Sundli praises the World Championship song: “It plays on big emotions.”

She performed in front of 200 million viewers at Eurovision in Malmö. Now, Gunnhild Sundli will present the official World Championship song at the opening ceremony at Trondheim Square.

She was initially skeptical about performing the World Championship song for the 2025 Trondheim Ski Championships, but when she first heard it while doing the dishes in her kitchen, she was moved to tears.

“I immediately felt that this is something I want to do,” says Gunnhild Sundli.

The song “For What We Love” was far from what she expected to hear. It plays on big emotions and strikes the heart.

“It’s a great song. It’s grand, pompous, and plays on big emotions. I like that,” she smiles.

There was high demand from well-known producers who wanted to create the World Championship song, but Trondheim 2025 chose the national songwriting camp, Trondheim Song Expo.

Gunnhild Sundli and Kim Melland-Orerød were both moved to tears when they first heard the official World Championship song. On November 1st, it will be available to everyone. Photo: Ski-VM 2025

Here, some songwriters receive up to 900,000 plays daily on Spotify and write music for the international market. This was the first song that Head of Culture and Ceremonies Endre Forbord and Kim Melland-Orerød listened to.

“Like Gunnhild, I also started crying. It perfectly captured the emotion we wanted to convey,” says Kim Melland-Orerød, Head of Ceremonies Medal Plaza Trondheim 2025.

“The song hit us right in the heart, and it didn’t take long before we realized that this song was perfect for Gunnhild. She has the vocal range needed to convey the song correctly,” says Endre Forbord.

Gunnhild herself is very excited to perform For What We Love during the opening ceremony.

“It’s going to be one of the highlights of my career. It’s going to be grand, and a memory for life,” she says enthusiastically.

The Gåte vocalist is best known for singing Norwegian folk music. This time, she faces the challenge of performing the World Championship song in English. She is prepared to spend a lot of time ensuring that the performance feels authentic. The singer, musician, and actress are passionate about the overall performance.

“I’m looking forward to developing the costume. That’s also an important part of this. The performance of the World Championship song will be a show, and I want to contribute creatively to the whole production. I find that fun to be a part of,” she concludes.

Up to 20,000 spectators and several million TV viewers worldwide will witness the opening ceremony, which the ceremony director promises will be a grand show.

“I can promise that the opening ceremony will be a memory for life. It will be spectacular with Gunnhild on the team,” smiles Kim Melland-Orerød.