''Melodi Grand Prix 2006'' (shortened ''MGP 2006'') is the television show in which the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

was chosen. The contest was held on February 4 in the

Oslo Spektrum Oslo Spektrum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in east central Oslo, Norway that opened in December 1990. It is currently owned and operated by Norges Varemesse. Oslo Spektrum is primarily known for hosting major events such as the annual ...

and was hosted by

Synnøve Svabø Synnøve Svabø (born 22 September 1968 in Sunnmøre, Norway) is a Norwegian talk show host. Svabø is best known for her 1997 boob stunt on Thorbjørn Jagland who was then the Prime Minister of Norway Jagland was caught on national television pla ...

and

Stian Barsnes Simonsen Stian Barsnes-Simonsen (born 20 April 1979, in Bergen) is a Norwegian actor and television host of ''Amigo'', '' Midt i smørøyet'' and ''Melodi Grand Prix''. Filmography Television ;Presenter *''De ukjente'' (2009) *''Gullruten'' (2006) *''Me ...

. In addition, the Eurovision commentator for Norwegian television,

Jostein Pedersen Jostein Pedersen (born 11 August 1959 in Dønna) is a Norway, Norwegian musical journalist and reporter, television commentator and "music intelligencia". He was the Norwegian commentator to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, and from 1996 to 20 ...

, played a role as side commentator for all five shows. In the three weeks leading up to the final, four qualification rounds were held; three semifinals and a second-chance round, where the last two final tickets were given out. The winner was

Christine Guldbrandsen Christine Guldbrandsen (born 19 March 1985 in Bergen, Norway) is a singer who is best known internationally for being the Norwegian entrant in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. She has released three albums in Scandinavia: ''Surfing in the Air'', ...

with the song "Alvedansen".

Swedish dominance

This year,

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

received 586 compositions, one of the highest numbers ever. However, the foreign songs exceed 60% of this total, coming mainly from Swedish composers. And as a result, 13 out of the 18 semi final entries are written by Swedes. However, the top two songs at MGP 2006 were written by Norwegians.

A new concept

The three initial semi finals were held in three different Norwegian cities, based on the successful formula that has been used in the Swedish

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...

since 2002. That is to say, the semi final concept in Norway is new of the year. NRK has decided that those cities which were awarded with the concept this year, will have the right to host one semi final each for the next three years.

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Semi-final 3

''Siste Sjansen'' round

Final

*A total of 264,693 televotes were counted in the super final. *Both the top two songs in the super final were composed by Norwegians, despite NRK having only selected five songs with Norwegian composers out of the initial 18 semi final entries.

Spokespersons

*Northern Norway:

Nina Birgitte Einem Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms * National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No income, ...

*Central Norway:

Kristin Haug Kristin may refer to: * Kristin (name), a Scandinavian form of Christine * ''Kristin'' (TV series), a 2001 American sitcom * Kristin Peak, Antarctica * Kristin School, a school in New Zealand See also * Kristen (disambiguation) Kristen may re ...

*Southern Norway:

Knut Knudsen Eigenland Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

*Eastern Norway:

Jonas Brønna Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

*Western Norway: Øyver Bakke

External links

''Official site''
NRK: Melodi Grand Prix 2006
{{Melodi Grand Prix (Norway)

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 2006 in Norwegian music 2006 song contests 2006 Norwegian television seasons