"Grab the Moment" is a song by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

music producer

JOWST Joakim With Steen (born 26 June 1989), better known as Jowst (usually stylised JOWST), is a Norwegian music producer and songwriter. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Grab the Moment", along with vocalist Ale ...

featuring uncredited vocals from Norwegian singer

Aleksander Walmann Aleksander Walmann Åsgården (born 12 January 1986) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 alongside Jowst with the song "Grab the Moment", finishing in 10th place. Early life and care ...

. The song represented Norway in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

. It was released as a digital download on 15 February 2017, and was written by

Jonas McDonnell Jonas McDonnell (born 2 May 1986) is a Norwegian songwriter and musician from Hønefoss. He has written the lyrics to the song Grab the Moment as won Melodi Grand Prix 2017. The song was sung by JOWST and Aleksander Walmann. The song came in 10 ...

and Joakim With Steen.

Background

The song was not originally written for Eurovision. It was originally work titled "Making a Hit" and lyricist Jonas McDonnell had written a

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to the song. During the work on the song, composer Joakim With Steen invited musically interested friends and acquaintances to a closed

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group, JOWST - making a hit.Trondhjemmer og MGP-vinner fikk hjelp på Facebook
/ref> In the group, he asked friends for advice and suggestions to make the song better, and he changed the song as the feedback came in.De må slå Kristian Valen og Rune Rudberg
/ref> Altogether he got in around 100 suggestions, divided into 22 different sketches and drafts. Finally Steen ended up with "Grab the Moment", and he then sent it to several record companies without receiving a response. Mostly for the fun, he also sent the song to

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

, which in January 2017 took it out to participate in Eurovision 2017. Steen considered first to decline participation, but later decided to participate.Vinnerlåten ble ikke laget for MGP
/ref> Then began the search for a vocalist, and two different vocalists tried to sing the song. One of them was Aleksander Walmann, who had come to the final of TV2's ''

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'' in 2012. Steen chose Walmann because they two had the best chemistry together.

Reception and lyrics

The song received positive criticism from the Norwegian reviewers after the victory, and it was described as "

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Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

reviewer Stein Østbø felt "Grab the Moment" has "a hell of a sticky feel-good chorus" and stated simultaneously: "No, I do not think we

ill ILL may refer to: * '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibra ...

win in Kyiv with this. But it is a good placement".

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

said the song was the best in the competition and that it had "modern rhythms, cool chorus, good vocals".

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

agreed, and thought Norway would get far in the Eurovision Song Contest in

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: "It's catchy, modern, and apparently has a European appeal", wrote reviewer after the victory. The day after the victory "Grab the Moment" also went to the top of the Norwegian

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sales chart. Steen himself describes "Grab the Moment" as an

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song, but with elements of pop and hip-hop. The text is written by Jonas McDonnell, and is about challenging social anxiety and dare to tread outside your comfort zone.

Melodi Grand Prix

The song was one of 1035 songs which was submitted to NRK competition for Eurovision 2017, and was among the ten who were selected to participate in the final in

Oslo Spektrum Oslo Spektrum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in east central Oslo, Norway that opened in December 1990. It is currently owned and operated by Norges Varemesse. Oslo Spektrum is primarily known for hosting major events such as the annual ...

, Saturday 11 March. The song was the fourth entry on the scene, with Aleksander Walmann as vocalist, while Joakim With Steen stood on the stage as a DJ, wearing a lightmask. Steen attended the artist name, JOWST, which is an

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of the initials of his name. In the first round "Grab the Moment" got the most Summit Points from the international juries, and it was one of four songs that advanced to the gold final. Eventually "Grab the Moment" was named the winner after receiving the most SMS votes from Norwegian viewers in the gold final. The song received 46,064 SMS votes, around 6,000 more than second place . "Grab the Moment" thus represented Norway in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv on 11 May 2017.

Eurovision Song Contest

JOWST and Walmann were confirmed to be taking part in ''Melodi Grand Prix 2017'', Norway's national selection for the

, on 7 February 2017. In the final, held on 11 March, JOWST and Walmann received the maximum 12 points from four of the eleven international juries in addition to winning the televote. They subsequently advanced to the gold final, where they won the competition. Norway competed in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on 11 May 2017, qualifying for the grand final in 5th position after their jury result of 3rd and televote result of 8th were combined. JOWST performed 17th at the grand final on May 13, 2017, finishing in 10th position, receiving a combined total of 158 points from the jury vote and televote.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Certifications

References

{{authority control Eurovision songs of Norway Eurovision songs of 2017 2016 songs 2017 singles English-language Norwegian songs Melodi Grand Prix songs