Image Credit: Martin Myklebust
When the MGP 2022 artists were announced in January, there was one that intrigued pretty much all fans – Subwoolfer, and their song ‘Give That Wolf A Banana’.
Two men in yellow wolf costumes, absolutely no prior music, no hints as to who they may be & a song about giving a grandma a banana before she’s eaten by a wolf may all sound a *little* bizarre, and when you look at it written down it’d be easy to think that “something like that will never make it to Eurovision”.
Fast forward a month and Subwoolfer had taken Norway by storm. The speculation over their identities was heightened, their backstory was quite frankly giving no further information as to who were behind the masks & their song was performing extremely well across platforms. Going into the final there was no question – Subwoolfer were the ones to beat.
By the end of the voting, they had a strong 55,883 voting lead over runners up NorthKid, winning each region’s vote aside from Northern Norway, who unsurprisingly, went for NorthKid (the clue is in their name).
‘Give That Wolf A Banana’ is now going to Eurovision, and in the lead up to Turin rumours of the act’s identity & their potential success in the contest have only grown & sparked huge discussion. Find out more about Subwoolfer and what we think about their chances below..
Who Are Subwoolfer?
Well to be completely honest, we don’t know.
Before we get into the rumours behind their identity, Subwoolfer does provide a backstory. They’re brothers known only as Keith and Jim, who met “4.5 billion years ago” when “the moon was a separate planet”.
In 1969, “a prophet from heaven called Neil said he’d make them famous on earth when they’d written the best song in the universe”. He never returned, but Subwoolfer met DJ Astronaut and came to earth.
Ok – we’re aware it sounds…odd, but the creativity is impressive. At the time of MGP, it was strongly rumoured the men behind the act were Norwegian duo YLVIS, famous for their other animal song ‘What Does The Fox Say?’, but now it looks like they’re out of the picture.
The strongest rumours, and most possible, is that the band consist of Gaute Ormåsen – a Norwegian singer who took part in MGP 2010 with ‘Synk eller svøm’, and MGP 2013 with ‘Awake’ – and Ben Adams – a British singer & member of 2000s boyband A1. A1 took part in MGP 2010 with ‘Don’t Wanna Lose You Again’, placing second. Ben’s band mate Christian Ingebrigtsen (from Norway) has been heavily involved in MGP over the years, and took part himself in 2022. Ben also wrote VILDE’s song ‘Titans’ which failed to make it past the heat this year. The rumours surrounding Ben also correspond with a couple of coincidences – he was in London on the same weekend as London Eurovision Party, and eagle-eyed fans noted that from his Instagram stories, he was only around the corner from the LEP venue. Despite them using a translator in all interviews, when they got UK commentator and Eurovision superfan Rylan up on stage to teach him the dance to their song, one of the group did speak to him in an English accent which sounded a lot like Ben. Take a listen and see what you think.
Just because we don’t know exactly who Subwoolfer are, it doesn’t mean they’re entirely elusive. Their TikTok gives us an insight into their personalities, and they seem pretty fun & involved with Eurovision. Their videos range from their own takes on the music videos of other country’s 2022 entries, and their journey of what it’s like to live amongst “earthlings”. One of their most popular videos has to be their ‘SloMo’ dance break attempt, which they then did with Chanel herself at Eurovision In Concert in Amsterdam – watch below.
How Well Will Norway Do At Eurovision?
Norway looks to be set for a good result in Turin, being in the top 10 of the odds to win, and second only behind Ukraine to qualify from semi-final one. If it reaches the momentum it achieved in MGP, it could do better than expected.
The song is of course not your typical pop song and some do think it is what you could class as a “joke” entry. It is the type of song that wouldn’t be out of place in late 2000s Eurovision, and with many thinking that we have moved past these types of acts in the contest, it could go against Norway. However, the lyrics are endearing, even if you do think they’re a little silly. You can’t forget the opening verse, and the ‘yum yum’ hook in the chorus does stick in your head.
Not sure I told you, but I really like your teeth
That hairy coat of yours with nothing underneath
Not sure you have a name, so I will call you Keith
See where you’re going, but I don’t know where you’ve been
Is that saliva or blood drippin’ off your chin?
If you don’t like the name Keith I’ma call you Jim
Opening verse to ‘Give That Wolf A Banana’
Would a juror put their name behind voting highly for this entry over other, more “conventional” songs? Who knows, and if Eurovision patterns are to be followed, ‘Give That Wolf A Banana” isn’t the type of song to impress a jury. However casual viewers looking for some fun, light-hearted music that matches their expectations of what Eurovision is will most likely love it. You can’t forget the yellow wolves singing about bananas, and with their semi-final running order, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they got a huge televote score. They’re the only male artist in the second half of Semi-Final One and are one of two upbeat electronic tracks along with Austria’s ‘Halo’ in that semi half. It performs after one of the big favourites, Greece’s ‘Die Together’, and before Armenia’s ‘Snap’, which is closing the show. Now, coming after a favourite can hurt an entry, but with the entire semi-half being packed with female ballads and mid-tempo tracks Norway (and Austria) look likely to be the standouts.
You can listen to the Norwegian entry for Eurovision 2022 below!
What do you think of Norway’s chances in Turin this year? Let us know in the comments & be sure to follow us on our social media platforms!
