Time
17. Transarctic Lover (feat. Sordal)
18. ADDJAS
19. A New Beginning (feat. Peder Elias)

Acoustic version DRI

Who is KEiiNO band?
The KEiiNO members were brought together with the Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision in mind but we met Alexandra Rotas already in the 2018 MGP where You Got Me, a duet with Stella Mwangi, ended 3rd. Before that she was in the superfinal of the Junior MGP in 2010 with Det Vi Vil (What we want).
Singer and Songwriter Tom Hugo (Hermansen) also has a bit of MGP history. In 2013 he entered with Det Er Di (That's you) but he got stuck in the first semi. In 2018 his I Like I Like I Like didn't make it to the final four.
He's also a prolific songwriter and wrote several hits for Asian boybands like EXO, SHINEE or TVXQ.

Sámi Rapper/Joiker/Producer Fred Buljo (Fred-René Øvergård Buljo) was a member of Sámi rap outfit Duolva Duottar who released their only album Dá lea Duolva Duottar in 2011. They're still active and you can listen to their music through your Spotify and the like. Check out their most recent single Markanstallu!

10 songs were in the running to represent Norway in the 2019 contest.
You can listen to them through this NRK page. All songs are also available through digital sources.

Versions
Spirit In The Sky
- Tel Aviv 2CD. CD OKTA
Spirit In The Sky - Extended Club mix
Spirit In The Sky - Instrumental mix (= karaoke)
Spirit In The Sky - Acoustic

Spirit In The Sky - KAUTOBAHN remix 2021

Spirit In The Sky - Sped Up (2022)
- all digital releases

Charts
Norway VG lista top 40: 3, 3, 6, 12, 25, 25, 33, -, 1, 3, 6, 11, 17, 18, 25, 33, 34, 36, 36, 37, 39, -
Sweden top 100: 33, 77, -
Ireland top 100: 84, -
Netherlands top 100: 59, -
Switzerland top 100: 7, 35, -
Suisse Romande top 20: 5, -

U.K. top 100 (Official charts company): 61, -
Scottish singles top 100 (OCC): 7, 62, -
Austria top 75: 61
France top 200 (IFOP): 23, 161, -

Original Digital release image

Links and sources
Norway 2018 has the links to all Norwegian entries from 2009 to 2018.
NRK MGP pages
KEiiNO Website,  FB
Tom Hugo Website
Duolva Duottar Website
Alexandra Rotan FB
Thanks to Krzysztof