The 2021 Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix is running in the same format as the 2020 competition except for one important aspect.
Unlike in 2020, the songs that lose out in the semi-finals will have an opportunity to still make the final with a public voted wild card.
Last year some absolute cracking songs fell at the first or second hurdle against tough opposition which cost them a deserved spot in the final (in our opinion...).
The Aussievision team had a look at those losing semi-finalists and picked our top songs that should have received a wildcard in 2020:
1 Jæger - 'How About Mars' (8 votes)
The song was a huge fan favourite and with killer hook and modern pop sound we can totally understand why. In her semi-final she came up against the juggernaut that was 'One Last Time' from Rein Alexander in the first battle. It certainly felt that whoever won that fight was going to go far. Rein missed the Top 4 in the final but in controversial circumstances after a vote failure. He had every shot of winning Melodi Grand Prix and Jæger had him as her opponent in the very first round.
Despite her use of technology and striking look, she lost out to Rein and her Eurovision journey was over in a matter of minutes. This had the most votes from the Aussievision team and would have had every chance of being a wildcard if it existed back in 2020.
2. Lisa Børud - 'Talking About Us' (6 votes)
Lisa was one of the more experienced artists going into Melodi Grand Prix semi-finals. She had been a child star and also did back up singing and dancing for Alexander Rybak in Lisbon 2018. Her song 'Talking About Us' featured an impressive line-up of songwriters in Jimmy Jansson, Anderz Wrethov, Maia Wright and Laurell Barker.
With an impressive choreographed performance Lisa took out the much fancied 'Come Alive' in her first battle before ultimately losing to Raylee's 'Wild'. That song went on to place 3rd overall in the final of Melodi Grand Prix.
Despite being in second place with the Aussievision team, this certainly could have been the Norwegian public's choice for a wildcard. She is a popular performer and the song itself had 2.7 million streams on Spotify.
3. Geirmund - 'Come Alive' (5 votes)
Semi-final 1 sure was a tough one! 'Wild' won the semi, with Lisa Børud runner-up and Geirmund lost out to her in the very first battle. His dark brooding but powerful performance was in stark contrast to Lisa, and in a head-to-head battle he ultimately lost out.
But in a larger field for a wildcard choice, his anthemic "Eurovision style" song could have stood out. Unfortunately we'll never know! The Aussievision team had him 3rd place just one point behind Lisa.
Other songs that multiple Aussievision team members voted for:
4. Kevin Boine - 'Stem på mæ' (4 votes)
4. Alexandru - 'Pink Jacket' (4 votes)
6. Thomas Løseth feat. Erika Norwich – 'Vertigo' (3 votes)
You can also check out the four songs battling out in this weekend's semi-final and which was the Aussievision team's favourite. Watch and see the ranks here.