Geir Rönning (born 5 November 1962) is a Norwegian-Finnish professional singer-songwriter from Ålesund. He later moved to the capital

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in the 1980s, and later on to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, where he found opportunity to start a musical career. He later moved to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, which he represented in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in 2005. He returned to Norway in 2006 to try unsuccessfully to represent Norway in Eurovision through a joint song with Jorun Erdal. In 2010, he had a comeback trying to represent this time Finland in Eurovision. The same year he also took part in the Swedish '' Idol 2010'', coming seventh. Rönning has also performed multiple times together with well-known Swedish pianist Robert Wells and his international Rhapsody in Rock concept. Rönnings lives in

Kauniainen Kauniainen (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kauniainen is situated in the southern part of the Uusimaa region, and it is Enclave and exclave, enclaved by the City of Espoo. The population of Kauniainen ...

Musical career

Melodi Grand Prix (1994–1997)

In 1994 Geir's career as a composer started. That year he composed the song ''Gi alt vi har'', which was performed by Jahn Teigen in

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norsk Melodi Grand Prix, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster (NRK). It determines for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been sta ...

1994, the national selection for the

. In the years 1994 till 1997, Geir wrote four composed four songs for and performed three songs in Melodi Grand Prix.

Moving to Finland

Around the time of the millennium change, Geir settled in

, where he became the lead singer of a five-member

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band, among them the guitarist of Leningrad Cowboys. Geir has also toured outside the Nordic countries; he's done gigs in Albania, Romania, England and the USA.

Finnish Euroviisut 2002, 2004

In 2002 Geir returned to Eurovision spin-offs. This year he participated in the Finnish national final for the first time, with the ballad ''I Don't Wanna Throw It All Away'', finishing third. He returned once again to the Finnish national final stage in 2004, this time finishing fifth with ''I Don't Need To Say''.

Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Finally it was three times lucky for Geir in 2005, when he won the entire Finnish Eurovision selection with the song " Why?", a ballad concerning the Beslan terror tragedy in Russia. That didn't matter much however, neither did the heavy televoting from Norway and Sweden. Geir ended just 18th with 50 points in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, which that year was held in the Ukrainian capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. He had to be among the top ten to advance to the final night.

Melodi Grand Prix 2006

Despite his Eurovision participation in 2005, Geir wants to try again, this time representing his home country

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. By being one of the two most popular acts (out of six) in the semi-final in Alta, northern Norway, Geir and his companion Jorun Erdal qualified directly to the final night of Melodi Grand Prix 2006, performing the ABBAesque schlager ''Lost And Found'', written by three experienced Swedish composers. In the final in Norway's biggest concert hall, the Oslo Spektrum they ended 4th out of 8.

Finnish Euroviisut 2010

Geir has also participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 qualifiers in Finland.

Swedish Idol 2010

In 2010, he reached the finals of Swedish Idol 2010. He was eliminated on 5 November, placing seventh.

Discography

Albums

*1996: ''Første gang'' *2005: ''Ready for the Ride'' *2008: ''Bare du som vet''

Singles

*2002: "I Don't Wanna Throw It All Away" *2004: "I Don't Need to Say" *2005: " Why?" *2006: "Lost and Found" ( Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronning, Geir 1962 births Living people Norwegian male singers Norwegian pop singers Norwegian rock singers Norwegian male singer-songwriters Norwegian singer-songwriters Norwegian expatriates in Finland Musicians from Ålesund Eurovision Song Contest entrants