I recently realized that where I come from (Seattle), we are more excited/proud about being interviewed at the grocery store for King 5 News than a Norwegian is about making it to the Top 10 on their country's version of American Idol.
No, I've never been interviewed by King 5 in the grocery store, maybe someday! But yes, a friend I've known for almost a year placed 7th on Norwegian Idol a couple of years ago and I just found a couple of days ago. I was shocked. She sings often and has a great voice, and I'd even asked her if she has any recordings of herself that I could have. So I knew she was a good singer. But I didn't know she was a celebrity! She just mentioned the show in passing and I stopped her. I couldn't get over it. I am still in awe. She thought it was funny that I was so impressed. Then I thought that she was making the story up, which she thought was even funnier. Granted, the talent pool in Norway is smaller, so the quality of the Top 10 singers from the US and Norway is probably vastly different, but regardless! Being a finalist on a nationally televised talent show is a big deal (to me). You'd think it would have come up in conversation earlier.
No, I've never been interviewed by King 5 in the grocery store, maybe someday! But yes, a friend I've known for almost a year placed 7th on Norwegian Idol a couple of years ago and I just found a couple of days ago. I was shocked. She sings often and has a great voice, and I'd even asked her if she has any recordings of herself that I could have. So I knew she was a good singer. But I didn't know she was a celebrity! She just mentioned the show in passing and I stopped her. I couldn't get over it. I am still in awe. She thought it was funny that I was so impressed. Then I thought that she was making the story up, which she thought was even funnier. Granted, the talent pool in Norway is smaller, so the quality of the Top 10 singers from the US and Norway is probably vastly different, but regardless! Being a finalist on a nationally televised talent show is a big deal (to me). You'd think it would have come up in conversation earlier.
It's not just that my friend is humble, I think this also has a little something to do with Norwegians often downplaying their acheivements. It's generally not socially acceptable to be seen as better than someone else in Norway. How they have talent shows at all beats me. If you've never heard of Scandinavian Janteloven ("Law of Jante" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante), it's a set of rules that influences Norwegian's views of themselves and others. It's all about not standing out in any way. This sort of thing has not really caught on in the US...
That's my tidbit for you today. Also, tomorrow is Syttende mai, the 17th of May, Norway's Constitution Day AKA the biggest celebration of the year! I'm probably not going to blog about it this time, so I'll refer to you my post from last year so you can re-live the glory. And it's not supposed to rain this year :) Hurra for Norge! http://delightedbutconfused.blogspot.no/2012/05/hurra-for-syttende-mai.html
