Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Norway will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2020 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The competition was won by Ulrikke Brandstorp with the song "Attention". However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Melodi Grand Prix 2020 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 11 January 2020 18 January 2020 25 January 2020 1 February 2020 8 February 2020 Grand Final: 15 February 2020 | |||
| Selected entrant | Ulrikke Brandstorp | |||
| Selected song | "Attention" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Cancelled | |||
| Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Background
Prior to the 2020 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since their first entry in 1960.[1] 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 2019, Norway was represented by KEiiNO with the song "Spirit in the Sky". The country placed 6th in the final with 331 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 participations.
Before Eurovision
Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Melodi Grand Prix 2020 was the 58th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix, and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.[2]
Format
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest, NRK decided to expand the competition with heats for the first time since 2014.[3][4]
The semi-final concept was based on the five regions Northern, Central, Western, Southern and Eastern Norway. Each region had its own heat where artists and songwriters from that region competed for a place in the final on 15 February 2019. In each heat, four songs were set up in two pairs, and the winners of each pair then competed in a "gold duel", with the final winner being decided by online voting.[5][6]
All shows were hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh, Ingrid Gjessing Linhave and Ronny Brede Aase. Kåre Magnus Bergh hosted for the sixth time, while Ingrid Gjessing Linhave and Ronny Brede Aase hosted the show for the first time.[7][8]
Final
Ten songs consisting of the five semi-final winners alongside the five pre-qualified songs competed in the final hosted by Trondheim Spektrum in Trondheim on 15 February 2020. This was the third time a Melodi Grand Prix final had been held outside of Oslo, and the first time since 1989. It was also the first time that Trondheim hosted the final.[9]
In the first round, all ten finalists performed once, after which the four best songs proceeded to the gold final. After a second voting round, the two best songs from the gold final proceeded to the gold duel. A third voting round then determined the winner of Melodi Grand Prix 2020.
In every round, the Norwegian audience could cast their votes through the broadcaster's online voting system. However, due to technical problems with the online voting in the first round, the four gold finalists were determined by a thirty-member demoscopic jury panel.[10][11]
After the gold duel, the results of the online voting were revealed by representatives of Norway's five regions, which led to the victory of "Attention" performed by Ulrikke Brandstorp.[12]
| Final – 15 February 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Composer(s) | Result |
| 1 | Raylee | "Wild" | Andreas "Stone" Johansson, Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker | Gold Final |
| 2 | Didrik & Emil Solli-Tangen | "Out of Air" | Fredrik Boström, Mats Tärnfors, Niclas Lundin, Didrik Solli-Tangen | Eliminated |
| 3 | Magnus Bokn | "Over the Sea" | Alexander Rybak, Joakim With Steen, Magnus Bokn | Eliminated |
| 4 | Akuvi | "Som du er" | Andreas "Stone" Johansson, Costa Leon, Amin Zana, Beatrice Akuvi Kumordzie | Eliminated |
| 5 | Kristin Husøy | "Pray for Me" | Galeyn Tenhaeff, Neil Hollyn, Marcia Sondeijker, Roel Rats, Kristin Husøy | Gold Final |
| 6 | Rein Alexander | "One Last Time" | Erik Smaaland, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, Rein Alexander | Eliminated |
| 7 | Tone Damli | "Hurts Sometimes" | Helge Moen, Jim Bergsted, Jethro Fox, Tone Damli | Eliminated |
| 8 | Sondrey | "Take My Time" | Ola Frøyen, Eric Lumiere, Terchi Pippuri | Eliminated |
| 9 | Ulrikke Brandstorp | "Attention" | Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland, Ulrikke Brandstorp | Gold Final |
| 10 | Liza Vassilieva | "I Am Gay" | Audun Agnar Guldbrandsen, Stian Nyhammer Olsen, Myrtoula Røe, Liza Vassilieva | Gold Final |
| Gold Final – 15 February 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Kristin Husøy | "Pray for Me" | Gold Duel |
| 2 | Ulrikke Brandstorp | "Attention" | Gold Duel |
| 3 | Liza Vassilieva | "I Am Gay" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Raylee | "Wild" | Eliminated |
| Gold Duel – 15 February 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Southern Norway |
Central Norway |
Northern Norway |
Western Norway |
Eastern Norway |
Total | Place |
| 1 | Kristin Husøy | "Pray for Me" | 16,756 | 51,176 | 19,932 | 37,107 | 69,696 | 194,667 | 2 |
| 2 | Ulrikke Brandstorp | "Attention" | 19,854 | 21,770 | 17,152 | 38,906 | 102,663 | 200,345 | 1 |
At Eurovision
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. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[13] However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.
References
- "Norway Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- Granger, Anthony (31 January 2018). "Norway: Confirms Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Participation". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- Hyttebakk, Jon Marius (19 March 2019). "MGP utvides med fem semifinaler". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- "Melodi Grand Prix: Delfinalene tilbake". www.vg.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- Kristiansen, Wivian Renee (7 January 2020). "🇳🇴 The first nine Melodi Grand Prix 2020 artists revealed". escxtra.
- "Norway: Online Voting Introduced At Melodi Grand Prix". Eurovoix. 5 January 2020.
- Hagen, Knut-Øyvind (5 December 2019). "Her er neste års programledere for Melodi Grand Prix". NRK.
- "Nye MGP-programledere: – Vi er alle like høylytte". www.vg.no.
- Sand, Camilla (12 November 2019). "Melodi Grand Prix-finalen til Trondheim". NRK.
- Granger, Anthony (15 February 2020). "Norway: Emoji Reactions Caused Voting Failure According to NRK Producers". Eurovoix.
- Cobb, Ryan (15 February 2020). "🇳🇴 Norway's NRK responds to media row following "scandalous" online voting crash during Melodi Grand Prix". escxtra.
- Ten Veen, Renske (11 February 2020). "Melodi Grand Prix 2020: Norway becomes first Scandinavian country to ditch traditional televoting in favour of online voting". Wiwibloggs.
- Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2020.