Melodi Grand Prix

Melodi Grand Prix (shortened MGP) is the Norwegian national final that selects the entry to represent Norway in the annual Eurovision Song Contest held every year since its birth in 1956. Norway first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, and the first ever Melodi Grand Prix was therefore hold that same year. Since then, MGP has been organized every year except 1970 (boicot in all Nordic countries), 1991 (internal selection) and 2002 (Norway had not qualified due to the poor result the year before).

Two victories. Norway has won the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) twice. The first time was in 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the female duo Bobbysocks won the throphy achieving 123 points in total for the uptempo schlager tune La det swinge (Let it swing). Bobbysocks consists of Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreasson (now married and renamed Elisabeth Andreassen) - also known as Bettan - who had both experience from previous ESC finals. The young Hanne Krogh represented Norway already in 1971 with the sweet ballad Lykken er... (Happiness is...), while Bettan took part for Sweden in 1982 in the duo Chips. She also represented Norway brilliantly in 1994 and 1996, ending up sixth and second with two ballads. Hanne Krogh returned to the Eurovision stage in 1991 being a quarter of the group Just4Fun.

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Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry sitting in a typical Norwegian hillside.

The new age revolution. The second victory was brought to Norway by the celtic, mainly instrumental group Secret Garden. With the bewitching melody Nocturne, composer Rolf Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry - together with the singer and the Swedish harpist - captivated the European audiences and was awarded with 148 points back. This was the very first time an entirely ethnic song won an ESC final, and started a massive wave of ethnic ESC entries in the years that followed - already the next year another celtic melody won, Eimear Quinn's The Voice. The scarce use of words in Nocturne - only 24 words in the three minute song altogether - created a great controversy in Norway's neighbouring country Sweden, of whose jury decided to boicot what they looked upon as an inappropriate entry for the so-called "schlager" contest, being one of only three juries not to give the winning composition any points at all (the two other were Austria and Croatia), while six juries awarded it the maximum douze points. The year is 1994. The stage lies in Dublin, capital of Ireland, home to Fionnuala. Celtic music succeeded on Celtic ground.

World-wide fame. Secret Garden went on to become one of the most successful acts to have won the ESC, and is today a global phenomenon, not only on their own, but also being the original group behind such a hauntingly beautiful song as You Raise Me Up, which already has been recorded with different artists more than 125 times and which thanks to artists like Josh Groban and the Irish boyband Westlife continues to uplift the spirits of young and old throughout the world several years after it was composed. Rolf Løvland was also the composer of Norway's other ESC winner, La det swinge, as well as Norway's ESC entries in 1987 (Mitt liv by Kate Gulbrandsen) and 1994 (Duett by Bettan and Jan Werner Danielsen).

Expansion and success. Since the last couple of years of the 1990ies, a major evolution has been going on within the MGP concept walls. Broadcaster NRK decided it was time to reflect the modern pop music to a higher degree. The national music industry was approached more intensively, in a desire to attract younger, more professional talents. All doubts aside, singing in English should be no drawback anymore, directing the obvious fact that close to all professional Norwegian artists sing in English these days. The next step implemented was making the event bigger, by moving the MGP final into the number one concert hall of Norway, the Oslo Spektrum [1], as a permanent location. Spektrum has a capacity of 9,700, a "handful" more than the TV studios which had been used a few years earlier.

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Wig Wam's sympathetic heavy rock didn't fit into the ballad and schlager mold that often is connected to Grand Prix and the Eurovision.

The increased efforts slowly lead to results, with international successes in 1998, 2000, 2003 and again in 2005. Glam-rock group Wig Wam turned Melodi Grand Prix upside down with their high volume victory in MGP 2005. For once an MGP song enjoyed vast commercial success, and In My Dreams skyrocketed to the top of the national single chart. It stayed there for three weeks and had a long-lived 19 weeks on the chart [2] - more than four months! An achievement none of Norway's two Eurovision winners ever managed. "Grand Prix" was once again hot, even hip youngsters had to admit the groove and appeal the group and their song somehow had.

"The Wig Wam effect." Europe agreed and sent Norway straight to next year's final. What's next? A new and surprising move from NRK: Regional semi finals are the new loud! No more embarrassing nul points. During three semi finals with six songs in each, with a fourth intermediate second chance wildcard round, a total of eight songs will be selected for the MGP 2006 final. In, where else, but in Oslo Spektrum. Among the 18 acts can be found high profile artists like Trine Rein [3], Christine Gulbrandsen, Mocci, Birgitte Einarsen and last - but definitely not least - Queentastic [4], a reunion between two absolutely fabulous garlic girls. This combination of one night becoming four meets better artists than ever before, can't be just a matter of luck, some people suggests. Perhaps we're witnessing the Wig Wam effect?

Read more about the latest developements in the Melodi Grand Prix 2006 article!

Norwegian entries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Year	Song	Artist(s)	Song writer(s)	Composer(s)	Points	Place
1960	Voi-voi	Nora Brockstedt	Georg Elgaaen		11	4
1961	Sommer i Palma	Nora Brockstedt	Egil Hansen	Jan Wølner	10	7
1962	Kom sol, kom regn	Inger Jacobsen	Ivar Jacobsen	Kjell Karlsen	2	10
1963	Solhverv	Anita Thallaug	Dag Kristoffersen		0	13
1964	Spiral	Arne Bendiksen	Egil Hansen	Sigurd Jansen	6	8
1965	Karusell	Kirsti Sparboe	Jolly Kramer-Johansen		1	13
1966	Intet er nytt under solen	Åse Kleveland	Arne Bendiksen		15	3
1967	Dukkemann	Kirsti Sparboe	Ola B Johannessen	Tor Hultin	2	14
1968	Stress	Odd Børre	Ola B Johannessen	Tor Hultin	2	13
1969	Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli	Kirsti Sparboe	Arne Bendiksen		1	16
1971	Lykken er...	Hanne Krogh	Arne Bendiksen		65	17
1972	Småting	Grethe Kausland & Benny Borg	Kåre Grøttum & Ivar Børsum		73	14
1973	Å, for et spill	Bendik Singers	Arne Bendiksen		89	7
1974	Hvor er du?	Anne Karine Strøm & Bendik Singers	Philip Kruse	Frode Thingnæs	3	14
1975	Det skulle ha vært sommer nå	Ellen Nikolaysen	Svein Hundsnes		11	18
1976	Mata Hari	Anne-Karine Strøm	Philip Kruse	Frode Thingnæs	7	18
1977	Casanova	Anita Skorgan	Dag Nordtømme	Svein Strugstad	18	15
1978	Mil etter mil	Jahn Teigen	Kai Eide		0	20
1979	Oliver	Anita Skorgan	Phillip Kruse	Anita Skorgan	57	11
1980	Samiid ædnan	Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta	Ragnar Olsen	Sverre Kjelsberg	15	16
1981	Aldri i livet	Finn Kalvik			0	20
1982	Adieu	Jahn Teigen & Anita Skorgan	Herodes Falsk	Jahn Teigen	40	12
1983	Do-re-mi	Jahn Teigen	Herodes Falsk & Jahn Teigen	Anita Skorgan & Jahn Teigen	53	9
1984	Lenge leve livet	Dollie De Luxe	Benedicte Adrian & Ingrid Bjørnov		29	17
1985	La det swinge	Bobbysocks	Rolf Løvland		123	1
1986	Romeo	Ketil Stokkan			44	12
1987	Mitt liv	Kate	Rolf Løvland & Hanne Krogh	Rolf Løvland	65	9
1988	For vår jord	Karoline Krüger	Erik Hillestad	Anita Skorgan	88	5
1989	Venners nærhet	Britt Synnøve Johansen	Leiv Grøtte	Inge Enoksen	30	17
1990	Brandenburger Tor	Ketil Stokkan			8	21
1991	Mrs Thompson	Just 4 Fun	P G Røness & Kaare Skevik Jr	Dag Kolsrud	14	17
1992	Visjoner	Merethe Trøan	Eva Jansen	Robert Morley	23	18
1993	Alle mine tankar	Silje Vige	Bjørn Erik Vige		120	5
1994	Duett	Elisabeth Andreassen & Jan Werner Danielsen	Hans Olav Mørk	Rolf Løvland	76	6
1995	Nocturne	Secret Garden	Rolf Løvland & Petter Skavlan		148	1
1996	I evighet	Elisabeth Andreassen	Torhild Nigar		114	2
1997	San Francisco	Tor Endresen		Tor Endresen & Arne Myksvol	0	24
1998	Alltid sommer	Lars A. Fredriksen	Linda Andernach Johannesen	David Eriksen	79	8
1999	Living My Life Without You	Stig van Eijk			35	14
2000	My Heart Goes Boom	Charmed	Tore Madsen	Morten Henriksen	57	11
2001	On My Own	Haldor Lægreid		Antonsen, Hanssen, Olsen	3	22
2003	I'm Not Afraid To Move On	Jostein Hasselgård	Arve Furset	Arve Furset	123	4
2004	High	Knut Anders Sørum	Dan Attlerud	Thomas Thörnholm, Lars Andersson	3	24
2005	In My Dreams	Wig Wam	Teeny	Teeny	125	9

Explanation of colour codes:

Gold = Victory | Green = Best third | Blue = Middle third | Violet = Last third | Red = Last place

Further lecture

Read more on Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest, or take a look at the sister contests in Denmark and Sweden. See also the extensive coverage of the British A Song For Europe/Making Your Mind Up selection.

External links