Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Norway | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | NRK |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 57 (54 finals) |
| First appearance | 1960 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1985, 1995, 2009 |
| External links | |
| NRK page | |
 For the most recent participation seeNorway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | |
Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut in 1960 and has only been absent twice since then. In 1970, the country boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in 2002, they were relegated. The contest is broadcast in Norway by NRK, which also broadcasts Norway's national selection competition, the Melodi Grand Prix.
Before 1985, Norway's best result in the contest was Åse Kleveland's third place in 1966. Norway's three victories in the contest were achieved by Bobbysocks in 1985, Secret Garden in 1995 and Alexander Rybak in 2009. Norway also finished second at the 1996 contest, with former Bobbysocks member Elisabeth Andreassen. Norway has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in more Eurovision finals than any other country and for having the most "nul points", finishing last 11 times and failing to score a point four times. Norway has a total of 11 top five results in the contest.
History
Norway's first entrant in the contest in 1960 was Nora Brockstedt, who finished fourth. Åse Kleveland then finished third in 1966. Following Kleveland's result, Norway would fail to reach the top ten in 14 out of their next 15 attempts, the exception being Bendik Singers seventh place in 1973.
Before 1985, Norway had only reached the top five in two out of 24 attempts and had finished last six times. In 1985, Bobbysocks gave the country its first victory with the song "La det swinge" (Let It Swing). Norway went on to achieve two more top five results over the next ten years, with both Karoline Krüger in 1988 and Silje Vige in 1993, finishing fifth.
Norway's second victory came in 1995 with Secret Garden's mainly instrumental, Celtic-influenced ethno-piece "Nocturne". In 1996, Elisabeth Andreassen, who had won the contest as one half of Bobbysocks, returned to finish second. In 2003, Jostein Hasselgård was fourth.
Norway won for the third time in 2009, with Alexander Rybak's smash hit "Fairytale". The 2009 winning score of 387 points being the highest ever winning total under the voting system used between 1975 and 2015. It also achieved the biggest ever margin of victory.
In 2012, Norway finished last in the final for the 11th time. Norway has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest, failing to score a point four times, in 1963, 1978, 1981 and 1997. Austria has also scored "nul points" four times.
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten seven times. Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams" in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008 with "Hold On Be Strong", Alexander Rybak won in 2009, Margaret Berger was fourth in 2013 with "I Feed You My Love", Carl Espen finished eighth in 2014 performing "Silent Storm", Mørland & Debrah Scarlett finished eighth in 2015 with "A Monster Like Me", and JOWST featuring Aleksander Walmann finished tenth with the song "Grab the Moment" in 2017. Norway has a total of 11 top five and 23 top ten results in the contest.
Contestants
- Table key
- Notes
- ^ Although the song was performed in Norwegian, the title and sentence in the lyrics "Voi Voi" is in Northern Sami.
- ^ Also contains some lyrics in Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Irish, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian.
- ^ Although the song was performed in Norwegian, the title and sentence in the lyrics "Sámiid ædnan" is in Northern Sami.
- ^ "Nocturne" features unaccredited vocals from Norwegian singer Gunnhild Tvinnereim.
- ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark - 12 points - instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. Israel and Norway both received 2 points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast.
- ^ Although the song was performed in English, the title and sentence in the lyrics "Ven a bailar conmigo" is in Spanish.
- ^ "Grab the Moment" features unaccredited vocals from Norwegian singer Aleksander Walmann.
Voting history
As of 2018, Norway's voting history is as follows:
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Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Bergen | Grieghallen | Åse Kleveland |
| 1996 | Oslo | Oslo Spektrum | Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket |
| 2010 | Bærum | Telenor Arena | Nadia Hasnaoui, Haddy N'jie and Erik Solbakken |
Other awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
Press Award
| Year | Song | Performer | Final Result | Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Fairytale" | Alexander Rybak | 1st | 387 | Moscow |
Composer Award
| Year | Song | Composer(s) Lyrics (l) / Music (m) |
Performer | Final Result |
Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | "A Monster Like Me" | Kjetil Mørland (m & l) | Mørland & Debrah Scarlett | 8 | 102 | Vienna |
OGAE
| Year | Song | Performer | Final Result | Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Fairytale" | Alexander Rybak | 1st | 387 | Moscow |
Commentators and spokespersons
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Conductors
- Øivind Bergh (1960–63, 1965–69)
- Karsten Andersen (1964)
- Arne Bendiksen (1971)
- Carsten Klouman (1972–73, 1975, 1977–78)
- Frode Thingnæs (1974, 1976, 1996) (musical director in 1996)
- Sigurd Jansen (1979–1984)
- Terje Fjærn (1985, 1987)
- Egil Monn-Iversen (1986) (musical director)
- Arild Stav (1988)
- Pete Knutsen (1989–1991, 1994)
- Rolf Løvland (1992–93)
- Geir Langslet (1995, 1997–98)[1]
Supervisors
List of supervisors of Melodi Grand Prix, better known as MGP-general or GP-general in Norway:
- Per Sundnes (2008–2012)[2]
- Vivi Stenberg (2013–2015)[3]
- Jan Fredrik Karlsen (2016–2017)[4]
- Stig Karlsen (2018–present)[4]
Live performances photo gallery
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See also
- Melodi Grand Prix
- Norway in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Norway in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
- Norway in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
References
External links
- Melodi Grand Prix
- Points to and from Norway eurovisioncovers.co.uk
