Subwoolfer is a pop duo consisting of "Keith" and "Jim", a pair of wolf-like yellow aliens from the moon who perform with their associate, an individual known only as DJ Astronaut. They are best known for representing Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, placing tenth overall with the song "Give That Wolf a Banana".
The identity of the twosome was the subject of widespread speculation upon their debut in the 2022 edition of Melodi Grand Prix, with popular guesses ranging from Ylvis to Ant and Dec. Their identities remained a mystery until the following year's MGP, wherein they finally revealed themselves to be Norwegian Idol runner-up Gaute Ormåsen and British singer Ben Adams, formerly of the boy band A1.
Selected filmography:
- Eurovision Song Contest (2022)
- Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2022)
- Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Documentary (2023)
Subwoolfer provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Keith and Jim are themselves fairly mundane names, while their sister has the Awesome McCoolname Luna Ferrari.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Whatever alien race Keith and Jim belong to, they appear to all have bright yellow skin
- An Alien Named "Bob": Their names, Keith and Jim, are intentionally mundane in comparison to their outlandish appearance.
- Anonymous Band: Keith and Jim kept their identities a secret for the first year of the band's existence before revealing themselves as Gaute Ormåsen and Ben Adams.
- Distaff Counterpart: Keith and Jim have a little "sister" named Luna Ferrari, as revealed by their single "Howling". She more or less exactly resembles the two, with the only visual marker of her gender being a mane of long magenta hair.
- Elective Mute: Keith and Jim clearly can speak if they're able to sing their own music, but they notably never communicate verbally otherwise, as seen throughout the Eurovision 2022 press cycle. This required the services of their translator, a Norwegian man named Samanta
. - Everybody Knew Already / Open Secret: By the time Keith and Jim revealed their true identities to the public, many had already figured out they were Gaute Ormåsen and Ben Adams. They were clearly aware of this, choosing to do so in a performance of their single called "Worst Kept Secret".
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" / Exactly What It Says on the Tin: DJ Astronaut is a DJ who is an astronaut, with no other name or identity given.
- Leitmotif: Many of their singles invoke the same howling riff, essentially serving as their audible trademark.
- Lunarians: Subwoolfer's backstory claims they met on the moon 4.5 billion years ago.
- Parody: Some of their singles include "Turin", a parody of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" about their experiences in Turin right before Eurovision, and "Space Kelly", a parody of Eurovision 2022 co-host Mika's "Grace Kelly" about the then-rampant speculation of their identities.
- Retraux / Stylistic Suck: Their music videos are often stylized to appear as though they were made in an older era, with lo-fi special effects and noticeable film grain in 4:3 aspect ratio.
- The Secret of Long Pork Pies: The music video for "Howling" depicts Keith and Jim preparing a delicious stew made of human fingers and eye balls.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Although Keith and Jim have now revealed their true identities to the public, DJ Astronaut still remains a mystery. They were jokingly "revealed" to be TIX (Norway's Eurovision representative in 2021) behind the scenes of the 2022 contest, but it was eventually proven to be a prank.
- DJ Astronaut's identity was later revealed in their Worst Kept Secret documentary, with them turning out to be was none other than Gaute Ormåsen (Jim) himself... sometimes. Gaute remains in character as Jim for promotional outings, but performs as DJ Astronaut to keep his vocals in check.
- The identity of Luna Ferrari has also not been revealed, but some have speculated her to be KEiiNO member Alexandra Rotan due to their similar voices. The single artwork for "Worst Kept Secret" notably features Keiino's name written as a potential identity for the group, and they're implied to have been offered in the song in their documentary.
