Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK)
Participation summary
Appearances	62 (59 finals)
First appearance	1960
Highest placement	1st: 1985, 1995, 2009
Host	1986, 1996, 2010
Participation history 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Related articles
Melodi Grand Prix
External links
NRK page
Norway's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 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 Norwegian participant broadcaster in the contest is Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), which select its entrant with the national competition Melodi Grand Prix.

Before 1985, Norway's best result in the contest was a third-place with "Intet er nytt under solen" by Åse Kleveland in 1966. Norway's three victories in the contest were achieved by "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks in 1985, "Nocturne" by Secret Garden in 1995, and "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak in 2009. Norway also finished second at the 1996 contest, with " I evighet " by former Bobbysocks member Elisabeth Andreassen. Norway has finished last in twelve Eurovision finals, of which four times with "nul points". Norway has a total of 12 top-five results in the contest, the latest being a fifth place with "Queen of Kings" by Alessandra in 2023.

History

Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Norway since its fifth edition in 1960.

NRK's first entrant in the contest was "Voi Voi" performed by Nora Brockstedt in 1960, who finished fourth; Brockstedt would return the next year with "Sommer i Palma", this time placing seventh. "Intet er nytt under solen" by Åse Kleveland then finished third in 1966, following which Norway would fail to reach the top ten in fourteen out of their next fifteen attempts, with the exception being seventh place finish with "It's Just a Game" by the Bendik Singers in 1973. Before 1985, Norway had only received a top-ten score in six out of twenty-four attempts, and had finished last the same number of times.

Bobbysocks gave the country its first victory in 1985, with the song "La det swinge". Norway went on to achieve two more top five results over the next ten years, with Karoline Krüger in 1988 and Silje Vige in 1993, who both finished 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 the contest as a solo artist, finishing in second place. In 2003, Jostein Hasselgård came fourth.

Norway won for the third time in 2009, with Alexander Rybak and his song "Fairytale". The song's score of 387 points was the highest ever winning total under the 1975-2015 voting system, and also achieved the biggest ever margin of victory: 492 points in total were distributed between the competing countries in 2009, meaning "Fairytale" received 78.7% of the points that could be rewarded. Rybak later returned to the contest in 2018, performing "That's How You Write a Song"; he received the highest number of votes of the second semi-final, but ultimately placed fifteenth. He remains the only Norwegian entrant to have won a semi-final, as well as the only two-time semi-final winner in the history of the contest.

In 2024, Norway finished last in the final for the twelfth time. Norway has the dubious distinction of finishing last in the Eurovision final more than any other country, and along with Austria, has received "nul points" (zero points) in the contest on four occasions; in 1963, 1978, 1981 and 1997.

Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten eight times. Wig Wam finished ninth in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008, Alexander Rybak won in 2009, Margaret Berger was fourth in 2013, Carl Espen finished eighth in 2014, Mørland and Debrah Scarlett finished eighth in 2015, Jowst finished tenth in 2017, Keiino won the public vote and finished sixth overall in 2019, Subwoolfer finished tenth in 2022, and Alessandra finished fifth in 2023. In total, Norway has 12 top-five and 27 top-ten finishes in the contest.

Participation overview

Table key

1	First place
2	Second place
3	Third place
◁	Last place
X	Entry selected but did not compete
†	Upcoming event

Year	Artist	Song	Language	Final	Points	Semi	Points
1960	Nora Brockstedt	" Voi-voi "	Norwegian	4	11	No semi-finals
1961	Nora Brockstedt	" Sommer i Palma "	Norwegian	7	10
1962	Inger Jacobsen	" Kom sol, kom regn "	Norwegian	10	2
1963	Anita Thallaug	" Solhverv "	Norwegian	13 ◁	0
1964	Arne Bendiksen	" Spiral "	Norwegian	8	6
1965	Kirsti Sparboe	" Karusell "	Norwegian	13	1
1966	Åse Kleveland	" Intet er nytt under solen "	Norwegian	3	15
1967	Kirsti Sparboe	" Dukkemann "	Norwegian	14	2
1968	Odd Børre	"Stress"	Norwegian	13	2
1969	Kirsti Sparboe	" Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli "	Norwegian	16 ◁	1
1971	Hanne Krogh	" Lykken er "	Norwegian	17	65
1972	Grethe Kausland and Benny Borg	" Småting "	Norwegian	14	73
1973	Bendik Singers	"It's Just a Game"	English, French	7	89
1974	Anne-Karine and the Bendik Singers	"The First Day of Love"	English	14 ◁	3
1975	Ellen Nikolaysen	"Touch My Life with Summer"	English	18	11
1976	Anne-Karine Strøm	"Mata Hari"	English	18 ◁	7
1977	Anita Skorgan	"Casanova"	Norwegian	14	18
1978	Jahn Teigen	" Mil etter mil "	Norwegian	20 ◁	0
1979	Anita Skorgan	"Oliver"	Norwegian	11	57
1980	Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Hætta	" Sámiid ædnan "	Norwegian	16	15
1981	Finn Kalvik	" Aldri i livet "	Norwegian	20 ◁	0
1982	Jahn Teigen and Anita Skorgan	" Adieu "	Norwegian	12	40
1983	Jahn Teigen	"Do Re Mi"	Norwegian	9	53
1984	Dollie de Luxe	" Lenge leve livet "	Norwegian	17	29
1985	Bobbysocks!	" La det swinge "	Norwegian	1	123
1986	Ketil Stokkan	"Romeo"	Norwegian	12	44
1987	Kate Gulbrandsen	" Mitt liv "	Norwegian	9	65
1988	Karoline Krüger	" For vår jord "	Norwegian	5	88
1989	Britt Synnøve Johansen	" Venners nærhet "	Norwegian	17	30
1990	Ketil Stokkan	" Brandenburger Tor "	Norwegian	21 ◁	8
1991	Just 4 Fun	"Mrs. Thompson"	Norwegian	17	14
1992	Merethe Trøan	" Visjoner "	Norwegian	18	23
1993	Silje Vige	" Alle mine tankar "	Norwegian	5	120	Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994	Elisabeth Andreasson and Jan Werner Danielsen	" Duett "	Norwegian	6	76	No semi-finals
1995	Secret Garden	" Nocturne "	Norwegian	1	148
1996	Elisabeth Andreassen	" I evighet "	Norwegian	2	114	Host country
1997	Tor Endresen	"San Francisco"	Norwegian	24 ◁	0	No semi-finals
1998	Lars A. Fredriksen	" Alltid sommer "	Norwegian	8	79
1999	Van Eijk	"Living My Life Without You"	English	14	35
2000	Charmed	"My Heart Goes Boom"	English	11	57
2001	Haldor Lægreid	"On My Own"	English	22 ◁	3
2003	Jostein Hasselgård	"I'm Not Afraid to Move On"	English	4	123
2004	Knut Anders Sørum	"High"	English	24 ◁	3	Top 11 in 2003 contest [a]
2005	Wig Wam	"In My Dreams"	English	9	125	6	164
2006	Christine Guldbrandsen	" Alvedansen "	Norwegian	14	36	Top 11 in 2005 final [a]
2007	Guri Schanke	" Ven a bailar conmigo "	English	Failed to qualify		18	48
2008	Maria	"Hold On Be Strong"	English	5	182	4	106
2009	Alexander Rybak	"Fairytale"	English	1	387	1	201
2010	Didrik Solli-Tangen	"My Heart Is Yours"	English	20	35	Host country
2011	Stella Mwangi	" Haba Haba "	English, Swahili	Failed to qualify		17	30
2012	Tooji	"Stay"	English	26 ◁	7	10	45
2013	Margaret Berger	"I Feed You My Love"	English	4	191	3	120
2014	Carl Espen	"Silent Storm"	English	8	88	6	77
2015	Mørland and Debrah Scarlett	"A Monster Like Me"	English	8	102	4	123
2016	Agnete	"Icebreaker"	English	Failed to qualify		13	63
2017	Jowst [b]	"Grab the Moment"	English	10	158	5	189
2018	Alexander Rybak	"That's How You Write a Song"	English	15	144	1	266
2019	Keiino	"Spirit in the Sky"	English	6	331	7	210
2020	Ulrikke	"Attention"	English	Contest cancelled [c] X
2021	Tix	"Fallen Angel"	English	18	75	10	115
2022	Subwoolfer	"Give That Wolf a Banana"	English	10	182	6	177
2023	Alessandra	"Queen of Kings"	English	5	268	6	102
2024	Gåte	"Ulveham"	Norwegian	25 ◁	16	10	43
2025	TBD 15 February 2025 † [1]			Upcoming †

Hostings

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters
1986	Bergen	Grieghallen	Åse Kleveland
1996	Oslo	Oslo Spektrum	Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket
2010		Telenor Arena	Nadia Hasnaoui, Haddy N'jie and Erik Solbakken

Songs of Europe

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters
1981	Mysen	Momarken	Rolf Kirkvaag and Titten Tei

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Further information: Marcel Bezençon Awards

Year	Category	Song	Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m)	Performer	Final	Points	Host city	Ref.
2009	Press Award	"Fairytale"	Alexander Rybak (m & l)	Alexander Rybak	1	387	Moscow	[2]
2015	Composer Award	"A Monster Like Me"	Kjetil Mørland (m & l)	Mørland & Debrah Scarlett	8	102	Vienna	[3]

Winner by OGAE members

Further information: OGAE

Year	Song	Performer	Place	Points	Host city	Ref.
2009	"Fairytale"	Alexander Rybak	1	387	Moscow	[4]

Related involvement

Conductors

Year	Conductor [d]	Musical director	Notes	Ref.
1960	Øivind Bergh	N/A		[5]
1961
1962
1963
1964	Karsten Andersen
1965	Øivind Bergh
1966
1967
1968
1969
1971	Arne Bendiksen		[e]	[6]
1972	Carsten Klouman
1973
1974	Frode Thingnæs
1975	Carsten Klouman
1976	Frode Thingnæs		[f]
1977	Carsten Klouman
1978
1979	Sigurd Jansen		[g]
1980				[7]
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985	Terje Fjærn
1986	Egil Monn-Iversen		[h]
1987	Terje Fjærn	N/A
1988	Arild Stav		[i]
1989	Pete Knutsen
1990
1991
1992	Rolf Løvland
1993
1994	Pete Knutsen
1995	Geir Langslet
1996	Frode Thingnæs		[j]
1997	Geir Langslet	N/A
1998

Additionally, there was an orchestra present at the 1999 national final, conducted by Geir Langslet (the winning song, however, was presented without orchestral accompaniment) and at the 2015 national final, conducted by Anders Eljas.

Heads of delegation

Year	Head of delegation	Ref.
1998–2005	Jon Ola Sand	[8]
2006–2009, 2012–2015	Stian Malme	[9]
2010–2011	Skjalg Solstad	[9]
2016–2024	Stig Karlsen  [ no ]	[9] [10]
2025	Mads Tørklep	[11]

Supervisors

List of supervisors of Melodi Grand Prix, better known as MGP-general or GP-general in Norway:

Year	Head of delegation	Ref.
c. 2007–2012	Per Sundnes	[12]
2013–2015	Vivi Stenberg	[13]
2016–2017	Jan Fredrik Karlsen	[14]
2018–2024	Stig Karlsen  [ no ]	[14] [10]
2025	Tarjei Strøm	[11]

Commentators and spokespersons

Year	Commentator	Spokesperson	Ref.
1960	Erik Diesen	Kari Borg Mannsåker
1961	Leif Rustad	Mette Janson
1962	Odd Grythe	Kari Borg Mannsåker
1963	Øivind Johnsen	Roald Øyen
1964	Odd Grythe	Sverre Christophersen
1965	Erik Diesen
1966	Sverre Christophersen	Erik Diesen
1967	Erik Diesen	Sverre Christophersen
1968	Roald Øyen
1969	Sverre Christophersen	Janka Polanyi
1970	No commentator	Did not participate
1971	Sverre Christophersen	No spokesperson
1972	Roald Øyen
1973	John Andreassen
1974		Sverre Christophersen
1975
1976	Jo Vestly
1977	John Andreassen
1978	Bjørn Scheele	Egil Teige
1979	Egil Teige	Sverre Christophersen
1980	Knut Aunbu	Roald Øyen
1981		Sverre Christophersen
1982	Bjørn Scheele	Erik Diesen
1983	Ivar Dyrhaug
1984	Roald Øyen	Egil Teige
1985	Veslemøy Kjendsli	Erik Diesen
1986	Knut Bjørnsen	Nina Matheson
1987	John Andreassen and Tor Paulsen	Sverre Christophersen
1988	John Andreassen	Andreas Diesen
1989		Sverre Christophersen
1990	Leif Erik Forberg
1991	John Andreassen and Jahn Teigen
1992	John Andreassen
1993	Leif Erik Forberg
1994	Jostein Pedersen
1995	Annette Groth
1996	Jostein Pedersen	Ragnhild Sælthun Fjørtoft
1997
1998
1999
2000		Marit Åslein
2001		Roald Øyen
2002		Did not participate
2003		Roald Øyen
2004		Ingvild Helljesen
2005
2006
2007	Per Sundnes	Synnøve Svabø
2008	Hanne Hoftun	Stian Barsnes-Simonsen
2009	Synnøve Svabø		[15]
2010	Olav Viksmo-Slettan	Anne Rimmen	[16]
2011		Nadia Hasnaoui	[16]
2012			[16] [17]
2013		Tooji	[16] [18]
2014		Margrethe Røed	[16] [19]
2015			[16] [20]
2016		Elisabeth Andreassen	[16] [21]
2017		Marcus & Martinus	[16] [22]
2018		Aleksander Walmann and Jowst	[16] [23]
2019		Alexander Rybak	[16] [24]
2020	Marte Stokstad	Not announced before cancellation	[25]
2021	Marte Stokstad	Silje Skjemstad Cruz	[26]
2022		Tix	[27] [28]
2023		Ben Adams	[29] [30] [31]
2024		Ingvild Helljesen [k]	[32] [33] [34]

Photo gallery

• 
  Anne-Karine Strøm performing "Mata Hari" in The Hague (1976)
• 
  Bobbysocks performing "La det swinge" in Gothenburg (1985)
• 
  Guri Schanke performing "Ven a bailar conmigo" in Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Maria Haukaas Storeng performing "Hold On Be Strong" in Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Didrik Solli-Tangen performing "My Heart Is Yours" in Oslo (2010)
• 
  Margaret Berger performing "I Feed You My Love" in Malmö (2013)
• 
  Carl Espen performing "Silent Storm" in Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Mørland and Debrah Scarlett performing "A Monster Like Me" in Vienna (2015)
• 
  Agnete performing "Icebreaker" in Stockholm (2016)
• 
  Jowst and Aleksander Walmann performing "Grab the Moment" in Kyiv (2017)
• 
  Alexander Rybak performing "That's How You Write a Song" in Lisbon (2018)
• 
  Keiino performing "Spirit in the Sky" in Tel Aviv (2019)
• 
  Tix performing "Fallen Angel" in Rotterdam (2021)
• 
  Subwoolfer performing "Give That Wolf a Banana" in Turin (2022)
• 
  Alessandra performing "Queen of Kings" in Liverpool (2023)
• 
  Gåte performing "Ulveham" in Malmö (2024)

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.

Notes and references

Notes

1. According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
2. Performance contains uncredited live vocals from Aleksander Walmann
3. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. All conductors are of Norwegian nationality unless otherwise noted.
5. Conducted by Egil Monn-Iversen at the national finals.
6. Conducted by Helge Hurum at the national final.
7. Conducted by Egil Monn-Iversen at the national finals.
8. Also conducted the Danish entry. Fred Nøddelund conducted at the national final.
9. The song was performed without orchestral accompaniment at the national final.
10. Conducted by Geir Langslet at the national final.
11. Alessandra Mele was initially appointed as the Norwegian spokesperson, though she withdrew before the final and was replaced by Helljesen.

References

1. Øverdal, Astri Chatura (20 November 2024). "Blir MGP-programleder: – Trodde det var tull" [Becomes MGP presenter: - Thought it was nonsense] (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
2. Klier, Marcus (18 May 2009). "The Eurovision 2009 Marcel Bezençon Awards". esctoday.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
3. "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2015". eurovision.tv. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
4. Cobb, Ryan (21 April 2017). "Analysing ten years of OGAE voting: "Underneath the fan favourite bias is a worthwhile indicator"". escxtra.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
5. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN   978-1-84583-065-6.
6. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84583-118-9.
8. "Executive Supervisor". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
9. "Se hele finalen her". 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
10. Vedeler, Linda Marie (19 August 2024). "Ferdig i Melodi Grand Prix". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 19 August 2024.
11. Vedeler, Linda Marie (29 October 2024). "Tarjei Strøm blir ny musikksjef for MGP". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 1 November 2024.
12. GP-general Per Sundnes slutter i NRK
13. – Skulle veldig gjerne hatt en seier i beltet før jeg gir meg
14. Gir seg som MGP-general
15. Norli, Kristin (18 May 2009). "Klagerekord mot Svabø" [Complaint record against Svabø]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
16. Granger, Anthony (20 February 2020). "Norway: Olav Viksmo-Slettan Steps Down as Commentator After Ten Contests". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
17. Hondal, Victor (26 May 2012). "EBU announces voting order". ESCToday. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
18. Granger, Anthony (12 May 2013). "Malmo'13: All The Spokespersons Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
19. Granger, Anthony (10 May 2014). "ESC'14: Voting Order Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
20. Doyle, Daniel (23 May 2015). "Vienna Calling: Spokespersons revealed". ESCToday. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
21. Granger, Anthony (14 May 2016). "ESC'16: 42 Spokespersons Revealed For Tonight". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
22. Granger, Anthony (9 May 2017). "Norway: Marcus & Martinus Announcing The Jury Points". Eurovoix. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
23. Granger, Anthony (9 May 2018). "Norway: JOWST & Aleksander Walmann To Reveal Norwegian Jury Points". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
24. Herbert, Emily (13 May 2019). "Norway: Alexander Rybak Revealed as Eurovision 2019 Spokesperson". Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
25. Sand, Camilla (17 April 2020). "Marte Stokstad blir ny kommentator for Eurovision Song Contest" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2020.
26. Hagen, Knut-Øyvind (17 April 2020). "Slik blir årets alternative Eurovision Song Contest". NRK (in Norwegian).
27. Farren, Neil (31 March 2022). "Norway: Adresse Torino Schedule and Jurors Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
28. "Eurovision 2022, tante eurostars fra chi annuncerà i voti: l'elenco completo". Eurofestival News (in Italian). 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
29. Sand, Camilla (15 March 2023). "Adresse Liverpool". nrk.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK . Retrieved 16 March 2023.
30. Granger, Anthony (16 March 2023). "Norway: Adresse Liverpool Celebrity Panel Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
31. "Ben Adams med ærefullt Eurovision-oppdrag" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
32. Nielsen, Vetle; Gjestad Frog, Heidi (18 April 2024). "Eurovision Song Contest 2024". NRK Presse (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
33. Løland, Tuva Mathilde (10 May 2024). "Alessandra Mele deler ut Norges stemmer i Eurovision". Nettavisen (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 10 May 2024.
34. Ness Aksnes, Elise Violeta; Gaathaug Nielsen, Jonathan; Ryland, Ørjan (11 May 2024). "Trekker seg" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Dagbladet . Retrieved 11 May 2024.

External links

• Melodi Grand Prix
• Points to and from Norway eurovisioncovers.co.uk