Geir Rönning (born 5 November 1962) is a Norwegian-Finnish professional singer-songwriter from Ålesund. He later moved to the capital

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in the 1980s, and later on to Stockholm, Sweden, where he found opportunity to start a musical career. He later moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, which he represented in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005. He returned to Norway in 2006 to try unsuccessfully to represent Norway in Eurovision through a joint song with Jorun Erdal. In 2010, he had a comeback trying to represent this time Finland in Eurovision. The same year he also took part in the Swedish ''

Idol 2010 The seventh season of '' Swedish Idol'' premiered on September 7, 2010 and concluded in December 2010 and was broadcast by TV4. Judges Anders Bagge, Laila Bagge Wahlgren and Andreas Carlsson continued to judge the show's contestants for their thir ...

'', coming seventh. Rönning has also performed multiple times together with well-known Swedish pianist Robert Wells and his international Rhapsody in Rock concept. Rönnings lives in Kauniainen,

Musical career

Melodi Grand Prix (1994–1997)

In 1994 Geir's career as a composer started. That year he composed the song ''Gi alt vi har'', which was performed by Jahn Teigen in Melodi Grand Prix 1994, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In the years 1994 till 1997, Geir wrote four composed four songs for and performed three songs in Melodi Grand Prix.

Moving to Finland

Around the time of the millennium change, Geir settled in

, where he became the lead singer of a five-member

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

band, among them the guitarist of Leningrad Cowboys. Geir has also toured outside the Nordic countries; he's done gigs in Albania, Romania, England and the USA.

Finnish Euroviisut 2002, 2004

In 2002 Geir returned to Eurovision spin-offs. This year he participated in the Finnish national final for the first time, with the ballad ''I Don't Wanna Throw It All Away'', finishing third. He returned once again to the Finnish national final stage in 2004, this time finishing fifth with ''I Don't Need To Say''.

Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Finally it was three times lucky for Geir in 2005, when he won the entire Finnish Eurovision selection with the song " Why?", a ballad concerning the Beslan terror tragedy in Russia. That didn't matter much however, neither did the heavy televoting from Norway and Sweden. Geir ended just 18th with 50 points in the semi-final of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

, which that year was held in the Ukrainian capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. He had to be among the top ten to advance to the final night.

Melodi Grand Prix 2006

Despite his Eurovision participation in 2005, Geir wants to try again, this time representing his home country

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. By being one of the two most popular acts (out of six) in the semi-final in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

, northern Norway, Geir and his companion Jorun Erdal qualified directly to the final night of Melodi Grand Prix 2006, performing the ABBAesque schlager ''Lost And Found'', written by three experienced Swedish composers. In the final in Norway's biggest concert hall, the Oslo Spektrum they ended 4th out of 8.

Finnish Euroviisut 2010

Geir has also participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 qualifiers in Finland.

Swedish Idol 2010

In 2010, he reached the finals of Swedish

. He was eliminated on 5 November, placing seventh.

Discography

Albums

*1996: ''Første gang'' *2005: ''Ready for the Ride'' *2008: ''Bare du som vet''

Singles

*2002: "I Don't Wanna Throw It All Away" *2004: "I Don't Need to Say" *2005: " Why?" *2006: "Lost and Found" ( Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronning, Geir 1962 births Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Finland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2005 Living people Melodi Grand Prix contestants Melodi Grand Prix composers Norwegian male singers Norwegian pop singers Norwegian rock singers Norwegian singer-songwriters Norwegian expatriates in Finland Musicians from Ålesund