Even before the Sámi Grand Prix, participant Natalie Carrion went out with a challenge to Sweden.

It was time to step up and dare to lift Sami music, she stated.

- I constantly look over at Norway and am inspired by it.

It is very lively there.

The reviewers are curious.

You pick them up in current programs.

It's great fun, she says in this week's 15 minutes from Sápmi.

She continues:

- It changes the image of the Sami for many in the country.

It becomes more positive.

Jon Henrik Fjällgren, one of the few Sami artists who has had a career in the majority society as well, agrees.

- There are so many Sami artists that many do not know who they are.

When I broke through, they almost thought it was just me yoiking, he says.

"We must have a breadth in the range"

When 15 Minutes from Sápmi reaches SVT's program client Helena Olsson, she is at first unsure what the Sámi Grand Prix is ​​for programs.

But she emphasizes that the vision from SVT's side is to lift the Sami.

- We will have a breadth in the range.

We work to, on the one hand, provide a good service to the language group and, on the other hand, make broad programs for the majority audience, she says.

Katarina Hällgren, a journalist and publisher who has covered Sami culture for a long time, is hesitant about that reasoning.

- One should probably from SVT's side think a little less that it is a Sami program for a Sami audience.

It is a music program that may interest the majority of the population and probably would.

She continues:

- I do not think you should underestimate the viewer like that.

NRK got new goals

On the other hand, it has not always been the case that Sami artists are highlighted more in Norway.

- Ten years ago, Sami music was not something that was prioritized on the national platforms.

That was NRK Sápmi's task, says Wenche Marie Hætta, music journalist at NRK.

But since then, a lot has happened, according to Hætta.

NRK got new goals at national level that both Sami and Norwegian culture should be developed.

- Because of that strategy, it has become the case that NRK, not just NRK Sápmi, shows more, is interested and prioritises showing Sami culture and music, she says.

Watch 15 minutes from Sápmi at 16.35 on SVT2 or already now on SVT Play.