Margaret Berger (born 11 October 1985) is a

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 the ...

singer, songwriter, music director, and DJ. She made her debut on

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

after she placed second on the second season of ''

Norwegian Idol ''Idol - Jakten på en superstjerne'' is a television show on the Norwegian television channel TV 2 (Norway), TV 2, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol''. The show describes itself as a "Search For A SuperStar". The contestants are fir ...

'' in 2004.Hoffman, K. Ross. Review"">"Chameleon > Review"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved 16 December 2008. She released the studio albums ''

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

'' (2004) and '' Pretty Scary Silver Fairy'' (2006). Berger represented Norway in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, finishing in fourth place with the song "

I Feed You My Love "I Feed You My Love" is a song recorded by Norwegian singer Margaret Berger. The song was written by Karin Park and MachoPsycho and produced by MachoPsycho. It is best known as Norway's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 held in Malmö, ...

Biography

Early years

Margaret Berger was born on 11 October 1985 in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and grew up in

Hitra Hitra is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and hundreds smaller islands, islets, and skerries. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village ...

, where she lived for twelve years. She sang in a

gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

and began writing her own songs at the age of twelve. Berger studied music at Heimdal videregående skole. She made her debut as a lyricist with the local band Slim Void with the song "In Company With Bottles" on their album ''Slim Void'' released on a local label.

2004: ''Idol''

In 2004, Berger participated in the second season of Idol: Jakten på en superstjerne. She advanced to the top 50, and competed in the semi-finals. She did not make it through in her initial semi-final round, where she lost to

Maria Haukaas Storeng Maria Haukaas Mittet (née Storeng, born 3 August 1979) also known as simply Maria is a Norwegian recording artist. She gained national recognition in 2004 for her participation in the ''Idol'' reality television series, and international recogn ...

and

Kjartan Salvesen Kjartan Salvesen (born 17 October 1976 in Sandnes) is the winner of the second season of Norwegian version of Idol by 840.000 votes, the highest number for any participant on the show. His single "Standing Tall" sold 5 times platinum, making it ...

(the eventual winner). However, she received a call-back for the wildcards from the judge

Anneli Drecker Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto. Life and career Drecker's father Peter, a German from Bielef ...

, who said that Margaret was one of her favorite contestants. She received the most votes with her rendition of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and was also released as a single coupled with "Somethin ...

" thus advancing to the top 11 alongside fellow contestant Susanne Nordboe.

Performances on ''Idol''

2004–2005: ''Chameleon''

Berger's debut album, ''

'', was released on 4 October 2004. The album reached number four on the Norwegian albums chart. According to

's review of the album, "its ten tracks seem to snatch indiscriminately from

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, R&B, and electro, though the cumulative effect is less of a hodgepodge than a harmonious cohabitation of electronic beats and rock guitars, within a plush, polished pop context, in a manner that hasn't been particularly prevalent (in mainstream music anyway) since the '80s". The album did not receive an official

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release, but the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song "Lifetime Guarantee" was awarded a

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

2006–2010: ''Pretty Scary Silver Fairy''

Her second album, '' Pretty Scary Silver Fairy'', was released on 2 October 2006. The album reached number eight in Norway and received positive reviews. Influenced by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

and The Knife, the album was a departure from her previous effort, and featured a mixture of

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

music.Hoffman, K. Ross. Review"">"Pretty Scary Silver Fairy > Review"

. Retrieved 16 December 2008. The

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, "

Samantha Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain. Specu ...

", reached number six on the Norwegian singles chart. Its

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

discuss women who change themselves to please others. Two more singles followed: " Will You Remember Me Tomorrow?" (which peaked at number 13 on the Norwegian singles chart) and "Robot Song". In 2008, Berger became the music director of

NRK P3 NRK P3 is a nationwide digital radio channel operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and was the result of the NRK radio channel reform initiated in 1992 by radio dire ...

, one of the three nationwide

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

channels of the

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

2011–2012: ''Four Hits: Margaret Berger''

On 21 February 2011, Berger released the single "In a Box" on

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. This single included the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"4-E.V.E.R. L.O.V.E". In June 2011, her label

issued the 4-track EP compilation ''Four Hits: Margaret Berger'', which included the singles "Lifetime Guarantee", "

", " Will You Remember Me Tomorrow?" and "Chameleon".

2013–present: Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Berger represented Norway at the

with the song "

" after winning the Norwegian national final on 9 February 2013. The song, written by

Karin Park Karin Maria Erika Park (born 6 September 1978) is a Swedish-Norwegian singer-songwriter. Career Karin Park made her debut in 2003 with the single ''Superworldunknown'' (also album title). She was nominated "Newcomer of the Year" and "Best Fe ...

and MachoPsycho, reached number four on the Norwegian singles chart. On 18 May, Margaret Berger finished in 4th place with 191 points—Norway's best result at the contest since their victory in 2009, and their sixth best result ever. In 2013, Berger stated that she was recording a third studio album, titled ''New Religion'', in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

."NRK-toppjobb for Idol-Margaret"
. Hitra-Froya.no. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008. The album was set to include her

Eurovision 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

song, "

", as well as a collaboration with Swedish indie-pop group

Lo-Fi-Fnk Lo-Fi-Fnk is a Swedish electropop-band formed in 2001 consisting of Leonard Drougge and August Hellsing. They have released two EPs, ''We Is'' in 2002 and ''...And the JFG?'' in 2005. On April 24, 2006, they released their first studio album, ''Boy ...

. On 28 August 2013 she announced the second single "Human Race" on Instagram. The single was released on 6 September. In an interview with So So Gay she announced that the album would be released in February 2014.Hastings, Andy
"Margaret Berger chats with So So Gay"
. So So Gay. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013. This release date was later pushed back. On 14 March 2014, the third single from the album, "Scream", was released. She was one of the five jurors for

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In December 2015 she announced her single "Apologize" on Instagram, which was later released on 22 January 2016.

Discography

* ''

'' (2004) * '' Pretty Scary Silver Fairy'' (2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Margaret 1985 births Living people Idol (Norwegian TV series) participants Norwegian pop singers Norwegian songwriters Spellemannprisen winners Musicians from Trondheim Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2013 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway English-language singers from Norway Women in electronic music Melodi Grand Prix contestants Melodi Grand Prix winners 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian women singers People from Hitra