Alessandra: Italy to Lillehammer, the ‘Queen of Kings’ Journey
When Alessandra Mele won Melodi Grand Prix 2023 and carried Norway to fifth place at Eurovision in Liverpool, she did it with an accent no one in the Norwegian delegation had heard before — because, in a sense, no one had. She had grown up in Italy, moved to Norway at eighteen, and learned to be a Norwegian pop star in about eighteen months. “Queen of Kings” was not just her debut single. It was her introduction to a second country.
A childhood in Cisano sul Neva
Alessandra Watle Mele was born on 5 September 2002 to an Italian father and a Norwegian mother whose family roots run to Stathelle in Bamble, on Norway’s south coast. She grew up in Cisano sul Neva, a small town in the Savona province of Liguria, Italy — about as far, culturally and geographically, from the Norwegian pop machine as a future Eurovision contestant can start.
The music started early. She sang and danced as a small child, entered her first singing competition at six and won it with ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” — an omen, in retrospect. She studied piano and took singing lessons in Italy, performing the way musical children do: constantly, and for anyone who would listen. The Norwegian half of her identity was present but distant, carried by her mother and by family she saw from afar.
The move: eighteen and starting over
After finishing high school in 2021, Alessandra made the decision that defines her story. She moved to Norway — to be closer to her Norwegian family, and to try, seriously, to build a music career. She was eighteen, in a country where she had barely lived, and she enrolled at LIMPI, the music school in Lillehammer, in the autumn of 2022. Lillehammer, the Olympic town in the Gudbrandsdal valley, became her base: the place where an Italian-raised teenager learned to write songs in the Norwegian system.
The first public test came quickly. In 2022 she competed in The Voice Norge on TV 2 and reached the live rounds. It was not a victory, but it was a foothold — proof that the move was not a fantasy.
Melodi Grand Prix 2023 and the ‘Queen of Kings’ moment
Everything accelerated in early 2023. “Queen of Kings,” written by Alessandra with Henning Olerud, Stanley Ferdinandez and Linda Dale at a songwriting camp the previous autumn, won Melodi Grand Prix 2023 with the backing of both the Norwegian public and the international jury. At Eurovision in Liverpool that May, she finished fifth with 268 points — Norway’s best result in years — and the song went to number one at home.
The song’s DNA is the journey itself. Its lyrics, about daring to be fully yourself and coming out stronger after hard times, draw on her Italian heritage, her experience of bisexuality, and the strange courage of starting over in a new country at eighteen. It is sung mostly in English with flashes of Italian, and its imagery — ravens, northern lights, warriors of north and southern seas — reads like a map of the two coastlines she belongs to. Few Eurovision entries have ever been quite so literally about their singer’s biography.
The Italian-Norwegian identity, stated correctly
This is worth getting right, because comment sections rarely do. Alessandra was born in Italy and raised there; she is Italian-Norwegian by parentage, Norwegian by nationality and by the career she chose, and a Lillehammer resident by adoption. She represented Norway because Norway is where she chose to build her music — not as a technicality, but as the deliberate act of an eighteen-year-old who packed her life into the move. Her story is the reverse of the usual Eurovision narrative: not a star lending herself to a country, but a newcomer earning one.
Building a Norwegian fanbase from scratch
What happened after Liverpool is the less glamorous, more interesting part. Fifth place at Eurovision buys a singer about a year of goodwill; what it does not buy is a home audience that knows your name in November. Alessandra spent the years after 2023 doing the unglamorous work — releasing follow-ups like “Pretty Devil,” putting out the EP Best Year of My Life, playing Norwegian stages, and converting Eurovision viewers into actual fans.
That work is the real test of her journey. Plenty of Eurovision breakouts return to countries that already knew them. Alessandra had to introduce herself twice: once to Europe, once to Norway. The Lillehammer student who won over a continent in May 2023 is now, several years in, something rarer — an Italian-born artist whom Norwegian audiences increasingly claim as their own. “Queen of Kings” was the coronation. Everything since has been the reign: quieter, harder, and entirely hers.
The numbers behind the breakthrough
“Queen of Kings” was released on 9 January 2023 through Starlab Music as Alessandra’s debut single — an unusually high-stakes debut, arriving as a national-final entry. In Liverpool, it placed sixth in its semi-final with 102 points before finishing fifth in the grand final with 268. Commercially, it did what few Norwegian Eurovision entries manage: it hit number one in Norway, reached the top five in four European countries, and landed in the top ten in seven more. Critics consistently praised both the song’s composition and her vocal performance, and the track was quickly described as a female-empowerment anthem — a label Alessandra herself embraced, given the song’s roots in her own experiences.
The follow-up single “Pretty Devil” and the EP Best Year of My Life kept the momentum going, but the deeper significance of those chart numbers is what they bought her: time. A debut single that charts across Europe gives a new artist something most newcomers never get — a second, third and fourth chance to prove the first one was not a fluke. For a singer who had been in the country less than two years, “Queen of Kings” was not just a hit. It was a residence permit in the Norwegian pop landscape, stamped in platinum.
Alessandra Mele career timeline: Italy to the Eurovision top five
Few Eurovision journeys start as far from the Norwegian pop machine as this one. The key dates:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 5 September 2002 | Born to an Italian father and a Norwegian mother whose family roots run to Stathelle in Bamble, on Norway’s south coast. |
| Childhood | Grows up in Cisano sul Neva, a small town in Liguria, Italy; enters her first singing competition at six and wins it with ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”; studies piano and takes singing lessons. |
| 2021 | Finishes high school and moves to Norway at eighteen, to be closer to her Norwegian family and pursue music seriously. |
| Autumn 2022 | Enrols at LIMPI, the music school in Lillehammer, which becomes her base. |
| 2022 | Competes in The Voice Norge on TV 2 and reaches the live rounds — her first public foothold in Norway. |
| 9 January 2023 | Releases her debut single “Queen of Kings” through Starlab Music; written with Henning Olerud, Stanley Ferdinandez and Linda Dale at a songwriting camp the previous autumn. |
| February 2023 | Wins Melodi Grand Prix 2023 with the backing of both the Norwegian public and the international jury. |
| May 2023 | Eurovision in Liverpool: sixth in her semi-final with 102 points, then fifth in the grand final with 268 — and number one at home. |
| After 2023 | Releases follow-ups including “Pretty Devil” and the EP Best Year of My Life; plays Norwegian stages and converts Eurovision viewers into fans. |
Key facts and numbers behind “Queen of Kings”
“Queen of Kings” was an unusually high-stakes debut: a first single arriving as a national-final entry. In Liverpool it placed sixth in its semi-final with 102 points before finishing fifth in the grand final with 268 — Norway’s best result in years. Commercially, it did what few Norwegian Eurovision entries manage: it hit number one in Norway, reached the top five in four European countries, and landed in the top ten in seven more.
The song’s DNA is the journey itself. Sung mostly in English with flashes of Italian, its lyrics — about daring to be fully yourself and coming out stronger after hard times — draw on her Italian heritage, her experience of bisexuality, and the strange courage of starting over in a new country at eighteen. Its imagery of ravens, northern lights and warriors of north and southern seas reads like a map of the two coastlines she belongs to. Critics consistently praised both the composition and her vocal performance, and the track was quickly described as a female-empowerment anthem — a label she embraced, given the song’s roots in her own experiences. A debut single that charts across Europe buys a new artist something most newcomers never get: time, and a second, third and fourth chance to prove the first one was not a fluke.
What comes next: the long reign after the coronation
Fifth place at Eurovision buys a singer about a year of goodwill; what it does not buy is a home audience that knows your name in November. Alessandra has spent the years since Liverpool doing the unglamorous work — the follow-up singles, the EP, the Norwegian stages — and that work is the real test of her journey. Plenty of Eurovision breakouts return to countries that already knew them. She had to introduce herself twice: once to Europe, once to Norway.
What the next chapter needs is the least glamorous thing of all: a second song that belongs to her as completely as the first one did. “Queen of Kings” was the coronation. Everything since has been the reign: quieter, harder, and entirely hers.
FAQ
Is Alessandra Italian or Norwegian?
Both, in the way that matters. She was born in Italy in 2002 and raised there, to an Italian father and a Norwegian mother. She is Italian-Norwegian by parentage, Norwegian by nationality and by the career she chose, and a Lillehammer resident by adoption. She represented Norway because it is where she chose to build her music.
What is “Queen of Kings” about?
The song is about daring to be fully yourself and emerging stronger from hard times. Alessandra has connected it to her Italian heritage, her bisexuality, and the experience of starting over in a new country at eighteen — which is why its imagery of ravens, northern lights and warriors of north and southern seas reads like a map of her own biography.
Did Alessandra win Eurovision 2023?
No. She finished fifth in the grand final in Liverpool with 268 points, after placing sixth in her semi-final with 102 points. The 2023 contest was won by Sweden’s Loreen with “Tattoo”. Fifth place was Norway’s best result in years.
What languages does Alessandra sing in?
“Queen of Kings” is sung mostly in English with flashes of Italian — a direct reflection of her Italian-Norwegian identity, and part of what made the entry feel so literally about its singer.
Where did Alessandra study music in Norway?
After moving to Norway at eighteen, she enrolled at LIMPI, the music school in Lillehammer, in the autumn of 2022. The Olympic town in the Gudbrandsdal valley became her base and the place where she learned to write songs within the Norwegian system.
What has Alessandra done since Eurovision 2023?
She released the follow-up single “Pretty Devil” and the EP Best Year of My Life, and has spent the years since Liverpool playing Norwegian stages and converting Eurovision viewers into a lasting domestic fanbase — the slower, harder work of becoming an artist Norway claims as its own.
Sources & Further Reading
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