Any Eurovision fan worth their salt will remember who Maria Haukaas is. Back in 2008 she charmed Europe with an ultra sweet performance of her song ‘Hold On, Be Strong’, which ended up giving Norway their first top 5 finish for quite some years, in what was one of the surprise results that year. Since then she’s had a go at becoming the nation’s sweetheart in Norway, been spun around in frivolous frocks in Let’s Dance, and also gotten round to releasing a lot more music too. Although her 2009 Melodifestivalen collaboration, ‘Killing Me Tenderly’ aside, nothing has really jumped out at us with enough force to get us excited.
Until now that is!
She’s back with a new single, ‘Glorious’, which is the official theme to the 2011 World ski championships. And what a glorious theme it is, at that! It’s a classic, sweeping ballad, heavy on the strings, which in turn tug on your own heart strings. It’s got such a pretty melody to it as well. Everything about it is all very much old fashioned, and charmingly so. The absolute best bit though, is when the final chorus soars to new and unexplored heights, giving the song a large and satisfying finish.
Below you can watch Maria perform the track on an equally large scale – right in the middle of a huge arena. And she’s taken the timeless feel of the song and applied it to her wardrobe too – looking all Hollywood glamour from a time gone by.
It’s beautiful balladry done brilliantly!
