Kjetil Mørland and Debrah Scarlett took their dark ballad A Monster like Me palpably up a notch to win a place in the Eurovision final, proving that the song, which criticised for being too slow and even boring, could be boosted to move a Eurovision crowd. 

 

“It was such a wonderfully delicious experience. I'm just filled with joy. To hear the entire audience singing along was completely unreal,” Scarlett told Norway’s VG newspaper after coming off the stage. 

 

“As I stood backstage I felt genuinely touched. The whole stage shook with the response,” Mørland said. 

 

Out of the countries in today’s second semi-final, Norway is being joined by Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Montenegro, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Israel in the final. 

 

“We are delighted now,”  Malme said. “You never know what will happen in Eurovision. This act spearheaded by Mørland & Debrah Scarlett has every possibility of reaching the top in the final on Saturday.” 

 

The duo ditched the gothic look of their music video in favour of more standard Eurovision costume — a white dress for Scarlett and a white T-shirt and dinner jacket for Mørland. 

 

They went onto stage with blessing of this year’s glamorous hostess, Conchita Wurst, the runaway winner of last year’s contest. 

 

In an interview with the duo in ‘green room’ Wurst asked what he could do to cheer Mørland up since “the Norwegian contribution is a bit sad”. 

 

“Give me a kiss on the cheek,” Debrah answered, after which Wurst obliged, joking, “I kissed a girl for the first time.”