Melodi Grand Prix

This article is about Norwegian song contest. For the Danish contest of the same name, see Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.

Melodi Grand Prix (MGP or 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 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; 10 in all. Despite this, the competition still makes considerable impact on music charts in Norway, and in other Nordic countries, with the 2008 winner topping the Norwegian charts, as well as peaking 8th on the Swedish charts.^[1][2]

Origins

Main article: History of Melodi Grand Prix

The Eurovision Song Contest began on 24 May 1956, when the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne was held in Lugano, Switzerland. Norway's first contest was the fourth, the 1960 Contest. The first Melodi Grand Prix was held on 20 February at the NRK Television Centre 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 at 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 previous 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.^[3] In 1991 no Melodi Grand Prix was held as NRK felt that the submitted entries received for the Contest were of too low quality, and so commissioned an entry for the Contest in Rome. The final instance of no Melodi Grand Prix was in 2002, when Norway was relegated from competing in the 2002 Contest after coming last the previous year.

Winners

2008 winner Maria Haukaas Storeng went on to finish fifth at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final in Belgrade

Main article: Melodi Grand Prix winners

All winners of MGP have gone on to represent Norway at Eurovision. Norway has won Eurovision three times: in 1985, 1995 and 2009. However Norway has also come last 10 times, more than any other nation: in 1963, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1990, 1997, 2001 and 2004.

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

See also

• Dansk Melodi Grand Prix
• MGP Nordic
• Melodifestivalen
• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

External links

• NRK: Melodi Grand Prix

References

1. ^ "Norwegian Music Charts - Hold On Be Strong". Norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Maria+Haukaas+Storeng&titel=Hold+On+Be+Strong&cat=s. 
2. ^ "Swedish Music Charts - Hold On Be Strong". Swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Maria+Haukaas+Storeng&titel=Hold+On+Be+Strong&cat=s. 
3. ^ Kennedy O'Connor, John (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. pp. 40–43. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.