Kim Wigaard — “La melodia”
I guess the title should have made it obvious that we were heading into popera territory, although Wigaard isn’t quite going all out — only in the chorus. Speaking of which, I’m not impressed by its “la la la” bits: I think this is where he could have taken a page out of the Italians’ playbook and stuffed in some more lyrics. I’m sure his vocal skills would have been up to the challenge. Overall this has a more orchestral feel than anything else from MGP, even though the beats try to be as modern as possible. But if this makes it to the final, it will be because the voters have decided they’d like some variety rather than it being a real contender.

Sofie Fjellvang — “Made of Glass”
At the core of this song is how Fjellvang’s vocals oscillate between silky and delicate to loud and robust. She’s able to switch between the two fairly easily, which allows this power pop song to shine. The lyrics don’t seem like much, but to be honest I’m too busy waiting for the next vocal switch (and accompanying instrumental explosion) to care much. Perhaps I’m in a particularly good mood tonight, but this is a really strong semi-final: competition is going to be fierce in the “last chance” rounds, and quite a few good songs are going to miss out on the final. This might end up being one of them, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it doesn’t really put a foot wrong for the whole three minutes.