To date, there have been 1,758 entries in the Eurovision Song Contest history. As Eurofans, we may only know these artists from one or two songs, but every artist that has performed at the contest has an extensive backlog. This series, Beyond Eurovision, aims to shine a light on some of the That Eurovision Site team’s favourite Eurovision artists’ discographies. Today, we look at KEiiNO, who represented Norway at Eurovision 2019. KEiiNO also went on to compete in Melodi Grand Prix in 2021 and 2024.
Who are KEiiNO?
KEiiNO are a three piece pop trio, consisting of members Alexandra Rotan, Tom Hugo and Fred Buljo. Their music is upbeat pop music, with a Sámi twist. As well as clean vocals, Fred also adds a native twist to their songs by joiking in many of their releases. This is something that makes KEiiNO stand out from your typical pop trio.
KEiiNO’s first ever single was their Eurovision entry “Spirit In The Sky”, which placed 5th at that year’s contest. The song also placed first with televoters. KEiiNO have gone on to attempt to represent Norway again in two occasions. The first was in 2021 with the song “Monument” which placed second in the national final that year. Earlier this year, KEiiNO also attempted to represent Norway with their song “Damdiggida”.
Pre KEiiNO
Before KEiiNO were put together, their members had ventured into the realm of Melodi Grand Prix. In 2018 KEiiNO members Tom and Alexandra took part in the national final. They competed with separate entries. Tom competed with the song “I Like I Like I Like”, while Alexandra competed with “You Got Me”. Alexandra competed in the national final alongside Stella Mwangi, who represented Norway at Eurovision 2011.
While Fred has never taken part in Melodi Grand Prix, he has been a part of the Sámi music industry for 17 years. Fred started out his career as a rapper in the duo Duolva Duottar. As well as that Fred has also been a member of the Sámi parliament in Norway.
Era 1: Spirit In The Sky and OKTA
In 2019, KEiiNO entered Melodi Grand Prix with their debut single “Spirit In The Sky”. They won the national final and went on to Eurovision 2019. Following placing 6th at the contest they haven’t looked back.
In the months that followed Eurovision 2019, KEiiNO went on to release the singles “Praying”, “Dancing in the Smoke”, “Colours”, and “Black Leather”. Following this, KEiiNO embarked on a tour in Australia, where they collaborated on the single “Would I Lie?” with Australia’s Eurovision 2024 representatives Electric Fields. Later in 2020, KEiiNO then went on to release their debut album “OKTA”.
Era 2: Return to Melodi Grand Prix and “OKTA guote”
In 2021, KEiiNO returned to Melodi Grand Prix with their song “Monument”. This time, the group were not successful in getting to the Eurovision stage, placing second in the national final to winner Tix. However this single kicked off a new mini era for the group.
In the summer of 2021, KEiiNO went on to release several singles these were “Unbreakable”, “Summer of my Life, “Addjas” and “Venus”. In the autumn of 2021 KEiiNO then went on to release two further singles “Transartic Lover” and “End Of Time”. After all these single releases, KEiiNO then went on to release a deluxe version of their previous album “OKTA”, which was entitled “OKTA guote”.
Era 3: Midnight Marina
In 2022, KEiiNO released a stand alone single entitled “Mother of The Night”, which went back to darker the “Spirit in the Sky” sound we had become accustomed to with KEiiNO.
Later in the year, KEiiNO kicked off their Midnight Marina era, which spilled over into early 2023. The first single released from this era was “Nights of Thunder” – which is a big hit at their concerts nowadays. The singles “Alt Du Kan Se” and “RITMA” followed. These single releases culminated in the release of the single and EP entitled “Midnight Marina”. This had a calmer sound compared to their previous releases, but the songs still delivered tracks you could sing and dance along too.
Era 4: Damdiggida and beyond
KEiiNO kickstarted their next era with the song “Get Up” which they released in late 2023. This followed their next single “Insomnia” which closed out the year in terms of KEiiNO’s music releases.
Earlier this year, KEiiNO returned to the national selection Melodi Grand Prix 2024 with the single “Damdiggida”. For the second time in a row, the group placed second in the national final to eventual winners Gåte, however this hasn’t deterred them from continuing with this new KEiiNO era.
Following on from Melodi Grand Prix 2024, KEiiNO have gone on to release the singles “Hero, baby” and “DiSCO”. The former has gone on to become another fan favourite at their most recent concerts. This era has a 90’s dance sound to it, which is something different to what we have heard from KEiiNO before, however it could arguably be their most fun era to date.
Covers era
You didn’t think I would cover KEiiNO and not cover their cover songs did you? I feel this deserves its own section. In this era of it’s own KEiiNO have taken songs either from the past, or popular songs of the time and put their own KEiiNO spin on them.
Prior to going to Eurovision in 2019, the group released their own version of the movie classic “Shallow”. A Star is Born was a big hit in terms of movies in 2019, the group took the ballad from the soundtrack and made it an upbeat but recognisable version of the track. In 2020 they then went on to release a version of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”.
In 2021, alongside their debut album, the group went on to release their 3rd cover, which was a version of the popular hit “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo. Following this was their 2022 cover of Kylie’s “On A Night Like This” which is my personal favourite to date. Their most recent cover release was in 2023 with A-Ha’s “The Sun Always Shines on TV”.
My personal favourite songs, and why you should check them out
My personal favourite tracks from KEiiNO based on seeing them live three times since they competed in Eurovision in 2019 are Black Leather, Venus, Addjas and End of Time. I really like KEiiNO’s more uptempo and high energy tracks. I feel Tom and Alexandra’s voices blend really nicely in almost all their tracks and really suit the style of their songs.
I really also like the fact that KEiiNO have evolved their sound over the years from the traditional Nordic sounds of their earlier songs, to a calmer more mellow sound in the Midnight Marina EP. Then evolving their sound again for their latest era which has a more 90’s dance feel to it.
What do you think of KEiiNO’s discography? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all your Eurovision news!
Photo Credit: KEiiNO
Rory Gannon