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 A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, solo (music), soloists, composers, conducting, conductors and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find p ...

organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It determines the country's representative for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, and has been staged almost every year since 1960. The festival has produced three Eurovision winners, a non-winning televote winner 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; 11 in all. Despite this, the competition still makes considerable impact on music charts in Norway and other Nordic countries, with the 2008 winner topping the Norwegian charts.

Origins

The Eurovision Song Contest began on 24 May 1956 with its first edition in

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 Voi is the largest town in Taita-Taveta County in southern Kenya, in the former Coast Province. It lies at the western edge of the Taru Desert, south and west of the Tsavo East National Park. The Sagala Hills are to the south. Economy Voi is ...

", performed by

Nora Brockstedt Nora Brockstedt (20 January 1923 – 5 November 2015) was a Norwegian singer. In her last years, she focused more on the jazz genre, with successful albums like ''As Time Goes By'' (JazzAvdelingen, 2004) and ''Christmas Songs'' (JazzAvdelin ...

. Brockstedt performed Norway's first Eurovision entry in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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. In 1991, the event was canceled after the NRK understood that the quality of the competing songs was weak and opted for an internal selection to choose the song which go to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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. The 2020 edition of the Melodi Grand Prix was the first instance where the winner was not selected to participate in Eurovision, as the contest itself would later be cancelled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Winners

Margaret_Berger_Studio_Eurovision_2013_03

All winners of Melodi Grand Prix have gone on to represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest, apart from the 2020 winner after the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was canceled due to the

. Norway has won it three times: in 1985, 1995 and 2009. However Norway has also come last 11 times, more than any other nation: in 1963, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1990, 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2012. The following table lists those entries which finished fifth or higher at Eurovision:

References

External links

NRK: Melodi Grand Prix
{{Authority control Eurovision Song Contest selection events Melodi Grand Prix NRK original programming Norwegian music Music festivals established in 1960 1960 establishments in Norway nn:Noreg i Eurovision Song Contest

Origins

Winners

See also

References

External links