Atle Pettersen (born 5 September 1989) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter from Skien and lead singer of the band The Scheen.

Beginnings

Pettersen was born in

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

, and took part, aged 14, in the 2003 edition of

Melodi Grand Prix Junior Melodi Grand Prix Junior, also spelled as MGPjr, is a Norwegian television song competition for aspiring singers between the ages of 8 and 15 that was held annually between 2002 and 2022. The competing songs are written by the participants themse ...

with the song "Hekta på brett" that he had written himself. The song was performed with Stine. In 2006, he participated in Kjempesjansen on

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

In ''X Factor''

In autumn 2010 Atle Pettersen participated in the Norwegian version of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' on TV 2 Pettersen auditioned with a song written by himself and other members of Above Symmetry called "Traces Inside". Reaching the live shows, Pettersen was mentored by Marion Ravn. Atle Pettersen finished runner-up behind winner

Hans Bollandsås Hans Bollandsås also known as just Hans (born in Melhus Municipality, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway on October 28, 1980) is a Norwegian blues musician who won the Norwegian X Factor in 2010. In a final that was held on 11 December 2010, by beating At ...

After X Factor

On 4 December 2010 he appeared at the TV 2 Artist Gala performing "Lean on Me" with Annsofi Pettersen and Mohamed Abdi Farah and in Spring 2011, he appeared as guest artist for the symphonic power metal band

Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album '' Siége Perilous'', and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in A ...

Pettersen was the lead singer of the

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

Above Symmetry together with Robin Ognedal (guitars), Joachim Strøm Ekelund (drums), Nickolas Main Henriksen (keyboards) and Rein Blomquist (bass). They were originally called 'Aspera', but were threatened with legal action by another band with the same name, forcing the change to Above Symmetry in 2010. They were signed to

InsideOut Records Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Centu ...

and released a record called ''Ripples'' in April 2011.The band disbanded a year later. Together with Ognedal, Henriksen and Blomquist he formed the hard-rock band The Scheen in 2013, recruiting Tobias Ørnes Andersen on drums. In autumn 2011, he took part in TV 2's reality show ''Skal vi danse'' (

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

franchise), partnering with Marianne Sandaker. winning the competition after beating

Kari Traa Kari Traa (born 28 January 1974) is a Norwegian former Olympic freestyle skier. She won the Olympic title in the moguls event at the 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly k ...

in the final. He also featured in advertisements for the Italian fashion label

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. Pettersen participated in

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 hel ...

the national final to choose the representative for Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with his song "World on Fire", Pettersen sang in the final but failed to make the final 4. He would participate in Melodi Grand Prix again in 2023 with the song "Masterpiece", qualifying for the final and placing third.

Discography

Albums

*2011: ''Based on a True Story'' (#3 on Norwegian Albums Chart)

With Above Symmetry

*2011: ''Ripples''

Singles

*2010: "Light On" (David Cook cover) (#8 on Norwegian Singles Chart) *2017: "Number One" (with

Lisa Ajax Lisa Kristina Ajax (born 13 August 1998) is a Swedish singer. She began her career after winning '' Idol 2014'', and is also known for her five Melodifestivalen participations, having qualified to the final on four occasions. Career After par ...

) *2017: "Misbehave" *2019: " Juletid" *2021: ''World On Fire'' (Final - Melodi Grand Prix 2021) *2023: ''Masterpiece'' (

Melodi Grand Prix 2023 ''2023'' was the 61st edition of (MGP), the annual Norwegian music competition that serves as the country's preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It was organised by Norway's public broadcaster NRK, and consisted of three semi-finals ...

)

References

External links

The ScheenAspera BNF catalog
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettersen, Atle The X Factor contestants 1989 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian male singers Inside Out Music artists Musicians from Skien