Norwegian extreme metal veterans Keep Of Kalessin took third place in the grand final of the national Eurovision Song Contest called "Melodi Grand Prix" which was held this past Saturday (February 6) at the Spektrum in Oslo.

Commented the band: "A quarter of a milllion votes is a powerful vote of confindence for us, our fans and metal music.

"We wish to thank all of those who voted for us. We are very grateful.

"To perform in the finals in Oslo Spektrum is one of our career highlights.

"The competition has been a very good experience for us. We have made a lot of new friends. We have even got our own post stamp!!

"To round things up we would like to congratulate Didrik Solli-Tangen, and wish him the best of luck in the international final."

According to Eurovision.tv, in order to choose Norway's song, three semi-finals were held in the towns of Ørland, Bodø and Skien, where two songs qualified directly to the final and a further two qualified to a second-chance round. This round was held in the town of Sarpsborg where two songs qualified to the final.

Of the eight songs on stage Saturday night, four qualified via televote to a so-called Super-Final. From here four expert juries from the four semi-final host cities casted their votes followed by the regional televoting results. This wielded a landslide victory for Didrik Solli-Tangen and his song "My Heart Heart Is Yours".

The final result was as follows:

01. Didrik Solli-Tangen - "My Heart Is Yours"
02. A1 - "Don't Want To Lose You Again"
03. Keep Of Kalessin - "Dragontower "
04. Bjørn Johan Muri - "Yes Man"

Video footage of Keep Of Kalessin's performance from this past Saturday night can be viewed below.



(Thanks: Melica / Night Elves)