BBC buys rights to ‘Lilyhammer’
February 6, 2012
A Norwegian-produced television series that’s already broken ratings records twice since its premiere in Norway is also now set to be shown on the BBC. Lilyhammer, starring Steven Van Zandt, also starts airing this week in the US and Canada. An executive for BBC4 told The Guardian that the show combines American humor with Norwegian values [...]
Hopeful world champs arrive in Oslo
February 2, 2012
Holmenkollen’s arenas and the hills above Oslo are coming alive once again with the sound of skiers, snowboarders and cheering fans, as the first of two major international competitions gets underway. First out is the IBU World Cup Biathlon, to be followed by the World Snowboarding Championships next week at nearby Oslo Winterpark at Tryvann. [...]
‘Lilyhammer’ sets new NRK record
January 26, 2012
A new television series starring Steven Van Zandt finally started running in Norway on Wednesday, after a lot of local media hype and unexpected delays. The show, called “Lilyhammer,” ended up being watched by nearly a fifth of the country’s entire population, and Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) officials are mighty pleased. “We’re super-happy that so many people [...]
Sports leaders want Olympics in Oslo
October 25, 2011
Cheering crowds and Norwegians out in front at last winter’s Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo were all it took for local sports bureaucrats and civic boosters to start plotting their next big project: Attracting the Winter Olympics to Oslo in 2022. Rival host sites in Norway are already protesting. Sverre Seeberg, president of the [...]
Little Steven ‘at home’ in Norway
October 25, 2011
Actor and musician Steven Van Zandt, better known as Little Steven, has spent the past year commuting between the US and Norway, where he’s been working on a new TV series for Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), doing some performing and even lecturing at the University of Oslo. He calls Norway “mystical” but seems to feel at home [...]
Dale Oen’s win honours Oslo victims
July 26, 2011
Alexander Dale Oen is one of many Norwegian athletes struggling to come to terms with last Friday’s attacks in Oslo while involved in international competition. But despite breaking down in tears before international media, the swimmer won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke at the World Championships in China on Monday in order to “honour those [...]
Olympic efforts underway
April 4, 2011
Sports boosters and skiing bureaucrats seem to be moving forward with efforts to attract another Winter Olympics to Norway. A recent public opinion poll suggested nearly 60 percent of those questioned would support an Olympic bid, and the local media hype has begun. The afternoon paper in Oslo, Aften, has run several articles claiming widespread [...]
Gold fever rises to Olympic pitch
March 7, 2011
The flags had barely come down at Holmenkollen on Sunday before the calls started going out that Oslo should bid for a new Winter Olympics. It was perhaps predictable: Sports bureaucrats already had started carefully planting the seeds of an Olympic bid before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (Ski-VM) began, and their success has [...]
Olympic boss suffers heart attack
February 24, 2011
Gerhard Heiberg, the former Norwegian boss of the successful Olympics at Lillehammer who went on to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC), underwent surgery Thursday morning following what’s being called a mild heart attack. Heiberg, age 71, reportedly was on holiday in the mountains when he felt unwell and contacted his doctor. “Fortunately he got [...]
Make or break for women’s ski jumping
February 2, 2011
The performance of women ski jumpers at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo later this month is likely to determine whether they’ll make it onto the Olympics. Crowd response may tip the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so to ensure a sufficiently festive mood, some of the tickets are being distributed free [...]
IOC member urges new Olympics bid
January 28, 2011
Norway’s Gerhard Heiberg, best known for running the successful 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), now thinks Norway should mount another bid for the winter games in 2022 or 2026, as long as they’re located in Oslo. He hints there’s support for the idea within the IOC. [...]
Skiing star snares sunglass sponsor
September 30, 2010
Norwegian Olympic skiing star Aksel Lund Svindal, triple medal winner at the Olympics in Vancouver last winter, is clearly profiting from his success on the slopes. Now he’ll be sporting sunglasses made by Italian luxury goods producer Prada, the latest in a series of high-profile Norwegians to sign lucrative sponsorship deals. Svindal won Olympic gold in the super G [...]
Svindal best-liked at the Olympics
March 9, 2010
Downhill racer Aksel Lund Svindal took three medals at the Olympics in Vancouver, one of them in gold, and clearly won a place in Norwegians’ hearts as well. He topped a popularity ranking back home, emerging as by far the best-liked of all Norwegian athletes. Svindal is a handsome, articulate, 27-year-old alpine skier who seems [...]
Northug ‘best skier in the world’
March 1, 2010
Norway’s “bad boy” at the Winter Olympics ended two weeks of competition in a blaze of glory on Sunday. Petter Northug won the gold medal in arguably the toughest race of all, and suddenly emerged as what one commentator called “the best skier in the world.” Northug, age 24, ran neck and neck against Axel [...]
Curling clowns settle for silver
February 28, 2010
Norway’s playful men’s curling team lost its coveted gold medal to Canada on Saturday, but skip Thomas Ulsrud tried to keep smiling. He said all along that his team mostly wanted to have fun in Vancouver, and their clown-like trousers were the hit of the Olympics. Their game was good, too, but not as good as [...]
