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Dear Karen Marie Berg, are you ready to start Christmas a bit early? Yes, a little bit.
It`s 19th of November and it`s not long before Christmas, and we have two guys present who are radiating Christmas ornaments on their faces,
trumpet player Ole Edvard Antonsen and Didrik Solli-Tangen. Welcome.
Thanks Thank you so much. Christmas is almost here, at least for you guys.
Yes, we start on 23rd of November with a Christmas tour, or pre-Christmas tour. And I have to say I have been looking forward to this ever since last Christmas.
I`m in a real Christmas mood. Is it really possible to look forward to this for a whole year?
Yes,I`m very fond of Christmas in general and I think it`s a bit too long between each Christmas.
So in the middle of summer we celebrate July Eve (pun on juleaften) 24th of July with pork ribs and sauerkraut. Christmas is a great time of the year.
How did you two meet, Didrik? We were traveling for four and a half weeks together, all around Norway in "71 degrees North".
And ended up together in the final, me and Ole Edvard on Nordkapp. So we`ve travelled across Norway together.
And during that trip we of course talked about music, since we`re both interested in music.
And then the subject came up that Ole Edvard had this Christmas tour where he invited people as guests.
I joined it and I was surprised in a positive way. Not just the fact that it was fun being on tour.
I sit in church listening to Ole Edvard when I`m not singing myself. And I got a very positive experience from the music he was playing.
Last year was fun. And he asked me to join him this year too. I just had to accept.
Did you actually plan your itinerary during "71 degrees North"? Not exactly. Last year we didn`t go...
We didn`t go as far north as this year. We have extended it by one week this year and we begin in Bø in Vesterålen and start one week earlier than we usually do.
Normally we have only been touring in December or the first Sunday in Advent. But now we have extended it by one week. But why do you start in Bø in Vesterålen?
It`s because they have a very active marching band and a mayor who is doing very well, and I was invited up there to do a concert with my band one and a half year ago during the autumn holiday.
And that was so successful that they asked if I could start the Christmas tour there. I thought why not, so we start there and climb downwards from there.
Sounds very wise. Let`s listen to your single before we talk some more. "Candlelight Carol" or "Lyset i Betlehem" as it`s called in Arne Kildal`s Norwegian translation.
This is how beautiful it sounds with Ole Edvard Antonsen and Didrik Solli-Tangen with "Lyset i Betlehem".
Do you feel tempted to try to play the trumpet Didrik? It`s funny that you should mention that. We had a round of... we`re eager to challenge each other.
So during the tour last year I was given a trumpet like... Is it true? Yes.
I had to challenge him a bit. He often gets things too easy.
I told him that he`s been through some challenges during "71 degrees North" so I challenged him to play the trumpet directly at a Christmas concert.
And that didn`t go very well.. You didn`t exactly hit the bulls eye?
It was like elephant screams. However, when we ended the tour, at the last concert, I got the trumpet I had been playing on as a gift.
Now I have big expectations since he`s been practising for a year. Now he will be allowed to play a real song during this year`s Christmas tour.
And that song is..? I have practising a bit on ... What was the name again...
He can`t even remember the title of it. Is it the scale you are talking about? That's how interested he was in the trumpet... Yes.
I did practise a bit last year. I will try to play a song this year, we`ll see how it will sound. I can`t guarantee anything.
I will make sure the audience won`t leave to put it like that. You`ll be traveling together and performing together, but how well do you fit together?
There is a big age gap, I could in theory be his dad. It was the senior and junior in the final of "71 degrees north". I was the oldest of all, and he was the youngest.
But we share our sense of humour, and musically speaking we have similar background.
We`ve grown up with all types of genres and the classical music as a basic. And most people know Didrik as a Eurovision artist and a TV personality.
And there are probably only a few people who know that he has his education from Barratt Due, and that he got the highest grade in classical song.
We'd better give applause for that. I was actually present at that graduation concert and it was extremely beautiful. I even cried.
Viksmo Slettan! Fantastic. I understand that you two look forward to touring all over Norway. Is it anything in particular you look more forward to than other things?
Is it the last concert and then be able to relax and get in a real Christmas mood?
I look forward to the whole tour. There is the social aspect of it as well. I look forward to each concert.
To be honest, I can`t choose.The biggest challenge I have in general is difficulty in making decisions, so I can`t pick one place especially.
Like you point out I look forward to the whole tour, there will be a lot of driving, staying over nights. A bit like the guys going on a trip.
Then it`s work and having a good time, you eat a good dinner, Christmas food...
Quite a few dinners at cafes etc. Yes, there will be. But it will be fun. It`s going to be great.
Thank you for coming Didrik Solli-Tangen and Ole Edvard Antonsen.
Drive carefully. Have a nice trip on the road. Thanks again.