We’re back in Norway today looking ahead to Melodi Grand Prix! In our second MGP interview of 2025, Jan and Dave sat down with 18-year-old Kyle Alessandro, who is amazingly about to compete in his second MGP!

While Kyle is competing under his own name for the first time, when he was just 16, he was a member of the group Umami Tsunami and placed 9th in MGP 2023 with Geronimo.

Kyle’s song for his solo début in MGP 2025 is called Lighter, and it has a very special meaning to the young artist. It was written around a very difficult time in his life:

“This was during a time my mother had cancer. She was told she had six months left, but she pushed through it. She’s cancer-free now. […] When we came back from that doctor’s appointment, [my mom] said to me something I’ll never forget. She said, ‘Don’t ever lose your light. And if you do, go get it back right now.’”

— Kyle Alessandro

We asked Kyle if his mother had heard Lighter yet, and he nodded yes and had this to say:

“She started crying and said, ‘You’re going to win Eurovision.’”

— Kyle Alessandro

Kyle reached out to Melodifestivalen veteran Adam Woods for help completing Lighter. As a nod to being a big Eurovision fan himself, he told us that we should expect to pick up on some Eurovision hits in his song Lighter:

“I thought, what if I mix everything I love about Eurovision into one song? I used Fairytale, Zári, La Noia, and SlowMo as inspiration.”

— Kyle Alessandro

When it comes to Kyle’s future aspirations, he was clear on one thing:

“I want to win Eurovision for Norway. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid.”

— Kyle Alessandro

Be sure and check out the full interview with Kyle (above) as he teases some new music coming soon, how Beyoncé and Lady Gaga have influenced him, and how his cultural identity has and continues to shape his music. The episode is now streaming wherever you get your favourite Eurovision podcasts!

Let us know in the comments and on our social media profiles @buildingbridgespod what you thought of the interview and if you think we’ll see Kyle on the Turquoise Carpet in Basel in May!