Break out the sequins, the back-up dancers and the dazzling lights- ‘tis the season leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest! The competition created to bring post-WW II Europe together will take place in Liverpool, England this May.

Three Melodi Grand Prix semi-finals took place January and February, to determine who would advance to the next level. 21 acts crooned, belted and emoted in hopes of winning one of the nine spots in the Grand Final.

The MGP contest format was revamped from previous years in hopes that Norway would send a winning act to Eurovision. Instead of letting the public decide the overall winner, this year the grand final was scored 50% by public opinion and 50% on votes by an international panel of judges.

The competitors sang in various genres ranging from country to swing to reggae, mostly in English with a handful performing in Norwegian and even one in Spanish. Ballads tend to be a favorite with the Eurovision audience, but that did not keep a K-pop-esque boy band and a dazzling drag queen from bringing down the house.

When all the votes were tallied, these nine acts advanced to the Grand Final in Trondheim.

Hosting the Melodi Grand Prix events were journalist and radio host Arianrhod Engebø and singer/songwriter Stian “Staysman” Thorbjørnsen. While they would have liked to send several of the top acts to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest in May, there could be only one winner.

Before the results were announced, there was an interlude with a major reveal: Norway’s 2022 entry for Eurovision, Subwoolfer came back to pass the torch to the new winner. Calling it Norway’s #WorstKeptSecret, the yellow alien wolf duo “Jim and Keith” performed “Give That Wolf a Banana,” and then pulled off their masks to reveal their identities, which had been surmised but not confirmed for over a year. Watch the performance.

Chosen by both the public and the panel of judges was the effervescent Alessandra, who pulled off a decisive win with her anthem, Queen of the Kings. With a Norwegian mother and Italian father, 20-year-old Alessandra Mele grew up in Italy, but recently moved to Norway to study music at the Lillehammer Institute of Music Production and Industries (LIMPI). Upon her win, Mele was overcome with emotions, saying that the win was a big honor and that she is going to make Norway proud.