Norway NORWAY 2022 - Subwoolfer - Give That Wolf a Banana

[escYOUnited]

Oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Not sure I told you, but I really like your teeth
That hairy coat of yours with nothing underneath
Not sure you have a name, so I will call you Keith
Oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
See where you're going, but I don’t know where you've been
Is that saliva or blood drippin' off your chin?
If you don’t like the name Keith I'ma call you Jim
Oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
Give that wolf (Banana)

Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Banana

I like the scent of every meal on your breath
That hunger in you, I'm in danger now, I guess
Let's go to grandma's, you say grandma tastes the best
Oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
(I want your grandma, yum, yum)
And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
Give that wolf
Someone give that wolf a banana

Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Someone give that wolf a banana
Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Someone give that wolf a banana

Ba-na-na
Ba-na-na-na-na
Ba-na-na
Ba-na-na-na-na

And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
(I want your grandma, yum, yum)
Someone give that wolf a banana
And before that wolf eats my grandma
Give that wolf a banana
Give that wolf
Give that wo-o-olf

Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Someone give that wolf a banana
Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum
Someone give that wolf a banana

Not sure I told you, but I really like your teeth
That hairy coat of yours with nothing underneath
Not sure you have a name, so I will call you Keith
​

 

[theditz83]

Yummmmm yum yummm yum yum yummm yum yumm yummmm yummmmmmmmm

Yes Norway, I can get fully behind you again after sinking my darlings with their best song last year - looking forward to seeing all my friends' reaction to this in May

 

[Journalist]

That's such a surprise coming from someone with a Subwoolfer avatar, Subwoolfer signature, and SubwoolferTeam tag.

jelly jelly

 

[jatojo]

It is not a clear top 10 entry, but I like it. One of the better entries so far. I give 7 points.
I dont like them wearing masks though, it doesnt seem they are singing, it looks like a dance performance.

The hosts of NRK emphasized that Subwoolfer do sing. If that goes for all parts of the song, including the Yum yum chorus - I'm not sure.

 

[mauve]

This is quite boring and the weakest song today that won. Neither innovative nor is the staging something special. 5 points. Quite a huge step down compared to last year.

 

[Mrm]

What a weak NF, but GREAT winner in the end, this is such a fun in my book! And I like the stage pesentation.. This can be televoting magnet, but around 18th with jury like in Keiino case in 2019.. This stands out without a single doubt..
in the poll!

 

[Zeus]

These live vocals are a bit shocking, just sounds so thin and a bit weak in these verses..

Furthermore not my cup of tea, but this will for sure qualify for the final and get a good result. Not a winner tho. Televotes will carry them to a spot between 3-8.

 

[Nicholas123]

Televoting magnet for sure. It is catchy and fun.

Are they YLVIS btw?

 

[crashworld]

OK, another favourite of mine from the NF winning. Seems like today is my lucky day. Poland, Croatia and Norway picking my favourites. I mean it's a no brainer right from the start Subwoolfer is the runaway winner in an otherwise weak MGP.

Giving this a as I can see this song wearing off because novelty track can only sustain for that long.
I like they change the back up dancers to be in line with Subwoolfer. A competent performance.

If I want to nitpick, the vocals are not great (not that this song needs it).

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

Right choice, now Norway has a possible televote winner in their hands.

The female dancers should remain in their alien form of heat 4 and not wear yellow costumes, the coolness of the anonymity and the costumes of the wolvies gets lost when the dancers are wearing the same thing.

Take my

 

[Mainshow]

Holy Cow - Thank Godney NortKid didn´t win in the end! "Give That Wolf A Banana" will be a televoting magnet! It´s incredibly catchy and the chorus slaps hard - the choreography is clever.. this will perform really well in way.

I love the song´s pre-chorus, the "novelty/gimmick" act, the cheography BUT the drop/instrumental "Yum"-part is making me like it a bit less - just not a huge fan of EDM in general.

For now...

Btw, shame on Norwegians and everyone involved for not making "Hammer of Thor" reach the Top 4
#Eurovisioncrime

 

[Lonter]

It just feels lackluster. It's obviously polished, but to the detriment of actually being fun.

Still the obvious choice between this and Northkid, but yeah, not the biggest fan.

 

[HayashiM]

I gave the song two more chances just on its own
a) it qualifies, 100%. A probable televote top 5 in the finals - I am glad is in the other semi because it still does fish in kind of similar waters as
b) I'd really rather not have songs like these at Eurovision. I wonder if it couldn't still grow on me as a cool joke act, but most probably not.

points because I don't have the immediate urge to skip.

 

[burrito]

seeing only the title I was immediately convinced that's just another joke entry I'd hate, but this is surprisingly good

if they did get rid of that "yum yum" in the chorus it would be even better, but it's still a solid for me

 

[HayashiM]

And oh, for me, this was easily the weakest one of the last 4 MGPs. I had probably 7-8 entries in MGP 2021 I liked better than my n°1 this year. But surely things will turn for the better again in 2023

 

[marty]

The hosts of NRK emphasized that Subwoolfer do sing. If that goes for all parts of the song, including the Yum yum chorus - I'm not sure.

Of course they sing but just knowing that they sing is not enough in my eyes.

 

[Ana Raquel]

i only liked oda from the final.

would be a because i don't really feel it (when i should), but it will get an extra point for simply not being that overrated sadgirl you were hyping

 

[midnightsun]

The only good part of the song are the lyrics but it’s fun and I need it this year

 

[Malagant]

Okies, I gave my initial reaction after the final was over tonight and here are some more detailed reflections.

As I have said before, for me and my music taste this is the best Norwegian MGP-final in at least 10 years I had 4 big favourites going into the final (which never happens to me, usually I only have 1 or 2) and tbh I would have been happy with either of them winning. Even so, I most wanted Subwoolfer to win, so their victory makes me very happy!

In the MGP-final tonight I scored the songs as follows (my top 7):

Subwoolfer 9/10 (great fun song and ex.hilarating crazy performance and good stage show, it really puts me in a good party-mood!)
Elsie Bay 8/10 (very good quality-ballad, good performance and was surprised it did not make the top 2)
Maria Mohn 8/10 (another very good song and performance, great Nordic folk-pop, even better this time around)
Oda 7.5/10 (very good song and decent performance, "Vikings"-feel, slightly weaker than before for me but still really good)
----------------
Sofie 7/10 (good, I enjoyed it)
Christian 7/10 (good, I enjoyed it - surprised so many here are negative to this Elton John-ish ballad, 90s ESC Ireland-style but I really like it)
----------------
Anna-Lisa 6.5/10 (very well performed and catchy, I like it but in this company it does not quite reach my top 6)


My bottom 3 got 6/10 (which says much about how much I liked this year's final-entries; usually I have 3-4 songs I give 5 or less)


I have also mentioned before that I don’t usually like ‘joke entries’ in ESC but this entry by Subwoolfer is just so crazy fun and joyous and also catchy that I can’t not enjoy it in all its surreal and wild "glory"

What I think Subwoolfer do so well with their entry is that they combine catchy electronic rhythms (with elements from Daft Punk and last year’s Lithuanian The Roop-entry) with a humourous and unpretentious mysterious element (the fun masks etc), hilarious lyrics and a cool fun stage performance. The entry stands out and people will take notice of it, many will dislike it because they think it’s just crap but many will also embrace the crazy fun and party-feeling of it all - and as ESC has become in later years unless you have a fantastic singer or fantastic song I think having an entry which stands out from the mass and which people talk about is only an advantage. Of all the entries in MGP this year I think Subwoolfer has the greatest chance of getting into the ESC-final and to do well there (I think it will get many televotes, few jury votes yes but a fair chance for top 12 in the end) but only time will tell.

As for NorthKid, I never would have guessed it would make the top 2, it was a complete shock for me tbh (I was sure Elsie Bay would make the top 2). I do find it somewhat mysterious (some might also say “suspicious”) that Northern Norway went 'all in' giving it 50.000 more votes than Subwoolfer. Regional voting (for “their act”) is not totally uncommon in Norway but I can’t remember having seen it happen to this extent before. With the general popularity of Subwoolfer in all of Norway I find it very strange, it would have been much more natural had they given NorthKid say 20.000 more votes than Subwoolfer. Thankfully it did not affect the end result, only made it more exciting than it otherwise would have been.

Subwoolfer did not win narrowly as I see some say, they won confidently with 55.000 votes but I do agree that it became more exciting than I would have wished for. Eastern Norway (Oslo-region and several counties north and south) is always the region with the most votes in MGP because this is where “most” people live and so to win MGP you really need to ‘win’ Eastern Norway. I expected Eastern Norway to vote mostly for Subwoolfer but one never knows so I was relieved when the result was posted.

Will be interesting to see if Subwoolfer will keep their masks on all the way to Torino (Turin) and beyond or if we will get to know who hides behind the masks. The speculation is that the two are Gaute Ormåsen (Norwegian singer best known for coming 2nd in Norwegian pop-IDOL in 2003) and Ben Adams (from A1) but they did not take off their masks tonight and perhaps we will not know for a long time. Will also be interesting to see if they have “surreal” comic interviews in Italy in May in the style of the totally "way out there" intro they had to their MGP final-entry tonight or if they will answer questions seriously, it might be a balancing act for them and something they will have to figure out.

Congrats again, Subwoolfer and Good Luck in ESC in May! - all my family watching and voting tonight had you as their favourite and we are joining the crazy fun party! Indeed, We Gave That Wolf a Banana!

 

[reginanoctis]

I love this actually! That's rarely my stance on "funny" songs, but maybe I just understand Norwegian funny better ...

And it has to be Ylvis, right? Seems like their style. OTOH I don't know enough about Gaute Ormåsen and Ben Adams to try and disprove that theory.

 

[dannytr24]

for me.
This could be a televote favorite.