Andreas Haukeland, better known by his stage name TIX, is to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest after a dramatic Melodi Grand Prix finale Saturday evening.
Haukeland beat the ethno-pop group KEiiNO in the final duel and is set to perform in Rotterdam in May.
International potential
His winning song, “Fallen Angel”, was originally written in Norwegian and only translated to English in preparation for the final. He was aided in the translation by his brother Mathias Haukeland and musician Emelie Hollow.
Haukeland himself writes on Instagram that it was important to him that the song was originally written in Norwegian because he wanted it to resonate with his audience.
He later chose to translate it to English in order to give it more international potential in the grand Eurovision finale.
To the Norwegian newspaper VG, Haukeland says that the victory has humbled him: “I want to represent Norway in a respectful way. I am terrified. For once, you guys have managed to make TIX humble.”
Harsh criticism
The pop artist performed with a single big die around his neck displaying the number 1.
Haukeland received a lot of criticism from music critics prior to the Melodi Grand Prix finale, and the unique necklace refers to the fact that one of the critics rated his song as low as a 1 on the die.
Despite this, the song, which is about Haukeland’s romantic interest and him not feeling worthy of her love, quickly rose to the top of the Norwegian music charts.
It is estimated that 1.082.00 people watched the Melodi Grand Prix finale, which amounts to nearly 1/5 of the Norwegian population. This is the largest amount of people to have watched the finale since 2017.
The ugly duckling
Haukeland, or TIX, was on the verge of tears when it became clear that the Norwegian population had voted for him to represent the country in the Eurovision finale.
The pop artist, known for his upbeat party songs, has shown a more vulnerable side of himself to the media in the hopes of inspiring others. His message to his fans was clear: “Remember that there is always a way out of the darkness. Either it will be okay, or it will pass.”
The artist grew up with Tourette’s syndrome, which has resulted in involuntary tics. This is the reason why Haukeland is most often seen with sunglasses on, and the stage name TIX was chosen as a way to take back control of his condition after children would tease him for it.
In an emotional speech, he proclaims that “for a long time, I have felt like the ugly duckling… both in the music industry and in my childhood. This is proof that one day, the ugly duckling transforms into a swan.”
He further says that “I hope all you ugly ducklings out there understand that one day, the world will see you as swans.”
National success
The artist initially started out writing party anthems for the Norwegian ‘russ’ (high school graduates), with the song Sjeiken 2015 stirring up a lot of controversy for its crude lyrics.
Since then TIX has released several solo singles which have been very well received by the Norwegian public, and in 2020 he was the most-streamed artist in Norway.
Source: #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel
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¨I hope all you ugly ducklings out there understand that one day, the world will see you as swans.”
Go ahead!
Best of luck Haukeland