Morten and Maria Engås Halsne, preparing for last night’s season finale

Maria Engås Halsne on Team Morten is the winner of The Voice 2019, after two solid performances in the season finale last night.

The 22-year-old medical student was originally on Lene’s Team, but Morten seized the opportunity to “steal” her to his own team during the battle episodes back in April, after Maria had performed “Shallow” together with Oskar Øiestad.

Morten performing “Broken” together with Lene Marlin

Last night’s finale opened with the four mentors performing Isak Danielson’s song “Broken”, followed by each finalist doing one song:

1. Edward Mustad (Team Morten): “October 8” YouTube / TV2.no
2. Steffi Buie (Team Lene): “Kan Du Lære Mæ?” YouTube / TV2.no
3. Maria Engås Halsne (Team Morten): “Go Your Own Way” YouTube / TV2.no
4. Oskar Øiestad (Team Lene): “Kings and Queens” YouTube / TV2.no

The two finalists with the most votes would go on to the so-called “super final”, and it turned out to be Edward and Maria. They both did an additional song to determine who would be the winner:

1. Edward Mustad (Team Morten): “I’m On Fire” YouTube / TV2.no
2. Maria Engås Halsne (Team Morten): “Strong” YouTube / TV2.no

“You have so many qualities, Maria. I decided to bring you further along, and it turns out I was right. This was one of your best performances on The Voice this year”, Morten said after Maria’s version of London Grammar’s “Strong”.

Maria got the most votes from the viewers and is the winner of The Voice 2019. She gets a record contract with Universal Music.

“This is fantastic. It’s difficult to favor one talent over someone else, I’m not able to do that. But I have believed in my whole team and tried to bring out the best in them. And it’s been really fun to be a part of. So congratulations Maria! It’s well deserved”, Morten said after the victory.

Morten applauding Maria on The Voice, 24 May

Six talents remained in the contest before the semi-final of The Voice on Friday 24 May, including Maria and Edward on Team Morten.

Here are the live performances from H3 Arena on Friday night:

1. Oskar Øiestad (Team Lene) YouTube / TV2.no
2. Maria Engås Halsne (Team Morten) YouTube / TV2.no
3. Endre Gryting (Team Yosef) YouTube / TV2.no
4. Amanda Rusti (Team Martin) YouTube / TV2.no
5. Steffi Buie (Team Lene) YouTube / TV2.no
6. Edward Mustad (Team Morten) YouTube / TV2.no

“There’s a great musicality in your performance”, Morten told Maria after her version of Sia’s “Bird Set Free”, while he commended Edward on having “an incredible voice” after hearing his take on Madrugada’s “Majesty”.

Ultimately, the two performers who received the fewest votes from the viewers were Endre and Amanda, which means Yosef and Martin are left without any of their talents in next week’s season finale.

Maria and Edward on Team Morten will compete against Oskar and Steffi on Team Lene in the season finale, which airs live on TV2 next Friday, 31 May at 20:00. The winner gets a recording contract with Universal Music.

Morten and Yosef on The Voice, 10 May 2019

The fifth season of The Voice continued with the third live show last night.

Here are all the eight performances, with video links to both YouTube and TV2.no (the YouTube clips are blocked in some areas outside of Norway, it seems):

1. Endre Gryting (Team Yosef) YouTube / TV2.no
2. Oskar Øiestad (Team Lene) YouTube / TV2.no
3. Amalie Hamborgstrøm (Team Martin) YouTube / TV2.no
4. Edward Mustad (Team Morten) YouTube TV2.no
5. Amanda Rusti (Team Martin) YouTube / TV2.no
6. Kristoffer Edvardsen (Team Yosef) YouTube / TV2.no
7. Steffi Buie (Team Lene) YouTube / TV2.no
8. Maria Engås Halsne (Team Morten) YouTube / TV2.no

“You have a fantastic tone and range in your voice”, Morten told Edward after his performance, while he described Maria as being “musically very sharp and steady”.

At the end, each mentor was able to choose one of their talents to go through to the semi-final in two weeks.

Morten decided to be tactical in his choice:

“Last Friday three of my talents disappeared from the show. It was brutal for all of us. We were already at a stage where it was very, very even. Today we’re one performance further on, and we’re approaching the craziest part of this show where anything can happen. All of you, Maria, Edward, and the rest of you, have come a long way. You have gained a lot of experience from this, and are definitely all winners. I don’t want to lose any more talents, I want both of you to continue. The only way I can make a choice now, is that I know that the viewers have voted for Edward in the previous two live shows. That’s what I’m counting on this time as well, which means I’m choosing Maria.”

After Morten had chosen Maria, Yosef chose Endre, Lene chose Oskar and Martin chose Amanda.

The last two semi-finalists were decided by viewer votes and turned out to be Edward and Steffi.

So both talents on Team Morten are ready for the semi-final on 24 May. See pictures of all the mentors and their remaining talents on the shows’s official Instagram.

Morten on The Voice, 3 May 2019

After 11 blind audition episodes, 5 knockout episodes and 3 battle episodes, it was time for the first of 5 live shows on Friday 26 April, with Team Lene vs Team Yosef.

In the first two live shows, a total of 19 remaining talents would be reduced to 8 (it was supposed to be 20, but Mina Lund on Team Lene – one of the favorites – decided to withdraw from the competition to focus on her studies).

In the second live show this past Friday, 3 May, the focus shifted to Team Morten vs Team Martin.

Here are the performances of the five remaining talents on Team Morten on Friday:
– Henrik Fuglem
– Maria Engås Halsne
– Edward Mustad
– Sindre Steig
– Hanna Solemdal

The two talents on Team Morten who ended up going through to the next live show were Edward (viewer votes) and Maria (Morten’s pick). Here’s a picture of Morten with Edward and Maria after the show.

They will compete against Steffi Buie and Oskar Øiestad (Team Lene), Kristoffer Edvardsen and Endre Gryting (Team Yosef) and Amalie Hamborgstrøm and Amanda Rusti (Team Martin).

The live shows continue at H3 Arena on 10 May, 24 May and 31 May (final). Tickets are available through eventim.no.

Morten and Yosef in last Friday’s episode

Over the last couple of weeks, seven new talents have joined Team Morten. They are:

Marie Øvstebø
Sebastian Hågensen
Cecilie Haukland
Marta Hagen
June Salomonsen
Hanna Solemdal
Trina Coleman

Trina Coleman in particular, could turn out to be one of the favorites this season.

When discussing how the various song choices during the blind auditions could impact their decisions, Morten said that he had an advantage over the other mentors:

“My great advantage is that I rarely listen to music at all. So for me, all the songs are more or less unknown.”

To see video clips of all the performances so far, go to TV2’s YouTube channel.

Back in the red chair

The fifth season of The Voice started airing on TV2 this week, with the first two blind audition episodes on Monday and Friday.

So far Morten has ended up with three talents for his team, Lene has five, while Yosef and Martin both have two.

As with the previous season, TV2 will be posting all the performances on YouTube. Here are the video clips of this week’s talents, backed by a band featuring a-ha’s Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums:

Helene Seljehaug – Yosef
Silje Rubin – Lene
Carl-Christian Grimstad – Martin
Marius Brynjulfsen – Lene
Martine Kristofa Rygvold – none
Steffi Jo Buie – Morten

Kristin Husøy – Yosef
Martin Løvereide Lindtner – none
Ida Ganes – Lene
Edward Mustad – Morten
Oline Rørstad Bredeli – none
Charlotte Marie Hjelmeland – Lene
Ray Hardy Johansen – Morten
Amanda Rusti – Martin
Mina Lund – Lene

From the new season: Martin Bjercke, Yosef Wolde-Mariam, Lene Marlin and Morten Harket with host Øyvind Mund. (Picture: TV2)

The fifth season of the Norwegian version of The Voice, where Morten returns as one of the four mentors, will premiere on TV2 on Monday, 14 January.

A short promo clip has been posted on the show’s Instagram.

Blind audition episodes will air both Mondays and Fridays for the first five weeks. After that, starting on 22 February, the show will only air on Fridays – up until the season finale on 31 May.

Meanwhile, eight studio tapings of the upcoming Knockout and Battle rounds will take place at Nydalen Studios in Oslo in the coming weeks, starting this Wednesday:

9 January: 16:00 and 19:00 (Knockout)
12 January: 16:00 and 19:00 (Knockout)
23 January: 16:00 and 18:15 (Battle)
25 January: 16:00 and 18:15 (Battle)

Free audience tickets are available through universe.com.

Ready for another season

Morten has signed on for another season of The Voice, with blind auditions starting at H3 Arena in Oslo in November.

Free tickets for 8 different tapings are now available through universe.com.

Here are the blind audition taping dates:
15 November: 16:00 and 19:00
18 November: 16:00 and 19:00
22 November: 16:00 and 19:00
25 November: 16:00 and 19:00

The fifth season will probably start airing on TV2 sometime in January/February 2019, with live shows starting in April and the final sometime in May/June.

The same four mentors will return this season, meaning Morten will be joined once again by Lene Marlin, Yosef Wolde-Mariam and Martin Bjercke.

Morten singing “Something Just like This” by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

Last night it was time for the big season finale of The Voice, live from Fornebu in Oslo, where Andrea from Team Yosef, Sebastian from Team Morten, and Thomas and Agnes from Team Lene were competing to be named “the best voice in Norway”.

The show opened with Morten and the other mentors performing together for the first time, doing a cover version of the 2017 hit song “Something Just like This” by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay, before the four finalists took over on stage.

Watch the video here:
Morten, Lene, Yosef and Martin: “Something Just Like This”

The four finalists then performed one song each:
1. Sebastian James Hekneby: “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson
2. Thomas Løseth: “Heal” by Tom Odell
3. Agnes Stock: “Home for Christmas” by Maria Mena
4. Andrea Santiago Stønjum: “Halo” by Beyoncé

The two finalists who received the most votes from the viewers would then go on to the “super finale”, and that turned out to be Thomas and Andrea. After a break, they each performed another song:

1. Andrea: “Try” by Pink
2. Thomas: “With or Without You” by U2

Thomas Løseth is the winner of The Voice 2017

And the winner was…Thomas!
He wins a new car and a recording contract with Universal Music.

“There’s been a lot of great talents on the show. The level of quality has been very high. (…) Shows like this offer a great learning curve. It’s a taste of what [the music business] can be like. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and that’s one of the things I like about The Voice”, Morten said at the end.

A picture of Morten at the afterparty with the last five talents on his team; Dina, Sebastian, Knut, Ingeborg and Isabelle, was posted by Isabelle on Instagram.

Morten on The Voice, 1 December

Five talents remained in the contest before the semi-final of The Voice on Friday 1 December, including Sebastian on Team Morten. Here are links to YouTube-videos of all five performances:

1. Agnes Stock: “Vintersang” by Sarah McLachlan
2. Andrea Santiago Stønjum: “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” by Etta James
3. Thomas Løseth: “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn
4. Elise Nærø: “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon
5. Sebastian James Hekneby: “Remember When It Rained” by Josh Groban

“They have been doing this for many weeks now and have become quite experienced, compared to where they started out. It’s been a fantastic journey for all of them. And I think we as mentors have become invested in all the artists”, Morten said.

The one who had to leave the contest this time was Elise. The four others will compete in the final, which airs live on TV2 this Saturday, 9 December at 20:00.