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KEiiNO's S谩mi-influenced 鈥楽pirit in the Sky' became Europe's public favourite at Eurovision 2019, yet finished only sixth. Looking back, I still think it's Norway's best Eurovision song of recent years.

There are Eurovision songs you forget before the voting has even finished. Then there are the ones that stick around. For me, Norway's 2019 entry聽Spirit in the Sky聽is firmly in the second category.

I loved the song when KEiiNO won Norway's Melodi Grand Prix in 2019, and more than seven years later I still think it's Norway's best Eurovision entry of recent years.

It's big, dramatic, catchy and unapologetically Eurovision. But it also does something genuinely interesting by combining Scandinavian dance-pop with S谩mi joik. And much of Europe agreed.

KEiiNO didn't win the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The official record shows a sixth-place finish. But when the votes from the European public were counted,聽Spirit in the Sky聽was number one.

The Birth of KEiiNO

KEiiNO was formed with Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision in mind. The trio brought together singers Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo Hermansen with S谩mi rapper and joiker Fred Buljo.

Buljo comes from Kautokeino in Northern Norway, one of the most important centres of S谩mi culture. Before KEiiNO, he was known as a member of the S谩mi rap group Duolva Duottar and had also served as a representative in the S谩mi Parliament.

Even the group's name points north. KEiiNO is derived from Kautokeino, known as Guovdageaidnu in Northern S谩mi.

The three performers brought very different things to the song. Rotan delivered the soaring pop vocals, Hugo brought his songwriting and pop experience, while Buljo contributed rap and, most importantly, joik.

Together, they created one of Norway's most distinctive Eurovision entries of recent years.

The S谩mi Sound of Spirit in the Sky

Most of聽Spirit in the Sky聽is sung in English, but the S谩mi influence is impossible to miss. The song features joik from Fred Buljo along with the Northern S谩mi phrase聽膶谩jet dan 膷uovgga, meaning 鈥渟how me the light.鈥�

Joik is a traditional form of S谩mi vocal music, although describing it simply as singing doesn't quite capture what it is.

Traditionally, a joik can evoke a person, animal or place rather than simply being a song about that subject. Its distinctive sound gives Spirit in the Sky much of its identity.

Without Buljo's contribution, the song could easily have been another polished Eurovision dance-pop track. With it, the song became unmistakably Norwegian.

There was also a wider message behind it. KEiiNO said the song was inspired by struggles for equality and the right to be yourself, whether because of ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

A Mixed Reaction in Norway

Not everyone was convinced when KEiiNO won Melodi Grand Prix. Some Norwegian critics embraced the enormous chorus and obvious Eurovision appeal. Others saw those same qualities as weaknesses.

There were also accusations that elements of Spirit in the Sky sounded too similar to other pop and Eurovision songs, particularly Finland's 2018 entry Monsters. Music experts subsequently played down the plagiarism claims.

Personally, none of that bothered me much. Is聽Spirit in the Sky聽sophisticated art-pop? No. Does it sound as if somebody deliberately tried to write a song capable of filling an arena at Eurovision? Absolutely.

That's part of why it works. The melody is immediate, Alexandra Rotan completely sells the chorus, Tom Hugo anchors the pop side of the song, and then Fred Buljo's joik gives it something genuinely memorable.

Norway Goes to Eurovision

KEiiNO won Melodi Grand Prix at Oslo Spektrum on 2 March 2019, securing Norway's place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. By the time Eurovision arrived in May, the song had already attracted an international following.

It reached second place on Spotify's Global Viral 50 shortly after winning the Norwegian selection, and expectations began to rise.

Even international critics took notice. Ahead of the final,聽The Guardian聽said that attempts to combine local folk traditions with Eurovision pop don't always succeed, but that in 2019.

KEiiNO made it through the second semi-final and into the Grand Final on 18 May. Then came the voting.

The Public Loved KEiiNO. The Juries Didn't.

Eurovision's result is split between professional juries and public voting. In 2019, those two groups had dramatically different opinions of Norway.

The professional juries awarded聽Spirit in the Sky聽just聽40 points. The public gave it聽291. That was the highest televote score of the entire contest.

Even eventual winner Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands received fewer points from viewers. If Eurovision 2019 had been decided solely by the public vote, Norway would have won.

Instead, the low jury score dragged KEiiNO down the overall standings. There was another complication.

During the jury rehearsal鈥攖he performance used by the professional juries to cast their votes鈥擭orway suffered technical problems with the television production. At one point the broadcast briefly went black and a camera operator appeared in shot.

Norway asked to perform again, but the request was denied. There's no way of knowing whether the technical problems affected the jury result, but surrounding Norway's final placing.

Fifth Place Became Sixth

If you remember Norway finishing fifth in 2019, you're not imagining it.

On the night of the final, KEiiNO were announced in fifth place. A few days later, the European Broadcasting Union revealed that a human error had been made when calculating a substitute jury vote for Belarus.

The scores were recalculated. The winner and top four remained unchanged, but Sweden moved into fifth place and Norway dropped to sixth. It was an oddly appropriate ending to KEiiNO's Eurovision experience.

They won the public vote, finished fifth, and then discovered that they had actually finished sixth. Only Eurovision.

Spirit in the Sky Became a Hit Anyway

The result didn't stop the song. Following Eurovision,聽Spirit in the Sky聽climbed charts around Europe and reached number one on Norway's VG-lista. It was also nominated for Song of the Year at the Spellemann Awards, Norway's main music prizes.

The combination of joik and dance-pop had clearly struck a nerve.

Eurovision has a long history of songs combining contemporary pop with traditional music. Sometimes that can feel like a gimmick, with a folk instrument or traditional costume added simply to remind viewers which country they're watching.

I think聽Spirit in the Sky聽works because the joik feels essential. It isn't background decoration. It's one of the song's main hooks. Take Fred Buljo out of the track and much of what makes it memorable disappears.

KEiiNO Didn't Disappear

Unlike many groups assembled for Eurovision, KEiiNO continued after the contest. The trio released more music, toured internationally and built a substantial following among Eurovision fans.

They have also made several attempts to return to the contest. In 2021, KEiiNO entered Melodi Grand Prix with聽Monument聽and reached the final Gold Duel, only to lose to Tix and聽Fallen Angel.

They returned again in 2024 with聽Damdiggida, finishing second behind G氓te's聽Ulveham. But they have never quite recreated that extraordinary moment in 2019 when viewers across Europe collectively chose Norway as their favourite.

Norway's Best Eurovision Song of Recent Years?

Obviously, this is entirely subjective. Norway has sent plenty of memorable songs to Eurovision since 2019, and some have produced strong results.

But if I'm choosing the Norwegian entry from recent years that I most enjoy returning to, it's still Spirit in the Sky.

It is accessible without being anonymous. It has a huge pop chorus while retaining a distinctly northern identity. Most importantly, it put S谩mi joik in front of an enormous international audience without treating it as a museum piece.

And above all, it's fun. The professional juries weren't convinced, but Europe's viewers were. For one night in May 2019, the public voted for Norway. The final scoreboard just didn't quite show it.