Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country  Norway
National selection
Selection process Melodi Grand Prix 2018
Selection date(s) 10 March 2018
Selected entrant Alexander Rybak
Selected song "That's How You Write a Song"
Selected songwriter(s) Alexander Rybak
Finals performance
Semi-final result Qualified (1st, 266 points)
Final result 15th, 144 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2018 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

In the final, on 12 May 2018, the song finished in 15th place.[1]

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-six times since their first entry in 1960.[2] Norway had won the contest on three occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks!, in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden and in 2009 with the song "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak. Norway also had 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, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last eleven times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has only failed to qualify on three occasions. In 2017, Norway was represented by JOWST and the song "Grab the Moment". The country ended in 10th place in the final with 158 points.

The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participation. On 15 May 2017, NRK revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2018 in order to select the 2018 Norwegian entry.[3]

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 2018

Melodi Grand Prix 2018 was the 56th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and it selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[4]

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK on 31 January 2017 and lasted until 10 September 2017.[3] Prior to the deadline, circa 1,200 entries were submitted to NRK.[5] Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries.[3] Ten songs were chosen to participate, and the selected singers, entries and composers were revealed on 15 January 2018.[6]

Final

Ten songs competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum on 10 March 2018, hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh and Silya Nymoen.[6] The four acts who received the most votes from the Norwegian public progressed to the silver final. In the silver final, the two acts who received the most votes from the Norwegian public progressed to the gold duel. In the gold duel, the act who received the most votes from the Norwegian public was declared the winner.

Final – 10 March 2018
Draw Artist Song (English Translation) Composer(s) Result
1 Stella & Alexandra "You Got Me" Stella Mwangi, Gustav Eurén, Niclas Arn, Andreas Alfredsson Silver Final
2 Aleksander Walmann "Talk to the Hand" Joakim With Steen, Jonas McDonnell, Magnus Klausen, Aleksander Walmann Silver Final
3 Ida Maria "Scandilove" Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen, Stefan Törnby Eliminated
4 Nicoline "Light Me Up" Nicoline, Johan Larsson, Emilie Adams Eliminated
5 Tom Hugo "I Like I Like I Like" Tom Hugo Hermansen Eliminated
6 Charla K "Stop the Music" Charlotte Kjær, Per Gessle, Alex Shield Eliminated
7 Alejandro Fuentes "Tengo Otra" (I have another) Alejandro Fuentes, Angel Arce Pututi, Alejandro Pututi Eliminated
8 Vidar Villa "Moren din" (Your mother) Vidar André Mohaugen, Jonas Thomassen, Martin Thomassen Eliminated
9 Rebecca "Who We Are" Kjetil Mørland Silver Final
10 Alexander Rybak "That's How You Write a Song" Alexander Rybak Silver Final
Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw Song France Russia Czech Republic Denmark Bulgaria Estonia Republic of Macedonia Israel Sweden United Kingdom
1"You Got Me"XX
2"Talk to the Hand"X
3"Scandilove"
4"Light Me Up"
5"I Like I Like I Like"
6"Stop the Music"
7"Tengo Otra"
8"Moren din"
9"Who We Are"XXX
10"That's How You Write a Song"XXXX
International Jury Spokespersons
  • France – Edoardo Grassi
  • Russia – Ekaterina Orlova
  • Czech Republic – Jan Bors
  • Denmark – Molly Plank
  • Bulgaria – Vasil Ivanov
  • Estonia – Mart Normet
  • Republic of Macedonia – Meri Popova
  • Israel – Alon Amir
  • Sweden – Helen Mattsson
  • United Kingdom – William Lee Adams
Silver Final – 10 March 2018
Draw Artist Song SMS votes[7] Place Result
1 Stella & Alexandra "You Got Me" 29,784 3 Eliminated
2 Aleksander Walmann "Talk to the Hand" 7,927 4 Eliminated
3 Rebecca "Who We Are" 46,260 2 Gold Duel
4 Alexander Rybak "That's How You Write a Song" 133,164 1 Gold Duel
Gold Duel – 10 March 2018
Draw Artist Song SMS votes[7] Result
1 Rebecca "Who We Are" 123,504 (29%) Runner-up
2 Alexander Rybak "That's How You Write a Song" 306,393 (71%) Winner

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. On April 3, Alexander was drawn to open Semi Final 2, preceding Romania.

Semi-final

Norway opened the second semi-final, preceding Romania. At the end of the show, they were announced as one of the ten countries who qualified for the final, meaning that Rybak had made it to the final in both of his Eurovision attempts and the second year in a row that Norway had appeared in the final. In the winners' press conference following the semi-final, Rybak participated in a draw to see which half of the final he would perform in. Ultimately, Norway were drawn to compete in the first half of the grand final.

Final

Norway performed seventh in the grand final, following the entry from Estonia and preceding the entry from Portugal. Although expectations were high for Rybak given his track record (he spent a great deal of time as second-favorite to win in the betting odds), he ultimately didn't crack the top ten for either the juries (where he finished 16th, with a single 12 points from Italy) or the televote (where he came 11th), earning him 15th place with 144 points.

Points awarded to Norway

Points awarded to Norway (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Norway (Final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Norwegian jury:[8]

Points awarded by Norway

References

  1. ↑ "Eurovision 2018 Results: Voting & Points". eurovisionworld.com. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Norway Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Hyttebakk, Jon Marius (15 May 2017). "MGP frir til Norges beste komponister". nrk.no (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (22 August 2018). "Norway: NRK confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Agadellis, Stratos (12 September 2017). "Norway: NRK receives 1200 songs for Melodi Grand Prix 2018". esctoday.com. ESCtoday. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Hyttebakk, Jon Marius (15 January 2018). "Her er artistene i MGP 2018". Nrk.no. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Fikk mer enn dobbelt så mange stemmer som Rebecca". Nrk.no. 2018-03-12.
  8. ↑ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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