Fred-René Øvergård Buljo (born 6 February 1988), better known as simply Fred Buljo, is a Norwegian

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

rapper and

joik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sápmi in Northern E ...

er. Buljo is a member of the Sámi rap duo Duolva Duottar, consisting of Buljo and Ole Mahtte Gaup, established in 2007. In 2008, the group made a breakthrough when they participated in ''

Norske Talenter ''Norske Talenter'' (English: ''Norway’s Got Talent'', ''Norwegian Talents'') is a Norwegian talent show with a similar format to '' Britain's Got Talent,'' making it one of the ''Got Talent'' franchise programmes. The 16-year-old singer E ...

'' and reached the final. He also is one of members of the supergroup KEiiNO, alongside

Alexandra Rotan Alexandra Rotan (born 29 June 1996) is a Norwegian singer. Rotan began her career as a child singer, becoming a superfinalist in Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2010 with the song "Det vi vil". She later joined the supergroup KEiiNO in 2018, and as ...

and Tom Hugo. The group was created in late 2018 in preparation for the participation in Melodi Grand Prix 2019, which they won and so were selected to represent

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the

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 with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

, finishing in sixth place. As well as being a musician, Buljo also has served in the Sami Parliament for the party

Árja Árja ("Commitment" in northern Sami) is a Norwegian Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence compa ...

, first as a deputy from 2013 to 2016, and as an MP and

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

in the period 2016–2017.

Musical career

Semi2Dress2019-039-20190516-EuroVisionary

Since then, he has toured in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and has worked both as a songwriter and as a performer. In 2019, he participated in the

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norsk Melodi Grand Prix, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster (NRK). It determines for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been sta ...

as part of the group KEiiNO and won 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 December 1969 from his album '' Spirit in the Sky''. The single became a gold record in the United S ...

Political career

Buljo has also served as representative on the

Sámi Parliament of Norway The Sámi Parliament of Norway (, , Lule Sami and , , , ) is the representative body for people of Sámi heritage in Norway. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the Sami people of Norway. The parliament opened on 9 October ...

for the party

, first as a deputy from 2013 to 2016, and as an MP and

in the period 2016–2017.

Awards

In December 2019, Buljo beat Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen with 46.3% of the votes over her 32.87% to win Ávvir's Saami of the Year Award.

Discography

As part of Duolva Duottar

Albums

* ' (2011)

Singles

* "Álggu Loahppa (The End of the Beginning)" (2016) * "Samestaten (State of Sapmi)" (2017) * "Offroad" (2017) * "Samegutt" (2017) * "Joavnna" (2017) * "Markanstallu" (2018)

As part of Keiino

Albums * ''Okta'' (2020)

Singles

* "

" (2019) * “Shallow” (2019) * "Praying" (2019) *"

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, historical ...

" (2021) *"Damdiggida" (2024)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buljo, Fred Living people 1988 births Norwegian Sámi musicians Norwegian musicians Norwegian Sámi politicians Norwegian male rappers Members of the Sámi Parliament of Norway People from Kautokeino