Norway was represented by

Anita Skorgan Anita Skorgan (born 13 November 1958) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in (14th), (11th) and with Jan Teigen in (12th). She was also a backing singer at the and contests, and co-wrote t ...

, with the song "Oliver", at the

1979 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by th ...

, which took place on 31 March in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Israel. "Oliver" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It det ...

on 10 February. This was the second of three Eurovision appearances (and a further uncredited fourth) for Skorgan.

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1979

The

1979 final round was held at the studios of broadcaster

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 ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, hosted by Egil Teige. No live audience was present, nor was there a stage with scenery or props --only the orchestra and contestants, who were permitted to wear only simple clothing. The orchestra was conducted by Norwegian composer Egil Monn-Inversen. A total of 331 entries were received, and of them eight entries were selected. The jury consisted of the musicians Kjell Karlsen, Fred Nøddelund and Øyvind Westby. Eight songs were presented in the final round, with the winner chosen by an "expert" jury which included

Kirsti Sparboe Kirsti Sparboe (born 7 December 1946) is a Norwegian musical performer and an actress. Most of her musical career has been built on participation in the widely-popular Eurovision Song Contest in which she competed three times and scored a grand ...

, who represented Norway in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, 1967, and 1969, and Norwegian Eurovision conductors Carsten Klouman and

Sigurd Jansen Sigurd Jansen (born 4 March 1932) is a Norwegian composer, pianist and conductor. Biography Sigurd Alf Jansen was born in Horten, in Vestfold county, Norway. He studied classical music at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. He was a teacher o ...

. Future Eurovision winner

Hanne Krogh Hanne Krogh (born 24 January 1956) is a Norwegian singer and actress from Haugesund and Oslo. Krogh is among the most selling record artists in Norway ever and is internationally well known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with Elisab ...

also took part.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Skorgan performed 16th in the running order, following

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and preceding the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. At the close of voting "Oliver" had picked up 57 points, placing Norway 11th of the 19 entries. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

.ESC History - Norway 1979
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Voting

References

External links

Full national final on nrk.no
{{Melodi Grand Prix (Norway) 1979 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 1979 Eurovision Eurovision