Monty’s Eurovision Countdown 2025 Part 27 – Norway

Lighter by Kyle Alesandro

Where PARG copied, Kyle Alessandro innovated as the first of this year’s Armoured Twinks during his performance in Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix. There’s something of the warrior about the character in the song, on his own quest that’s seeing him walking 100,000 miles after losing his own mind. (It’s the long way round, Kyle; more than 4 times round the equator, and 100 times further than The Proclaimers, taking into account their 500 more. You probably could have got away with a couple of circuits of the Vigeland Park and nobody would be ay the wiser if you just huffed and puffed a bit harder.)

This isn’t Kyle’s first rodeo: he was one third of the pleasingly daftly named twink trio Umami Tsunami a couple of years back with their boisterous song Geronimo. Now he’s solo and setting out on his uber quest. It’s not hard to see how this easy pop tune won MGP, especially with little competition of any substance this year.

I’ve got a gripe with the title though, and I hate to do that native speaker thing, but it’s just not right in English. There are a couple of possible interpretations: a literal lighter, as in something which ignites, and Kyle is singing about being feeling a spark inside and setting it all on fire, so the word could be being used in the sense of self-immolation. But given the quest-like theme there’s also an interpretation of lighter meaning something which illuminates his path.

Whichever it is, it feels clunky, and I did find myself lost on pondering the syntax rather than concentrating on the song, which may not be a bad tactic: this doesn’t really feel like it has enough to it to manage anything above mid-table at best. In fact, it feels like easy fodder to qualify and prop up the lower quintile of the final scoreboard.

My marks: 6 points

Photo: Thor Håkan Ulstad/EBU