The Eurovision Song Contest is by definition apolitical - unless your song criticises Russia, of course.

I am afraid of what is happening in the West. In a way, the link between art and politics is about to snap. Music and politics, it seems, are increasingly considered to be separate domains. Music is about making peace, not conflict, they say. And, therefore, it is best to do what is considered normal and uncontroversial. Increasingly, accepting the status quo is a precondition for being considered entertainment, while protest culture is grouped alongside politics.

I believe it is dangerous to think that the more extreme forms of censorship are more worthy of our attention. If we put all our effort into looking for the splinter in Turkey or China's eye, we may fail to recognise the plank in our own.

I am white, male, Norwegian and fairly resourceful. I am indeed among the least suppressed people on earth. If anyone can sing songs without fear, it should be me.

I don't consider myself very principled. As a travelling musician, you have to adapt and adjust to different contexts every day. It is always difficult to connect preach and practice. For instance, I fly more in a year than I had hoped to do in my whole life. I eat what people serve me, not what I think is right. I tried writing songs that were principled, but always ended up contradicting myself when trying to convert the principles into practice. In fact, these days I try not to be too principled, but rather be pragmatic.

The Eurovision Song Contest is by definition apolitical - unless your song criticises Russia, of course.

Norway is much more than just oil. We have a rapidly growing fish sector, a high-tech metal and aluminium industry, abundant access to green hydropower with all the opportunities that provides, an educated workforce, and an incredibly potent welfare system where people are allowed to contribute with what they have and what they know. And if that is not enough, our potential has perhaps even been limited by the oil sector draining all the intellectual and creative talent.