Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019


Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2019 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Background

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since their first entry in. 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" 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, Norway has only failed to qualify on three occasions. In 2018, Norway was represented by Alexander Rybak for the second time, with the song "That's How You Write a Song". The country placed 15th in the final with 144 points.
The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting, 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 2019''

Melodi Grand Prix 2019 was the 57th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix, and it selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK on 31 January 2018 and lasted until 9 September 2018, and more than 1000 entries were submitted. The submitted songs were reduced to about 60 songs which were then presented to various listening groups. Then the songs were reduced down to 10 finalists published by NRK during a press conference on 25 January 2019. The final songs were released for sale and streaming the same day.
Carina Dahl and Tom Hugo are participants in the competition for the third time, while Erlend Bratland, Alexandra Rotan, Hank and Kjetil Mørland participate for the second time.
Project leader Stig Karlsen stated that he wanted a participatory field with "celebrities and artists that people know". At least two of the songs, respectively "We Try" by Chris Medina and "Mr. Unicorn" by D'Sound was asked internal to participate in the national final. Karlsen also stated that NRK would "do an even bigger job to bring forth some new talents as well". NRK has on several occasions said that Melodi Grand Prix 2019 seems to be "the largest MGP final".

Final

Ten songs competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum on 2 March 2019, hosted by Heidi Ruud Ellingsen and Kåre Magnus Bergh.

First voting round

In the first round, the top four entries were selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and ten international juries to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 580 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12 points. The public vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through SMS voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 580 points rounded to the nearest integer: 58 points.
;The Gold Final and Duel
In the Gold Final, the top two entries were selected exclusively by SMS voting to proceed to the final round, the Gold Duel. In the Gold Duel, the gold duelists takes with them the SMS votes from the Gold Final. Both in the gold finals and the gold duel, the Norwegian viewers choose the winner alone.

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. The European Broadcasting Union 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 2019, 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 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2019 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 15, following the entry from Albania and preceding the entry from Netherlands.

Semi-final

Norway performed fifteenth in the second semi-final, following the entry from Albania and preceding the entry from Netherlands. At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Norway placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 210 points: 170 points from the televoting and 40 points from the juries.

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.

Points awarded to Norway

Points awarded by Norway

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Norwegian jury: