Melodi Grand Prix
GenreVarious
Location(s)Norway
Years active1960–present
Founded byNorsk Rikskringkasting (NRK)
WebsiteOfficial website

Melodi Grand Prix (Norwegian: [mɛlʊˈdiː ɡrɑŋ ˈpriː]), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norsk Melodi Grand Prix, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960.

The festival has produced three Eurovision winners, a non-winning televote winner and nine top-five placings for Norway at the contest. However, Norway holds the record for the number of entries who have come last since entering Eurovision; 11 in all. Despite this, the competition still makes considerable impact on music charts in Norway and other Nordic countries, with the 2008 winner topping the Norwegian charts.[1]

Origins

The Eurovision Song Contest began on 24 May 1956 with its first edition in Lugano, Switzerland. Norway's first contest was the fifth, the 1960 contest. The first Melodi Grand Prix was held on 20 February at the NRK headquarters in Oslo. Ten songs competed in the radio semi-final, held on 2 February, where the top 5 songs would progress to the televised contest. However this number was increased to 6 after three songs tied for fourth place. The winner of the televised contest was "Voi Voi", performed by Nora Brockstedt. Brockstedt performed Norway's first Eurovision entry in London on 29 March, and placed a respectable fourth. Brockstedt also went on to win the following year's contest as well with "Sommer i Palma".

Melodi Grand Prix has failed to be staged on three occasions. In 1970, Norway was absent from the contest because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system, which had led to a four-way tie for first place at the 1969 contest.[2] In 1991, the event was canceled after the NRK understood that the quality of the competing songs was weak and opted for an internal selection to choose the song to go to Rome. The final instance of no Melodi Grand Prix was in 2002, when Norway was relegated from competing in the 2002 contest after finishing in last place the previous year. The 2020 edition of Melodi Grand Prix was the first instance where the winner did not participate in Eurovision, as the contest itself was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winners

2013 winner Margaret Berger went on to finish fourth at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 final in Malmö

All winners of Melodi Grand Prix have gone on to represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest, apart from the 2020 winner after the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Norway has won it three times: in 1985, 1995 and 2009. Norway has also come last 11 times, more than any other nation: in 1963, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1990, 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2012.

The following table lists those entries which finished fifth or higher at Eurovision:

Year Song Artist Position Points
1960 "Voi Voi" Nora Brockstedt 4th 11
1966 "Intet er nytt under solen" Åse Kleveland 3rd 15
1985 "La det swinge" Bobbysocks 1st 123
1988 "For vår jord" Karoline Krüger 5th 88
1993 "Alle mine tankar" Silje Vige 5th 120
1995 "Nocturne" Secret Garden 1st 148
1996 "I evighet" Elisabeth Andreassen 2nd 114
2003 "I'm Not Afraid to Move On" Jostein Hasselgård 4th 123
2008 "Hold On Be Strong" Maria Haukaas Storeng 5th 182
2009 "Fairytale" Alexander Rybak 1st 387
2013 "I Feed You My Love" Margaret Berger 4th 191
2023 "Queen of Kings" Alessandra 5th 268

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Norwegian Music Charts - Hold On Be Strong". Norwegiancharts.com.
  2. ↑ Kennedy O'Connor, John (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. pp. 40–43. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
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