Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015


Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "A Monster Like Me", written by Kjetil Mørland. The song was performed by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett. Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2015 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After two rounds of public televoting, "A Monster Like Me" performed by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett emerged as the winners. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "A Monster Like Me" placed fourth out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Norway's fifty-fourth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "A Monster Like Me" finished in eighth place, receiving 102 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-three times since its first entry in 1960. 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 has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" in the contest. The country has finished last eleven times and has failed to score a point during four contests. Since the introduction of a semi-final round to the format of the contest in 2004, Norway has, to this point, finished in the top ten five times. Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams" in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008 with "Hold On Be Strong", Alexander Rybak won in 2009, Margaret Berger was fourth in 2013 with "I Feed You My Love" and Carl Espen finished eighth in 2014 performing "Silent Storm".
The Norwegian broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, who broadcast the event in Norway and organised the selection process for its entry, was Norsk rikskringkasting. The broadcaster confirmed that Norway would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 21 May 2014. On 5 June 2014, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2015.

Before Eurovision

''Melodi Grand Prix 2015''

Melodi Grand Prix 2015 was the 53rd edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix, which selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition underwent major changes compared to the most recent editions. For the first time since 2005 there was no semi-final shows; only one show that features eleven competing songs that took place on 14 March 2015 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo. The show was hosted by Silya Nymoen and Kåre Magnus Bergh. NRK also reinstated a live orchestra as part of the show, a feature that has been absent from the competition for 17 years. The 54 members of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra accompanied each performance in varying capacities.

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK which lasted between 5 June 2014 and 1 September 2014. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK announced that it would also directly invite certain artists and composers to compete. At the close of the deadline, 800 submission were received – a 30% increase over the previous year. The eleven competing entries were revealed by the broadcaster during a press conference on 21 January 2015. The jury that selected the eleven competing entries consisted of Vivi Stenberg, Marie Komissar, Tarjei Strøm and Kathrine Synnes Finnskog. Among the competing artists are former Eurovision Song Contest entrants Tor Endresen, who represented Norway in 1997 and Elisabeth Andreassen, who represented Sweden in 1982 and Norway in 1985, 1994 and 1996. Andreassen formed half of the duo Bobbysocks!, which won the competition for Norway in 1985.

Final

Eleven songs competed during the final on 14 March 2015. Six of the songs were performed together with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra: "Thunderstruck", "All Over the World", "Ta meg tilbake", "En godt stekt pizza", "A Monster Like Me" and "Cinderella". The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. The first round of voting selected four superfinalists to proceed to a Gold Final. The four superfinalists were "All Over the World" performed by Tor and Bettan, "En godt stekt pizza" performed by Staysman and Lazz, "A Monster Like Me" performed by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett, and "Thunderstruck" performed by Erlend Bratland. The votes in the Gold Final were revealed by region. "A Monster Like Me" performed by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett was the winner at the conclusion of the voting.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, 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 second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Norway was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Malta and before the entry from Portugal.
All three shows were televised on NRK1, with commentary by Olav Viksmo-Slettan. The Norwegian broadcaster also broadcast the three shows with sign language performers for the hearing impaired on NRK1 Tegnspråk. The final was broadcast via radio on NRK P1 with commentary by Per Sundnes. An alternative broadcast of the final was also televised on NRK3 with commentary by the hosts of the NRK P3 radio show P3morgen Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Reiten Nordnes and Markus Ekrem Neby. The Norwegian spokesperson, who announced the Norwegian votes during the final, was Margrethe Røed.

Semi-final

Mørland and Debrah Scarlett took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.
The stage show featured the duo in costumes designed by Elisabeth Stray Pedersen: Mørland appeared in a white and black suit and Debrah Scarlett appeared in a white crop top and skirt with an ornate silver hair clip. The performance was simplistic and was largely captured using one camera. The stage atmosphere was dark for the beginning of the song with bronze and orange lighting intensifying as the song progressed. The performance choreographer, Mattias Carlsson, stated: "all the focus should be on the song and the artists, so we don't think we need any graphics". While Mørland and Debrah Scarlett appeared on stage alone, they were joined by four backing vocalists: Julie Lillehaug Kaasa, May Kristin Kaspersen, Håvard Gryting and Bjørnar Reime.
At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Norway placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 123 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Norway was drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Norway was subsequently placed to perform in position 9, following the entry from Serbia and before the entry from Sweden.
Mørland and Debrah Scarlett once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. The duet performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Norway placed eighth with 102 points.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, first awarded during the 2002 contest, are awards honouring the best competing songs in the final each year. Named after the creator of the annual contest, Marcel Bezençon, the awards are divided into three categories: the Press Award, given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the event; the Artistic Award, presented to the best artist as voted on by the shows' commentators; and the Composer Award, given to the best and most original composition as voted by the participating composers. "A Monster Like Me" was awarded the Composer Award, which was accepted at the awards ceremony by the song's composer Kjetil Mørland.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could 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 were released shortly after the grand final.
Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Norway had placed seventeenth with the public televote and seventh with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Norway scored 43 points, while with the jury vote, Norway scored 163 points. In the second semi-final, Norway placed fifth with the public televote with 104 points and third with the jury vote, scoring 144 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Norway

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

    • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

    • Points awarded by Norway

    Split voting results

    The following five members comprised the Norwegian jury: