Tom Hugo Hermansen (born 27 October 1979 in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

), better known as simply Tom Hugo, 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 ...

singer, songwriter and musician. He is currently living in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

Career

Recording artist

In 2007, Hugo moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and started working with Káme Entertainment and All Access Entertainment. In 2009, ''I apologise EP'' was released on the indie-label BrilJant/Indigo. He released his debut-album ''Sundry Tales'' in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

June 2012. The single "Open Up Your Eyes" released in summer 2011 peaked at #100 on German radio-charts. ''Sundry Tales'' was also released in Norway on HW Records/Musikkoperatørene, and peaked at 23rd place on the Norwegian charts. The single "Open Up Your Eyes" peaked at #20 on the Norwegian radio-charts, and follow-up single "Million Doors" was A-listed 12 weeks at Norway's largest radio-station (

NRK P1 NRK P1 is a nationwide digital radio channel operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). It is the result of the NRK radio channel reform initiated in 1993 by radio director Tor Fuglevik. NRK P1 is the direct descendant of NRK's firs ...

). Hugo has played many live-shows in both his home-countries, including a support-tour for

The Overtones The Overtones are a UK based vocal harmony group. They were discovered by a Warner Bros. Records' talent scout while working as decorators in a shop near Oxford Street, singing during their tea break. Their first album, '' Good Ol' Fashioned Lo ...

and festivals like Palmesus 2012, Welt Astra Tag, Reeperbahn-festival and Quart 09. He has also played live on the TV shows ''ZDF MorgenMagazin'' and ''God Morgen Norge'' (TV2-Norway), and was in the prime-time TV show ''Beat for Beat'' in Norway on 23 September 2012.

Melodi Grand Prix

In 2013, he participated for the first time in the

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It dete ...

with the song "Det er du" (It is You). However, he did not qualify for the Final. In 2018, he participated for the second time with the song "I Like I Like I Like". However, he did not qualify for the Gold Final. In 2019, he participated for the third time as part of the supergroup Keiino, who won and later represented Norway at

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...

with the song "

Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in late 1969 from the album of the same name. The single became a gold record, selling two million copies f ...

". He and Keiino would return again for

Melodi Grand Prix 2021 ''Melodi Grand Prix 2021'' was the 59th edition of the Norwegian music competition Melodi Grand Prix (MGP). The contest served as the country's preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The competition was organized by NRK and was held ...

with the song "

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

", placing second behind

Tix Andreas Andresen Haukeland (born 12 April 1993), better known as Tix (stylized as TIX), is a Norwegian singer. He represented Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Fallen Angel". He has Tourette syndrome, a condition charact ...

and his song ''

Fallen Angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...

''.

Radiojam

As well as being an artist and songwriter, Hugo is one of the vocalists in the Norwegian band Radiojam.

Songwriting

Tom Hugo has co-written songs for artists in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Korean supergroup

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

released "Very Merry Xmas" on 27 November 2013, a song co-written by Tom and Chris Busek. In summer 2013, Hugo co-wrote the B-side "Sunny Day Hero" taken from

SHINee Shinee ( ; ko, 샤이니, Syaini; ja, シャイニー, Shainī; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group's musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and th ...

's gold-selling maxi-single " Boys Meet U". He has written 3 tracks together with Y'akoto for her album ''Baby Blues'', released by

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

. Germany in 2012. The co-written single "Without You" did fairly well on radio. The album peaked at #20 in Germany, and was nominated for an Echo award in 2013. Together with Finnish songwriter Erik Nyholm, he wrote the single "Hard to Love You" performed by ebastian Wurthwhich was released in 2011. The single peaked at #18 on the German charts. In 2010, Meg Pfeiffer recorded "Love is Easy" co-written by Tom Hugo, Tebey and Sebastian Kirchner for her album ''Bullrider'' (#63 on German charts). Hugo was until recently signed by Universal Music Publishing in Germany.

Personal life

Hugo is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He married his partner, Alexander Nyborg Olsson, on 4 December 2018. The pair wrote "Spirit In The Sky" together, alongside Keiino's other members.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hugo, Tom Living people 1979 births Norwegian songwriters Musicians from Kristiansand Melodi Grand Prix contestants Melodi Grand Prix composers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2019 Norwegian expatriates in Germany 21st-century Norwegian male singers Gay singers Gay songwriters Norwegian gay musicians Norwegian LGBT singers Norwegian LGBT songwriters 20th-century Norwegian LGBT people 21st-century Norwegian LGBT people 21st-century Norwegian singers LGBT Eurovision Song Contest entrants