Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Norway was represented by Tor Endresen, with the song '"San Francisco", at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 May in Dublin. "San Francisco" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 8 March, and is mainly remembered for bringing Norway's recent run of Eurovision success – they had finished 5th, 6th, 1st and 2nd in the previous four contests – to a spectacular end.
Eurovision Song Contest 1997 | ||||
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Country | ![]() | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Melodi Grand Prix 1997 | |||
Selection date(s) | 8 February 1997 | |||
Selected entrant | Tor Endresen | |||
Selected song | "San Francisco" | |||
Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 24th=, 0 points | |||
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
Melodi Grand Prix 1997
The final was held at the studios of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in Oslo, hosted by Tande-P. Eight songs took part with the winner chosen by a split between televoting (60%) and an "expert" jury (40%). Endresen finally gained MGP victory at his eighth attempt.[1] Several of the jury members were friends of Tor Endresen and told the press that "Endresen deserved to win" regardless of what song he participated with.[2] Among the other participants was Geir Rønning, who would later represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.
Final – 8 February 1997 | ||||
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Draw | Artist | Song | Percentage | Place |
1 | Marianne E. Olsen | "Min egen superstar" | 11.3% | 5 |
2 | Angela Kim Lewis | "So ro lille tull" | 14.3% | 3 |
3 | Guro Håvik | "Consensus" | 10.6% | 6 |
4 | Penthouse Playboys | "Om du elsket meg" | 12.6% | 4 |
5 | Geir Rønning | "Venter på deg" | 7.0% | 7 |
6 | Beate Olsen | "Rolig" | 2.9% | 8 |
7 | Tor Endresen | "San Francisco" | 23.9% | 1 |
8 | Manjari | "Lys" | 18.0% | 2 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Endresen performed third in the running order, following Turkey and preceding Austria. At the close of voting "San Francisco" had failed to pick up any points at all, the eighth time Norway had found itself at the bottom of the scoreboard at the end of the evening, and a record fourth nul-points finish. The 1997 ignominy was shared with Portugal, who had also been completely shunned by the national juries. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to France.[3]
Voting
Points awarded to Norway
12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
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5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
References
- ESC National Finals database 1997
- Kato M. Hansen. "Norway national final 1997" in OGAE News 56/57, 1997:19.
- ESC History – Norway 1997