Probably the most frequent question that I receive is, "How did you hear about this?!" Well, here you go: About a year and a half ago, my Aunt Tina caught wind (I think through her Sons of Norway chapter) of a Norwegian reality show that was looking for 12 American’s with Norwegian ancestry, but have never been to Norway. Tina sent that information to my mom, who then sent it on to me. From there, I did a quick YouTube search for the show and found it to be pretty entertaining. After a quick talk with the wife, we realized it couldn’t hurt to apply.
The application process was simply to send in a filled out application and a 3 to 5 minute video of myself doing whatever I wanted to get my personality across. After a lot of planning and preparation, I put together a very elaborate video that involved me playing several different characters from a local news broadcast (one of which was a female). (I'll try to post this on my Facebook page, since it won't let me upload it here.) It may have been the most amazing video ever!!, but apparently the producers did not agree. (Actually, later I was later told by the casting director that they loved the video, but thought it was a little too "gimmicky" for what the Norwegian producers wanted.) I did not make it past the first cut and would not be cast for Season 2 of Alt for Norge.
About a year later, I received an email from the same casting company asking me to resubmit my application for Season 3. However, I was given advice that this time I should send in a video that was a little less theatrical. With that, on the last day that I could submit my application, I grabbed Megan’s (my wife) Flip, handed it to her and said, “We’re doing one take”. She started recording and I spent the next five minutes talking about myself, my family, and why I would be good for the show. The opposite of gimmicky. (I'll work on posting this one as well.) It worked! About a month later, I received word that I had made it through the first cut and would be one of 40 or so applicants to go to a live interview in Chicago.
As for the interview in Chicago, it was pretty strange. There I am, sitting alone on a stool in the middle of a large room. One lady in the background staring at a computer. One lady sitting behind a camera, filming me while firing questions at me like, “When was the last time you cried?”. Then, there were two guys and a girl, producers from the show, sitting in chairs, emotionless, making notes on pads of paper. Strange. I thought everything went well, until I walked out. After my last question, the three Norwegians were still emotionless and didn’t get up to say goodbye. At that point, I was sure that I blew it and this opportunity was over. It didn't matter that the casting director whispered "good job" as I walked out, this second attempt was over.
About two weeks later, I received a call from the casting office. Stunned, I was informed that I would be one of the 12 members on Season 3 of Alt for Norge!! Really! I'm gonna be on a reailty show! IN NORWAY!! I never truly envisioned it happening until that moment!
From that moment, I would have five weeks to get my family, business and life in order, not to mention getting in shape, so that I wouldn't be as fat on TV and I would be able to compete in any physical challenges. A lot of this time would also be family oriented, seeing that I could be gone and out of communication (no phones or internet!) with them for anywhere between 2 weeks to 10 weeks! Wow!
As you can imagine, those five weeks went by pretty quickly. It would soon be time to catch a plane to Newark and start the show!
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