Archive for March, 2012

The Voice – episode 10

Two new duels for Magne and Martin Terefe on yesterday’s episode of The Voice.

Kjell Ove Knutsen vs. Shaun Bartlett, performing “Side” by Travis. And Birgitte Einarsen vs. the duo Kristiania, performing “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall.

Click on the links to see who Magne ended up choosing.

NDR2 and Brisant interviews

Interviewed on Brisant, March 30th

Morten has now done around 20 various media interviews in Germany this week.

Today he was a guest on NDR2 Radio in Hamburg, where he was met by a few contest winners.

Host Elke Wiswedel wanted to know if he’s able to connect with a live audience on a personal level when he’s doing concerts.

“What I would say is that I am not an entertainer. I am an engager. That is what is interesting for me, and it’s what attracts me to music. I’m not a sing and dance man, in a way. So it is intimate, it’s personal, it becomes private very quickly. And I am fascinated by this. So I do think that it is true that there is a personal level of contact, kind of with everyone there. But you can’t distinguish it”, Morten said.

There is a photo gallery from the radio visit at ndr.de, along with a short audio clip from the interview.

While at the radio station, he was also interviewed by TV news show Brisant. A video clip of the report can be seen here.

Afterwards, he decided to visit the Planten un Blomen botanical garden in Hamburg, with newspaper BILD. A short interview is now up on BILD‘s website.

The single “Scared of Heights” was released in Germany today. The music video can now be seen in high quality on YouTube, and don’t forget to order the CD single from amazon.de.

Exhibition at Vinstra

Magne has been chosen to be this year’s artist at the annual Peer Gynt culture festival at Vinstra in Norway, along with fellow artist Håvard Vikhagen, local newspaper Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen reports.

Their joint exhibition is open from 2 – 11 August, and both Magne and Håvard Vikhagen will attend the festival.

In 1987 Magne received the prestigious Peer Gynt Award together with a-ha.

“It’s nice to be able to reconnect with a former Peer Gynt Award recipient”, festival director Marit Lien says.

FFH and RPR1 radio interviews

Outside the FFH studios, March 28th 
(Picture by Silvia)

Morten continued the radio interviews in Germany yesterday.

In the morning he was a guest on FFH Radio in Bad Vilbel, where he was interviewed by Felix Moese. There are some photos from the visit on ffh.de. Outside the studio he was met by a group of fans. There is a gallery of photos on Flickr, taken by Silvia.

Later in the day he appeared on RPR1 Radio in Ludwigshafen with host Julian Krafftzig, where he was joined in the studio by two  fans who had won meet and greet tickets.

When asked about the lyrical topics on the new album, Morten said:

“Well, you don’t really have an agenda in topics. Maybe some people do. I never believe really, in telling people what to do. Topics are what life is about. So it will be existential issues. It will be obviously love, which is a central one, of this. Self-awareness. There is one exception to this, on this album. There is a political song, “Burn Money Burn”, which is really a song about values. But in general I don’t really believe in propaganda as a way. I believe in propaganda in that it works, I just don’t like the results of that. I believe in engaging people, trying to get people engaged in things that I think are important. But you need to find your own way. And that goes for all people.”

Audio clips and pictures from the RPR1 interview can be found at rpr1.de.

SWR1 radio interview

Interviewed on SWR1, March 27th 
(Picture from swr.de)

Morten is in Germany this week to promote his new solo album and yesterday he was interviewed by two shows on the radio station SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, with hosts Stefanie Anhalt and Günter Schneidewind.

“I was committed 100% to a-ha while we were together, and so I didn’t really plan for anything. There wasn’t any time. And I didn’t want to separate myself into two halves – one planning for other things. So I was 100% committed in a-ha, committing to this final year as well. But when I went off stage in December 2010, I took a very needed break for a little while. But I knew instinctively that I would be doing more. There were a lot of things that I felt like doing. But when you do music, you do what you believe in, you know. I’ve done that with a-ha, always, and you reach for the things you believe in. And that’s what I do now”, Morten told Stefanie Anhalt in the first interview.

There’s a photo gallery and audio clips from both interviews on swr.de.

A new TV-appearance has also been announced; on April 11th he is scheduled to be a guest on Thomas Gottschalk’s talkshow “Gottschalk Live” on ARD, which is broadcast from Berlin.

The “Scared of Heights” 2-track CD single will be released in Germany on Friday this week. It includes a “Stockholm Version” of the song and can be ordered from amazon.de. The CD single is also available at amazon.co.uk, but with a later release date.

Morten performs at Telenor Arena

Morten was one of the artists performing in front of 2000 people at Telenor Arena in Oslo yesterday, as part of a corporate event.

Other artists performing included Jahn Teigen, Vamp, Rita Eriksen and Vinni. This according to an update posted on Twitter by Rita Eriksen.

 

Meanwhile, the music video for Morten’s international single “Scared of Heights” premiered today. It can be seen on Universal Germany’s website. According to a-ha.com the video was shot in Berlin, directed by Wolf Gresenz and produced by Mutter & Vater Filmproduktion.

And amazon.de has now posted 30-second samples of all songs on the album. You can hear them here.

The Voice – episode 9

Tini, Monika, Martin and Magne during rehearsals

Magne made it tricky for himself on The Voice last night, when he decided to put Monika Blomeid and Tini Flaat Mykland, probably the two best talents on his team, up against each other in a duel.

A video clip of their performance of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” can be seen at TV2.no.

“The two of you are lightyears ahead of so many others. And each of you manage to own the song in your own special way. I’m not able to point out any mistakes in the performance. You go straight to my heart, both of you. I get completely blown away each time I listen to you, including tonight”, Magne said after the performance.

“But I just can’t get past Monika. It has to be Monika”

 

“Setting two such strong talents as Tini and Monika up against each other in a duel might seem strange to most people, and I guess it may not be the most strategic move, but remember that I’m also trying to create unique musical moments. I also feel that there should be a certain balance, in that both talents can have a real chance of actually winning the duels”, he told VG afterwards.

“Magne is so dedicated and excited. He gives me so much inspiration and motivation. It’s almost unreal. Being backed by Magne Furuholmen – it almost feels strange to say it out loud”, Monika said in a VG interview.

“Monika’s voice is a force of nature. She is definitely capable of winning the whole contest”, Magne said in the same interview.

 

But even though Tini is out of the contest, Magne wants to continue working with her as well.

“Yes, it’s true that Tini and me have been in contact after she left The Voice. Martin Terefe and myself really want to make an album with her. She is a singing talent we both strongly believe in, regardless of this contest, and we are hoping to help her release her full potential”, Magne told VG.

“We have had a meeting and are in a dialogue, that’s all I can say. I’m really humbled that he wants to keep working with me, and he seems to mean what he says. It’s really fun”, Tini herself says.

Extra concert in Oslo

Newspaper ad

Morten’s concert at Sentrum Scene in Oslo on September 14th has now sold out. Therefore an extra concert has been added on September 15th.

There will be a fan presale on Billettservice.no starting tomorrow at 9am CET, according to Morten’s official Facebook page.

 

In other news, the official website at mortenharket.com has now been updated with a new design. And apparently Morten will be a guest on Julian Krafftzig’s show on German radio station RPR1 next Wednesday, March 28th.

Magne at royal dinner

Magne was one of the guests at the Royal Palace in Oslo yesterday, as King Harald and Queen Sonja held an official dinner in honour of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, who are on a 3-day visit to Norway.

Aftenposten has a picture of Magne arriving here.

Martin Terefe joins Magne on The Voice

Martin Terefe – Magne’s Apparatjik bandmate and longtime collaborator – appeared on The Voice last Friday as Magne’s handpicked assistant, as the contest moved onto the so-called battle phase.

Assistants to the three other mentors are American drummer David Heilman (Sondre), Barbadian singer Shontelle (Hanne) and Norwegian songwriter Thom Hell (Yosef).

The first two talents on Magne’s team to compete were Knut Anders Sørum and Marius Beck. Their performance of Keane’s “Bend and Break” can be seen at TV2.no.

The battle phase episodes, which were taped at the end of January, will continue for five more weeks. After that, it’s time for the live shows, which start on April 27th. Tickets for the live shows seem to be available now from Billettservice.

Morten interviewed, Oslo concert announced

Morten has recorded parts of the new album in this old farmhouse from the 17th century 
(Picture from Dagbladet)

Morten’s “Lightning”-single was released in Norway on Friday and can now be purchased from iTunes and other download shops. It can also be streamed in Spotify and Wimp.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the “Scared of Heights” 2-track CD single can now be pre-ordered from amazon.de, along with the Out Of My Hands album.

 

In connection with the “Lightning” single release, Morten has done a few Norwegian interviews in the last few days.

On Friday he was a guest on P4s Radiofrokost, where he talked about the new album and a variety of other topics. The complete 23-minute interview can be downloaded here.

Yesterday, there was a story on him in TV2’s Lørdagsmagasinet. The video clip can be seen on TV2.no or on YouTube.

There was also an interview in Dagbladet yesterday. Here are a few quotes:

“The collaboration with [Kent members] Jokke and Martin was very interesting on many levels, and I really like Kent. They are straight to the point, no bullshit, and they’re a friendly and seasoned bunch of guys. We wrote two of the songs on the album together, and there’s also an English version of “Kärleken Väntar”, for which I’ve written the English lyrics.”

“Burn Money Burn” is unavoidably a political song. It’s first and foremost about values, but there’s also a direct criticism of the money system we live by, which I quite frankly feel is extremely dangerous, because there are only certain values in life that can be measured in money.”

“I’m looking to find something new in myself by interacting with others. Incredibly exciting things can happen when different people come together, and that’s what I’m after. a-ha is also an example of this.”

“There are parts on this album that I feel are shamelessly commercial. And that’s fun. But the difference between a show like “Idol” and myself, is that they give people what they want, while I try to give people something they didn’t know they wanted. For me, that’s where pop music starts to get interesting.”

 

There was also an announcement made yesterday by a-ha.com, that Morten will do a solo concert at Sentrum Scene in Oslo on September 14th, as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of a-ha that weekend.

For more info about the events in September and a special fan pre-sale starting on Monday, check out this article on a-ha.com.

Magne portrayed in new book

Magne and twenty other Norwegians have been interviewed and photographed for an upcoming book called Rom 13, which will be published in April.

Oslo Red Cross and the new hotel The Thief, which opens at Tjuvholmen next year, are behind the book project. According to Dagbladet, the people portrayed in the book will talk about important choices they have made in their lives. The journalist Jonas Forsang has done the interviews.

In addition to the book, there will also be a photo exhibition. All the photos have been taken by Marcel Leliënhof in a specially made hotel room that has been set up at Tjuvholmen’s Shed 13 warehouse.

The proceeds will go to the Red Cross project Nettverk Etter Soning, which provides support for people who have been released from prison.

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