Alessandra: Who is Norway’s 20-year-old Eurovision favourite with a fan in Ellie Goulding?

As Eurovision kicks off in Liverpool, we chat with viral sensation Alessandra about representing Norway

Dubbed “TikTok royalty” by Eurovision, Norwegian pop star Alessandra is entering this year’s competition as one of this year’s buzziest entries.

The Norwegian-Italian singer has already racked up more than 25 million streams on Spotify with her song “Queen of Kings”, which she will be performing during Saturday’s (13 May) grand final.

The popular track is a rousing self-empowerment anthem that features a climactic moment in which Alessandra belts out a “whistle note” à la Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande while dressed in a costume inspired by Queen Elizabeth I.

“Queen of Kings” brims with powerful imagery as Alessandra croons: “She, queen of the kings/ Running so fast/ Beating the wind/ Nothing in this world could stop the spread of her wings.”

At 20 years old, Alessandra has already won acclaim from international stars such as Ellie Goulding who said “Queen of Kings” reminded her of British rock band Queen. High praise indeed!

According to the bookies, Alessandra has a relatively decent chance at taking home the Eurovision trophy this year with 16/1 oddds. If she wants to secure the win, however, she’ll have to topple the current favourite Loreen who is competing for Sweden. Find a full list of the latest betting odds here.

Alessandra rose to fame in her home country only last year after appearing on Norway’s version of The Voice.

Speaking about the inspiration behind “Queen of Kings”, she said the song is about the power of women as well as her experiences as a bisexual woman.

Alessandra is among the bookies’ favourites to win this year (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Alessandra said that she hopes the track will inspire listeners of various ages and genders to take pride in their individuality, and embody their own inner “queen”.

In 2009, the Scandinavian country triumphed in Moscow thanks to Alexander Rybak. The Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist and pianist netted 387 points for Norway with his song “Fairytale”.

Norway has taken home the Eurovision glass microphone three times in total.

Can TikTok princess Alessandra make it four? We caught up with her ahead of this week’s competition...

Alessandra rose to fame in Norway after competing on the reality singing competition ‘The Voice’ (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Hi Alessandra! How are you feeling about competing in Eurovision 2023?

I’m feeling excited, and I’m feeling curious about how it’s going to be. I’m feeling grateful to have a lot of love from people, and so much support – there’s just a lot of positivity!

“Queen of Kings” is a powerful song about a bad-ass warrior queen. Where did that idea come from?

I remember in the studio we were writing and the producer came up with a melody on the piano. Then we started writing over it, and I had in my head this idea of a woman with raven hair, like a goddess, running through the woods with wolves running after her.

That was the image I had in my head and I think we managed to present that in the song... Then we started writing about a “queen of kings”, this goddess, this queen, who is not perfect but she’s also not scared of not being perfect.

This is your first time competing at Eurovision. How do you calm down before a big performance? Anything soothing on your rider?

I would say maybe fruit? Just to have something fresh to eat, because often your mouth gets dry when you’re nervous.

Who is your favourite Eurovision contestant of all time and why?

Well, of all time I would say Abba. I know it’s a classic but it’s Abba. They’re my favourite and they’ve inspired me so much.