Tooji - Father

Via Olso Pride:

Tooji is a Norwegian artist. As a one year old boy, he came to Norway together with his mother, who fled from the authoritarian regime in Iran. Tooji became known in Norway when he won the national Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and represented Norway in the international final of ESC in Azerbaijan with the song "Stay". In the autumn 2013 Tooji cut all ties to the Norwegian music industry and moved to Stockholm, Sweden. Toojis new song "Father" is Oslo Pride's official pride anthem for 2015. Tooji will perform at Oslo Pride's official opening show in Pride Park in Spikersuppa, Wednesday 24 June, at Gaysirs annual summer party, Thursday 25 June, and at Oslo Pride's annual parade show, Saturday 27 June.

(Tipped by JMG reader Trude)

An American Pastor In Scandinavia

Via Addicting Info:

Pastor Marty McLain, who describes his religious belief as deriving from a literal interpretation of the Bible, was given the opportunity to see how secular Scandinavia is by a documentary series called The Norden. The concept is simple: find narrow-minded Americans and throw them into countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark and watch them have panic attacks. It actually sounds like a lot of fun. McLain wanted to use his time in the north to explore how Scandinavians worship God. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that most of them don’t.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jerry)

NORWAY: Seattle Bear Competes In Reality Show About Norwegian-Americans

JMG reader Mark writes to tell us that his husband Guy is competing on the fifth season of Alt For Norge, a reality show in which Norwegian-Americans are brought to Norway for their first time. Contestants compete in various tasks around the country and meet their long-lost relatives. According to Wikipedia, the show is marketed in the USA as The Great Norway Adventure, but I can't find any listings for domestic broadcasts. Guy was introduced to viewers this week with the clip below.

Eurovision 2014: Norway's Entry

Last night Norway selected tattooed bear Carl Espen as this year's Eurovision entry. Espen's song, which was written by his openly lesbian cousin Josephin Winther, is thus far is the only ballad in the competition. Unlike many other Eurovision acts, which often are local or international pop stars, Espen is an unknown glass salesman.

“I’m feeling a lot right now, both relief and joy,” Carl Espen told state broadcaster NRK’s program hosts Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken. “It feels just completely fantastic.” He admitted to also feeling pressure from all the hype about his song, which is a ballad that starts off slowly and quietly but builds up along the way and allows his voice to boom towards the end. “I just focused on what I needed to do,” he told NRK, which aired the show live from the Oslo Spectrum Arena. “And I’m just so incredibly grateful that Vestlandet managed to mobilize so many votes.”

I can't find any mention of Espen being gay, but the cover photo on his Facebook page might be a clue.

Scandinavian Airport Love

Clip description:

Our new commercial "Airport Love" was created for the sports and outdoor market in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The film's message is that sport is for everyone, no matter what team you play for. The film premiered at the same time as the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi. Of many talented athletes in the film, there are also three Norwegians: Former world champion Anders Solum (freestyle football), Edward Strand (alpine) and Sune Wentzel (frisbee) all impress with spectacular stunts.

The spot ends with the well-worn "shocker" - OMG, the hot girl is into chicks. The most-liked comment on YouTube nails it: "The trouble with this ad is that the male-dominated Russian elite don't have as much problem with girl on girl as they do with guy on guy. Which by the way is hardly different from the situation today in the uber-progressive US of A. So you can have Britney make out with Madonna, but you can't have Timberlake make out with Clay Aiken."  The stunts are pretty cool.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bernie)

Annie - Russian Kiss

Pop star Annie, who I once described here as Norway's answer to Kylie Minogue, has released a new single in support of Russia's LGBT people. Via Pitchfork:

The Sochi Olympics kick off today. Norwegian singer Annie and Norwegian visual artist Bjarne Melgaard have shared "Russian Kiss", their protest song and short film aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime and its anti-gay laws. Watch the film, directed by Richard Kern, below. (It's not safe for work if your work environment is unaccepting of same-sex makeouts.) Part of the proceeds from the song—which was made with the support of Norwegian free-speech foundation Fritt Ord—will go to the gay rights advocacy non-profit All Out.

Annie's Back Together made my 2013 best-of list.

(Tipped by JMG reader Terry)

Ylvis - Massachusetts

From the Norwegian jokesters that brought us the viral smash What Does The Fox Say? comes a oddly sweet jab at the Bay State that's also full of gay ribbing. The chorus could easily be used in a tourism commercial. You'll like this.

RELATED: What Does The Fox Say?, which has had 150 million YouTube views, landed in the top ten of Billboard pop singles chart and saw similar success around the world. It also became a club hit and Massachusetts might too as somebody's already done a remix.

UPDATE: The original clip has been pulled from Ylvis' official channel. Odd. Above is a lower resolution mirror via a JMG reader.

UPDATE II: The clip has been restored to their channel.

Updated Global Marriage Map

After last week's first gay wedding in France, the Agency France-Presse posted the above map.

Annie - Tube Stops And Lonely Hearts

Great track, lousy video from the "Norwegian Kylie.'

Updated Gay Marriage Map

Source.

Marriage Equality Nations

(Via JMG reader Thomas)

Eurovision: Norway's Margaret Berger

Last night Margret Berger was chosen to represent Norway in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.  Sweden's Loreen was the 2012 grand champion with her international hit Euphoria and therefore her home country will host this year's finals, where 39 nations will compete. Here's Berger's winning entry.

NORWAY: Princess Secretly Traveled To India To Care For Gay Staffer's Newborns

Reuters reports that Norway's Princess Mette-Marit secretly traveled to India to care for the newborn twins borne by the surrogate mother hired by a gay palace staffer who was unable to get a visa to go himself.

Armed with a diplomatic passport that granted her immediate access, the future queen jumped on a plane in late October when the employee, who is also a friend, and his husband were unable to travel to care for their newborns. "For me, this is about two babies lying alone in a New Delhi hospital," Mette-Marit said in a statement. "I was able to travel and wanted to do what I could." She did not alert Indian authorities and spent several days with the babies at the Manav Medicare Centre, where staff assumed the wife of Norway's Crown Prince Haakon was a nanny. While the princess was away, her name continued to appear in the official palace calendar and her absence from a parliamentary dinner was not explained. A relative of the two fathers eventually took over from Mette-Marit and the fathers received a visa in November, when they brought the babies back to Norway, the palace added.

Norway legalized same-sex marriage in 2009, but the above-linked story notes that paying for surrogacy is a highly controversial topic there. (Tipped by JMG reader Carol)

EU Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

As parts of Europe endure austerity-related riots, the Nobel committee has awarded the European Union its coveted Peace Prize. Reporters in the room "gasped in surprise" when the announcement was made in Oslo. Bill Gates was considered to have been the front runner for this year's award.

Norway Abolishes State Church

Norway's parliament has officially dissolved the national church.

The bipartisan measure to create a separation of church and state will officially be presented on Tuesday, reports Norway's TV2. The nation will not have an official religion, and the government will not participate in the appointment of church deans and bishops. Svein Harberg, the spokesman for the Church, Education, and Research Committee stated that the decision "is historic both for the Norwegian Church and for the politicians in Parliament." The Church of Norway began after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536, and was officially called the Lutheran State Church. The state meddled very little in church matters, only quelling unrest when it had to, chose high church officials, and financially supported the church.

Most Norwegians are atheist and only 2% attend church regularly.

Eurovision 2012: Norway's Tooji

A bit of an Arabic feel with just a hint of the infamous Eurovision cheese that's mostly lacking so far this year.

Norway Paper: Santorum The Homohater

Rex Wockner tips us to the headline from Norway's Dagbladet.

Norway's Mass Killer Found Insane

Norway's mass murderer, who was a reader of Pamela Geller's anti-Islamic blog, has been found criminally insane and unable to stand trial.

Westboro: We'll Picket Norway Funerals

Like many European nations, Norway has strong restrictions on the public utterances of hate speech. Even carrying Westboro's trademark "God Hates Fags" sign would subject them to arrest. But I doubt they'll actually show up.

Morrissey Elaborates

"The comment I made onstage at Warsaw could be further explained this way: Millions of beings are routinely murdered every single day in order to fund profits for McDonalds and KFCruelty, but because these murders are protected by laws, we are asked to feel indifferent about the killings, and to not even dare question them. If you quite rightly feel horrified at the Norway killings, then it surely naturally follows that you feel horror at the murder of ANY innocent being. You cannot ignore animal suffering simply because animals 'are not us.'" - Faded pop star Morrissey, continuing to compare fast food chickens to murdered human beings.