The stars came – but where is Christmas?

It is not good to say if the guest musicians took part in the debate about the blue Christmas lights at Sortland, but the scene was at least bathed in blue light at the Christmas concert on Wednesday, in front of a crowd of Møysalen. It all started with the choir – the evening choir consisted of the mixed Eidsfjord choir and the Ytre Eidsfjord song. They delivered a good and atmospheric performance on Wednesday.

The concert began with choral songs and the operator Thomas Ruud delivered a sparkling solo of "Ades Fideles", best known in its English version "Oh come all the faithful." . When Hanne Krogh entered the scene in her red Christmas dress, while the stage lights went red, it lasted. First of all, she sang the new "Magic Moments" before going to a real Norwegian Christmas classic, "It is lit in silent boundaries".

Krogh knew how to appeal to the public. After decades on stage, she seems so natural and relaxed that she infects. And Krogh understood how to charm the audience: "Getting to Sortland is like having a house on the way," she said of the blue city as a stage of the tour. For those who might be interested, she also informed of Magnus Carlsen's victory at the World Cup of Chess.

From Christmas to Eurovision

Krogh introduced world star Johnny Logan, who came on stage with much applause. He began singing the anthem "What a child is this?", Originally written in 1865, but today most likely known to Josh Groban, who played it in 2007.

The Christmas carol or hymn can be called Christmas Carol only by being a hymn. But with a few exceptions, it was the only song Logan had sung on Wednesday that was about to create a Christmas party. Then he went straight to his Eurovision Superhits in 1980 and 1987. After all, Logan was best known for his exploits at the big song competition in Europe. He was the only one to win the competition twice. 1992. The man is thus responsible for almost half of the victory of Ireland in the Eurovision, and many were hoping to hear these songs tonight.

First, the winner of 1980 – "What's Another Year" – and saw the very big hit "Hold Me Now" of 1987, as Logan also composed it. During this song, the hall ended and the crying factor reached the ceiling. Logan was in a good mood and joked with the audience:

"Once, I asked about the impression of winning Eurovision I do not know, I answered, I've never lost the competition!"

Prøysen and the green island

After that, Krogh continued with "We Turn Our Lights," which went straight to an anecdote about the importance of having a grandmother at Christmas. Many people were thinking about Prøysen's "Romulusdrøm", and that's what happened, but for the first time Krogh first read one of his lesser-known but very beautiful texts, namely "Spelldåsa". .

This great passage was one of the highlights of the concert. Then, Johnny Logan tried to sing Christmas Eve in Norwegian with humor, following the challenge launched by Hanne Krogh. Logan joked and sang the song, both as Elvis and Kermit Frog. The evening then continued on an Irish track, first with an English version of "Shot N 'a Black", before Logan invoked the Maal Hall in an Irish pub and as the title "Galway Girl" (a landslide impossible to avoid if you visit Green Island, despite the song written by an American) and The Pogues' Fairytale of New York.

Many of the songs in the concert were purely instrumental, and here the music really shone. Among other things, the room was very quiet when violinist Tarjei Nysted played one of the beautiful melodies of "Three Nuts to Cinderella" (he was also playing drums). The other musicians were trumpet player Stig Espen Hundsnes and Captain Stein Austrud, who also contributed to other instruments during the concert.

Christmas star and star of pop

The choir was perhaps the most important thing for Christmas music. They sang "Carol of the Bells", among other things, until the bells sounded inside each of us and really created the atmosphere.

Hanne Krogh obviously had to sing the modern Christmas classic song "Sonja's song for the Christmas star", and for a moment, all under 40s who had a close relationship with the film could all celebrate the holidays of Christmas. Krogh was in many ways the thread of Christmas during the concert, while Logan was more than anything else – for example, there had been a breach in the expectation of a traditional Christmas concert when & # 39; He had sung "Halleujah" by Leonard Cohen.

Here, there should be a problem, we must expect that this artist as well as Logan can listen to one of the most famous songs in the world. But Logan has badly sung many times. This should be settled before the next concerts.

Until the end of the concert, Logan sang with Thomas Ruud "O Holy Night / O Holy Night", and he also contributed to a little Christmas.

God of service or concert?

The concert went smoothly from one song to the other, even though it was clear that the artists were tired of traditional Christmas concerts and wanted to create something else. In addition, Krogh for some stories and anecdotes presented the concert throughout. These were always charming and atmospheric, but in most cases, the concert was like a cult.

Then, the background of the scene was turned into a church window, while Krogh, among other things, philosophized about worshiping men through an analogy about a wandering man with his god on the beach. She also talked about the biblical virgin Mary and the baby Jesus. Of course, Christmas is too closely related to Christian narratives, but the midsole is not a place of preaching. Fortunately, it was only a small part of the concert, which consisted mainly of beautiful music.

Krogh finally read Vera Michal's words just before her death, encouraging people to spread love and tolerance. The Christmas message has certainly not been forgotten. Finally, the concert ended with the song "Small magical moments", where the three singers, choirs and musicians went to really close the concert with style.

Fans of Krogh, Johnny Logan and professional musical performances cost Sortland Wednesday night. But Christmas is not free to die a bit from Eurovision hits and cover versions of Josh Groban and Vamp, among others.