I assure you most Norwegians are less ugly and have better teeth than this pumpkin head. Apparently he can sing, though:
- Bergen plumber turned pop singer Kurt Nilsen repeated his national success on a global scale, becoming the convincing winner of the first "World Idol" competition on Thursday night. Nilsen's unconventional looks were supposed to rule him out of pop stardom, but the power of his voice overcame all obstacles.
Nilsen, 25, was reportedly the favorite with the majority of his competitors, and bookmakers began slashing his odds as the final voting approached, but American Kelly Clarkson and Briton Will Young remained top favorites.
But on the night the juries in nine of the 11 participating countries gave Kurt top votes and a crushing victory in the competition. What he actually won, besides a massive trophy, remains to be seen, but the former plumber is now close to gaining an international recording contract.
Nilsen was one of the few artists to impress the ordinarily vicious panel of judges, and the only criticism the toughest of them could find was with the Norwegian's tousled, gap-toothed appearance.
But being told by the UK's Simon Cowell (acting as US judge) that "If this competition had been on radio you'd walk it", and having the Australian judge say he had the voice of an angel but the looks of a hobbit, probably only boosted the Norwegian's popularity with the public. [Aftenposten]
Article comments
1 - Steve Rhodes
I watched parts of both World Idol shows.
Nilsen was better than Clarkson and the rest, but that wasn't saying much. I figured he would win after watching his performance on the first show.
The second show was incredibly bad. Most of it was judges from each place repetitively reporting the results.
It would be interesting to throw in some little known, but good singers/bands into an idol competition. There are local San Francisco singers who are much better than any of the World or American Idols and certainly deserve the platinum album sales more.
2 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Steve, I am sure it was obvious from the report that I didn't see any of it. I don't know if I'm going to get involved with the new season of AI or not - it's a big commitment.
3 - TDavid
What crawled up that judge from Poland's ass and died? That guy didn't seem to like anybody during the competition. He was more harshly critical than Simon -- or at least trying to be.
With that said, I think they should add that judge and make it a foursome for this season. The row between Simon and he was one of the few bright spots for World Idol.
4 - Norwegian girl
Kurt Nilsen makes me proud to norwegian!