Dugnad For Haiti CD cover

A collection of live songs from the January 24th fundraising concert for Haiti is released in Norway tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Morten’s performance of “O Bli Hos Meg” is not among the tracks that are on the CD. However, both the studio and live version of “Den Stilleste Timen”, which feature Morten on vocals, are included on the CD.

Speaking of “Den Stilleste Timen” – the music video for this song premiered on Friday, and can be seen on Dagbladet.no.

In other news, the annual Hungarian music awards were held on Wednesday, and a-ha were nominated in the “best modern pop-rock album” category with Foot Of The Mountain, Tamás in Hungary reports.

The other nominees were Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen and The Black Eyed Peas. The award went to Lady Gaga for her album The Fame.

Single cover

The studio version of “Den Stilleste Timen” is now available for purchase from Norwegian download sites like Platekompaniet.no and musikkonline.no.

Morten can be heard singing the lead vocals on the first chorus and the third verse.

“Den Stilleste Timen” also features the voices of: Ole Paus, Lars Lillo-Stenberg, Ingrid Olava, Thom Hell, Elisabeth Andreassen, Askil Holm, Simone Larsen, Laila Samuelsen, Pål Angelskår, Anne Nørdsti, Benedikte Narum, Eldar Vågan, Helene Bøksle, Steven Wilson, Tommy Michaelsen and Tuva Syvertsen.

The song was recorded and mixed by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios, and produced by Håkon Iversen. All proceeds goes to the Haiti relief work being done by the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Church Aid.

Update: The song is apparently also available for purchase on iTunes across Europe.

Morten on stage at the Opera House in Oslo

Morten took part in the “Dugnad For Haiti” charity concert at the Oslo Opera House last night, by performing the Christian hymn “O Bli Hos Meg”, which is the Norwegian version of the original English hymn “Abide With Me”.

This is a song that Morten has performed several times before, most recently at his church concert in Kristiansund in September.

He was accompanied by Kjetil Bjerkestrand on piano, Rune Arnesen on percussion and a string quartet.

At the end of the concert Ole Paus and all the artists, including Morten, performed the new charity single “Den Stilleste Timen”, which was written by Paus.

“It’s incredible what [Ole Paus] has achieved. The fact that he’s managed to turn around and deliver something like this. It’s really super“, Morten told VG Nett after the concert.

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Among the concert audience was Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. “I am impressed by all those who have made this happen, both the artists and those who work at the Opera House“, the Crown Prince told VG Nett.

All proceeds from the event goes to the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Church Aid, two organizations that are providing relief work in Haiti at the moment. More info about the important work they are doing can be found here and here.

People watching the concert at home could donate 200 kroner by calling the number shown on the screen, and initial reports show that more than 20 million kroner was raised during the concert.

Morten tells VG Nett that he hopes the concert can inspire an even stronger commitment to helping the Haiti earthquake victims:

“People’s reactions now are of vital importance. But it is also of vital importance that we decide on what can be called acceptable. The imbalance that exists in the world today is totally unacceptable. It’s a challenge that we need to face together. Everyone who wants to do something now once again has a chance to do their share. It’s easy to become disheartened, but it will make a difference. For many people it’s too late, but there is a lot of people who need help now.

What’s happened in Haiti is terrible. And Haiti’s situation through the years has also been unacceptable. But right now there’s a real disaster where people need all the help they can get“, Morten says.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the concert, it is available on NRK.no here (Morten appears after 1 hour 43 minutes).

Morten recording his vocals at Rainbow Studios in Oslo tonight

In addition to performing at the concert for Haiti in Oslo tomorrow, Morten is also among the artists singing on a Norwegian charity single for Haiti.

The song, which is called “Den Stilleste Timen”, was written by Ole Paus this week. Yesterday Paus recorded a demo version of the song at Amadeus Studios, while work on the final version with all the artists started at Rainbow Studios today.

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Part of the song could be heard in a report from the recording sessions on TV2 tonight. It appeared to feature Morten doing the lead vocals.

Other artists participating on the single include Ingrid Olava, Eldar Vågan, Simone from D’Sound, Askil Holm, Tuva Syvertsen from Valkyrien Allstars, Thom Hell and Ole Paus himself.

Joachim Lund, who is responsible for the project, tells Dagsavisen: “It’s an absolutely beautiful song, which has the right balance between sober lyrics and a melody which will appeal to a large audience. You have to be pretty callous if you aren’t touched by this song“.

The single is planned for release both as a CD-single and download.

Yesterday, Morten appeared on “God Morgen Norge” on TV2 together with singer Elisabeth Andreassen and director Alexander Eik to talk about tomorrow’s concert for Haiti.

“I’m not sure what I’ll be singing, but I promise to make a decision before I go on stage“, Morten said when asked what he’s planned for tomorrow’s concert.

The interview can be seen on TV2.no.