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EUROVISION

Utøya survivor leads Eurovision race

A survivor of the 2011 Utøya massacre is favourite to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in May, after winning the most audience votes in the semi-finals of the country's Melodi Grand Prix.

Published: 7 March 2014 22:18 CET
Utøya survivor leads Eurovision race
Mohamed 'Mo' Farah Abdi, 21, hopes to represent Norway in Copenhagen with the song Heal. He lost his best friend, Ismail Haji Ahmed, on Utøya in July 2011. Photograph: Kim Erlandsen/NRK
Mohamed "Mo" Abdi Farah, 21, has leapt back into the spotlight  with a song, 'Heal', inspired by his three-year struggle to recover.
 
He was followed by Linnea Dale in second place with the song 'High Hopes', and Dina Misund in third place with the song 'Needs'. 
 
Mo had been on the point of a pop breakthrough in the summer of 2011, after winning the nation's hearts with his performances in the country's X Factor talent show.
 
But after narrowly escaping with his life in the gun massacre mounted by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik on a Labour Party youth camp he was attending, Mo began a long struggle to recover, with doctors initially telling him he would never dance again. 
 
"I don't want to go into those sad days," Mo told The Local in January. "I just want to think positive and move forwards." 
 
The country's Eurovision representative will be chosen on 15 March in the final of the Melodi Grand Prix talent show.
 
Mo's best friend, Ismail Haji Ahmed, was one of the 69 people killed on the island. 

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EUROVISION

Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Cornelia Jakobs, Sweden's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, burst into tears and jumped onto presenter Mario Acampas, after shooting through to the final on Thursday night.

Published: 13 May 2022 08:09 CEST
Sweden among favourites after leaping through to Eurovision final

Jakobs was emotional at the press conference after her victory, telling the story of her progress from an “largely unknown” indie artist to the Eurovision stage. 

“There are a lot of feelings right now in this little body, an extremely large amount of feelings that can’t really fit in, so they’re exploding,” she said, before beginning to cry. “But I’m so happy and overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got from all these fantastic countries.” 

When the time came to pick lots for which half of the final she would appear in, she leapt onto Mario Acampas, the presenter asking questions at the press conference, wrapping her legs around his waist and clasping herself tightly to his torso. 

He then walked her over to the bowl where the lots were lying. 

“I want you to choose the second half,” she said to him. “Imagine that I have a pistol here and on the count of three I’m going to shoot you if you don’t choose.”

He refused to pick for her so she took one herself and got the second half. 

Jakobs, with her song, “Hold me closer”, was the clear favourite to go into the final, and will go through alongside Finland’s The Rasmus, and his song Jezebel, Serbia’s Konstrakta with “In corpore sano”, as well as entries from Belgium, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Estonia, Australia, and Romania. 

You can see her performance on Thursday in the video below. 

In the final, she will meet the other favourites, which include Ukraine, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 

The final will be shown on Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT at 9pm on Saturday. 

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