I always looked forward to going to work, because I knew he was there
When Alexandra Rotan embarks on her first solo Christmas tour, her biggest Christmas wish has come true. Her childhood dream has become a reality – and with her on the journey she has her great love, Markus.
By Hege E. Tørresdal, Klikk.no, published 12/12 2024, translated by Karina Brandt 13/12 2024
Alexandra Rotan has the kind of smile that automatically lifts the mood in the room. It is not an artificial smile for the camera, but a spontaneous expression of joie de vivre, which makes the curls dance cheerfully over the shoulders. Yes, as the very definition of “jolly”, for lack of a better word.
And it is with this smile that she energetically greets us at the door of her new home in Oslo. The place she and her boyfriend, Markus Maaren Bastøe, moved into during Advent last year – where she is looking forward to creating new Christmas traditions this year.
I have already started planning the small gifts Markus and I give each other in a joint Christmas calendar. It is not materialistically motivated, but often a compliment on a note or something else that shows that we appreciate each other.
“It’s about what you want your person to wake up to in the run-up to Christmas,” Alexandra smiles, and puts down a coffee cup with powder-pink lipstick marks.

Christmas tour in 2024
Alexandra was only ten years old when she started doing Christmas concerts at home in Eidsvoll. Every little Christmas Eve (the name of the evening of December 23rd, in Scandinavia), the little girl with the big voice spread Christmas joy as part of the traditional concert, “Silent Night”.
She has later released her own interpretations of Christmas classics such as, “O Helga Natt” and, “Når himmelen faller ned”, which have been embraced by the public as a mandatory part of the annual Christmas playlist.
There is something about Alexandra’s warm radiance and clear voice, that evokes a feeling of “home”. You’ll want to curl up on the couch with a cup of smoking hot mulled wine and a soft wool blanket and let the sound of Christmas creep under your skin.
This is perhaps why she was asked to sing at Christmas on TV 2, spread Christmas joy in “Hope in a pot”, or count down to Christmas, as the hostess of “Christmas Evening with Prøysen”.
“I hope it’s my love for Christmas and Christmas music that shines through. Music for me is that the audience should feel at one with the concert. They should not come just to listen to me. I want them to feel how much it means to me. It should not be so solemn, but be a space for laughter and sing-alongs,” Alexandra elaborates.

There is something obvious about Alexandra now making her debut as a solo artist in the run-up to Christmas and that it would culminate into this at some point. From the “Silent Night” tour in 2022, to joining the Christmas king Kurt Nilsen himself on a Christmas tour in 2023, it is now the poinsettia’s turn to shine alone in front of the audience.
“Traveling all alone on a Christmas tour is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. It feels crazy to think that what I’ve worked so hard for so long, is now happening! I’m really looking forward to it, but at the same time it’s really scary. I don’t know if people want to buy tickets. But I have to start somewhere. This is a Christmas tour I hope to continue with for 20-30 years to come – preferably more, it sparkles expectantly in her dark brown eyes.
She has put on a foot-length, glittering sequin skirt in gold shades and a soft, red knitted sweater. And of course, a pair of long “statement” earrings in gold as the very star at the top of the tree. An outfit that pops – just the way she likes it the best.
She chooses not to help herself to the nuts (which she is allergic to) and the porous milk chocolate (she is also “allergic” to sweets, and prefers licorice in the candy bowl), but fills up with steaming, hot coffee in the mug.

Aiming for the stars
It is Alexandra’s voice that alone will fill 17 cultural centres with nostalgic Christmas spirit this pre-Christmas period, but she is by no means lonely. Not like when she stood hour after hour and day after day, during her adolescence, practicing down in the basement living room.
All the times she turned down friends to prioritize her dream of being on a stage. The dream has ensured that she has eventually found her flock. Those who understand her and her all-consuming passion for music. Those who accept and admire that she thinks big.
Thinking big
With her on the tour, she has this herd. Her very best friends. And of course the best of them all, her partner, Markus, on guitar.
“In my childhood, I stood out by choosing the music. It was a lonely choice. There were many purposeful hours of rehearsals in the basement. There were probably those who found it difficult that I always said no to meeting them on weekends.

The joy of music: “My parents have always sung for me, but it was my grandfather who was a troubadour. He taught me to play the guitar, and we often sang together when I visited,” says Alexandra. Alexandra’s own jacket from Gestuz NOK 5000. Matching trousers kr 3300. Photo: Astrid Waller
But she has always had big dreams and worked hard. Music came first – always – ahead of both football, handball, boyfriend, friends and being the best possible at school.
“At first, my boyfriend was let go. Then football and handball. To deprioritize music has never crossed my mind. Music is like breathing for me,” says Alexandra with a sincerity in her voice.
When she went from singing alone, to becoming part of a band, she thought: “Oh, music can be even more fun!. I can actually travel the world with my boyfriend and my best friends.” “Then I made up for the fact that it was lonely when I was growing up.”.
The band KEiiNO
Being the one who stood out in her childhood years has shaped her. The bad words. The times she was excluded by the people who did not wish her success, have left their mark.
What was the basic message of KEiiNO, when the band was created in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, has almost manifested itself as a mantra. The celebration of being different, and that everyone is equal.
There should be room for everyone at Alexandra’s concerts. Whether you are young, old, he or she, believer or non-believer. Inclusion permeates all of her work.
“That’s why I’ve chosen to arrange the concerts at cultural centers around the country. It should be a tour that is accessible to everyone, where there is more focus on tradition than faith. The music should be just as suitable for grandma as the little girl in kindergarten.
Like Alexandra’s smile, the childlike eagerness she expresses is by no means contrived. The joy of Christmas comes from somewhere in the heart. A candle that was lit in quiet hamlets at Råholt when she was a little girl. In the big, white house at the end of the road, where the Christmas tree was barely visible behind all the Christmas decorations.
– Jeg har vokst opp med en maksimalistisk jul. Det blir et helt nytt hjem når det er høytid, med utrolig mye julepynt. Vi har et kjempestort juletre som er fylt til randen av all julepynten vi barna har laget opp gjennom årene.
Her mother hasn’t thrown anything away.
“Not even the elves that have lost their noses and that barely have more beard left on their chins.”
But her mother, who has been a flight attendant for all these years, has also contributed with decorations.
– She has brought home lots of Christmas decorations from “Granca” even then, you know. I love it. It’s so cozy!
On the table at home at Christmas are both ribs, pork chops and everything you can think of in terms of side dishes.
“We always have a full house, and even though I’m now 28 years old, and my siblings are 18 and 22, my dad still dresses up as Santa Claus every single year. At least I think it’s him. At least he is never there when Santa comes to visit!
Alexandra laughs a chuckling laugh.

Tears of joy and good memories
It was here, in the big white house, that Alexandra began to sing before she could speak. She lay down with her ear close to the radio on the kitchen table. Memorized lyrics and Christmas carols – or composed her own.
Singing and the urge to convey emotions have always been a part of her. It has followed her through life’s antics, like a close friend who has never wavered from her side.
“I have so many good memories from when mum and dad sang for me on the edge of the bed. When we went on holiday trips to Western Norway in the summer, it was the music that comforted me through the scary tunnels. If I woke up from nightmares at night, my parents calmed me down with singing.
When she started school and later the cultural school, her ambitions came into full bloom. She was the first to raise her hand when performances were staged at the school. Ideally, she would like to fill all the roles. That’s why she also memorized all the lines. If you paid close attention, you could see Alexandra’s lips move silently even when it wasn’t her turn.
“When it came to music, I was insatiable.”
To this day, being on a stage gives her an adrenaline rush out of another world.
“I get so much joy from the music that I get tears of joy when I walk off the stage. There is nothing that manages to recreate that feeling.”

Won the Melodi Grand Prix
From entertaining at local cafeterias in Eidsvoll and participating in the MGP junior as a 14-year-old, she has risen through the ranks. In 2019, her career really took off when she, together with her colleagues in KEiiNO, won the Norwegian Melodi Grandprix and was named audience favorite during Eurovision in Tel Aviv.
However, it was a reality show that has gone under the radar for many. At the age of 20, Alexandra had the “Idol” door slammed right in her face. It turned out to be a decisive turning point in her life.
“I got a feeling of being judged up and down in the competition. There were a lot of nerves, and the joy of music disappeared. At that time, I felt “Idol” was the last resort for me to break through, and I became very disencouraged when I was sent out early. Then I lost a bit of faith in myself.
But the grief was short-lived, and it made her think differently.
“I had to do something that was un-Norwegian, namely to work more behind the scenes,” Alexandra admits.
Two days later, Alexandra was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Råholt when she shouted to her mother in the living room: “What do you think about me sending a message to Gunnar Greve?”
The mother’s thumbs up was crucial for the way forward.
And the former “Idol” judge, he answered the same day. Alexandra was unsuspecting in a dressing room when the phone call came: Greve wanted to use her as Alan Walker’s live vocalist!
“It was perhaps the most important phone call of my life. Then I lost it a bit, and started crying. I had the opportunity to work with one of the world’s biggest artists! Dropping out of “Idol” was the biggest defeat of all time, but I got my dream job out of it.”
From there, the journey went to China, Indonesia, Mexico and Europe. Together with the world-famous DJ, she was followed by police escorts, stayed in top-floor suites and got a taste of life as a pop star.
The contrast to the basement living room at Råholt was enormous, yet she had never felt more at home.
“There was no doubt that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve never had anyone do the work for me. A manager who has cheered me on and said that I want to be big. I realized at some point that I would have to do it myself. I think it’s cool to be a little forward and un-Norwegian. I blow the jantelov. That’s what has made me get to where I am today.

Partner Markus Maaren
It is one of the things she values most about her partner, Markus; He sees her and admires her for the strong woman she is.
“He’s absolutely fantastic. I have never had to explain myself to Markus. The fact that he lives the same life as me means that we also understand each other on a completely different level,” Alexandra smiles.
It was not surprisingly the music that opened her heart to love.
“It started with me always looking forward to going to work, because I knew he was there.”
Meeting someone who she was so confident around, and who always made her smile and laugh, was crucial.
– Then he is also a super handsome man who is one of the best I know on guitar. In retrospect, it was no surprise that I was going to fall for him,” she laughs heartilly..

They first became best friends, then it developed into a crush.
“At some point, I realized that the person I want to spend the rest of my life with was right in front of my eyes.”
The final confirmation that it was the two of them, was of the more dramatic kind. When KEiiNO held concerts in Australia, Alexandra fulfilled her dream of holding a koala. What she was not prepared for was that the koala’s sharp claws would burrow under the skin of her arm and result in a serious infection.
“Half an hour after the concert finished, I had a fever of 40. I was so sick and scared.”
She got large, painful wounds and blisters on her body.
“Markus was there right away, and drove me straight to the hospital.”
Due to the covid rules at the time, he was not allowed inside, but he stayed awake all night in case she called. He also kept in touch with her parents back home in Norway, who were terrified. After 25 hours in the hospital, he picked her up.
“It was the sum of these things that made me think: ‘Oh my God, what a man!’ I’m going to spend the rest of my life with him. Shortly afterwards, I asked if it was okay for me to become his girlfriend. He thought we were already a couple,” laughs Alexandra.

Home for Christmas
She admits that she has kissed a few “frogs” over the years, but never before has anyone made her feel so safe and cared for. It therefore feels extra nice that Markus is involved when she is going to sing into Christmas.
“It’s a tradition I’m looking forward to creating together. Nothing is like spending Advent on stage with my best friend and boyfriend.

But Christmas Eve itself is reserved for the family – for now. At home with mum and dad, she feels the Christmas peace descending. The Christmas pyjamas, “Three nuts for Cinderella” and a Christmas stocking filled with sweets are needed to awaken the nostalgia from childhood Christmas. A feeling she holds on to for a few more years.
“Time stands still a bit at home with mum and dad. I love that feeling. I value my family highly. Having parents like mine is a gift. They have always shown me selfless love and consideration, and made me confident that I am good enough as I am.