Melodi Grand Prix
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Melodi Grand Prix (MGP or Grand Prix) is the Norwegian national final that selects the entry to represent Norway in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The national final has been held every year since Norway first participated in 1960.
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[edit] Historical background
[edit] Debuted in 1960
Norway first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, and the first Melodi Grand Prix was therefore hold that same year. Since then, MGP has been organized every year except 1970 (boycott in all Nordic countries), 1991 (internal selection) and 2002 (Norway had not qualified due to the poor result the year before).
Norway's first Eurovision participant, in 1960 in London, was Nora Brockstedt, receiving a fourth place for her evergreen Voi-voi in London. She also took part the following year with Sommer i Palma. Although this is 45 years ago, and Nora is well beyond 80, she still records music and releases albums, nowadays as a jazz artist, and now and then show up at concerts, including the spectacular Eurovision memorial gala concert during the annual pan-European gay pride event, the Europride 2005, held in Norway's capital Oslo.
The Norwegian Minister of Culture for the Labour Party from 1990 to 1996, Åse Kleveland, represented Norway in the contest during the 1960ies. With her dark, very characteristic, sort of masculine voice, she performed her entry Intet er nytt under solen (Nothing New Under The Sun), achieving a third place for Norway. In 1986 she was the sole presenter of Norway's first EuroSong production, the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 held in the Grieg Hall in Bergen.
[edit] Two victories
Norway has won the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) twice. The first time was in 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the female duo Bobbysocks won the trophy achieving 123 points in total for the uptempo schlager tune La det swinge (Let it swing). Bobbysocks consists of Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreasson, (since 1994 married and renamed Elisabeth Andreassen) - also known as Bettan - who had both experience from previous ESC finals. The young Hanne Krogh represented Norway already in 1971 with the sweet ballad Lykken er... (Happiness is...), while Bettan took part for Sweden in 1982 in the duo Chips. She also represented Norway in 1994 and 1996, ending up sixth and second with two ballads. Hanne Krogh returned to the Eurovision stage in 1991 being a quarter of the group Just4Fun. The two ladies reunited in 2005, first for the grand Eurovision memory concert during EuroPride 2005 in Oslo, then to perform at Eurovision's 50th anniversary show, the Congratulations, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
[edit] The new age revolution
The second victory was brought to Norway by the Nordic-Celtic, mainly instrumental group Secret Garden. With the melody Nocturne, composer Rolf Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry - together with the singer and the Swedish harpist - was awarded with 148 points. This was the very first time an entirely ethnic song won an ESC final, and started a massive wave of ethnic ESC entries in the years that followed - already the next year another celtic melody won, Eimear Quinn's The Voice. Petter Skavlan's scarce use of words in Nocturne - only 24 in the three minute song altogether - created a great controversy in Norway's neighbouring country Sweden, of whose jury decided to boycott what they looked upon as an inappropriate entry for the so-called "schlager" contest, being one of only three juries not to give the winning composition any points at all (the two other were Austria and Croatia), while six juries awarded it the maximum 12 points. The year is 1995. The stage lies in Dublin, capital of Ireland, home to Fionnuala.
[edit] World-wide fame
Secret Garden went on to become one of the most successful acts to have won the ESC, and is today a global performance, not only on their own, but also being the original group behind songs as You Raise Me Up, which already has been recorded with different artists more than 125 times and which thanks to artists like Josh Groban and the Irish boyband Westlife is still listened to. Rolf Løvland was also the composer of Norway's other ESC winner, La det swinge, as well as Norway's ESC entries in 1987 (Mitt liv by Kate Gulbrandsen) and 1994 (Duett by Bettan and Jan Werner Danielsen).
[edit] Expansion and success
Since the last couple of years of the 1990s, a major evolution has been going on within the MGP concept walls. Broadcaster NRK decided it was time to reflect the modern pop music to a higher degree. The national music industry was approached more intensively, in a desire to attract younger, more professional talents. All doubts aside, singing in English should be no drawback anymore, directing the obvious fact that a significant proportion of professional Norwegian artists sing in English these days. The next step implemented was making the event bigger, by moving the MGP final into the number one concert hall of Norway, the Oslo Spektrum [1], as a permanent location. Spektrum has a capacity of 9,700, a "handful" more than the TV studios which had been used a few years earlier.
The increased efforts slowly lead to results, with international successes in 1998, 2000, 2003 and again in 2005. Glam-rock group Wig Wam took the victory in MGP 2005. The song enjoyed vast commercial success, and In My Dreams went to the top of the national single chart. It stayed as number one for three weeks and had 19 weeks on the chart. [2]
[edit] "The Wig Wam effect"
At the Eurovision final in 2005, Wig Wam qualified Norway for the next year's final. For the 2006 Melodi Grand Prix, NRK decided that there would be regional semi finals. During three semi finals with six songs in each, with a fourth intermediate second chance wildcard round, a total of eight songs was selected for the MGP 2006 final in Oslo Spektrum. Among the 18 acts was artists like Trine Rein, Christine Guldbrandsen, Mocci, Birgitte Einarsen and Queentastic.
Read more about the latest developments of Melodi Grand Prix in the Melodi Grand Prix 2008 article!
[edit] Norwegian entries in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Year | Song | Artist(s) | Song writer(s) | Composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | "Voi-voi" | Nora Brockstedt | Georg Elgaaen | 11 | 4 | |
| 1961 | "Sommer i Palma" | Nora Brockstedt | Egil Hansen | Jan Wølner | 10 | 7 |
| 1962 | "Kom sol, kom regn" | Inger Jacobsen | Ivar Jacobsen | Kjell Karlsen | 2 | 10 |
| 1963 | "Solhverv" | Anita Thallaug | Dag Kristoffersen | 0 | 13 | |
| 1964 | "Spiral" | Arne Bendiksen | Egil Hansen | Sigurd Jansen | 6 | 8 |
| 1965 | "Karusell" | Kirsti Sparboe | Jolly Kramer-Johansen | 1 | 13 | |
| 1966 | "Intet er nytt under solen" | Åse Kleveland | Arne Bendiksen | 15 | 3 | |
| 1967 | "Dukkemann" | Kirsti Sparboe | Ola B Johannessen | Tor Hultin | 2 | 14 |
| 1968 | "Stress" | Odd Børre | Ola B Johannessen | Tor Hultin | 2 | 13 |
| 1969 | "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli" | Kirsti Sparboe | Arne Bendiksen | 1 | 16 | |
| 1971 | "Lykken er..." | Hanne Krogh | Arne Bendiksen | 65 | 17 | |
| 1972 | "Småting" | Grethe Kausland & Benny Borg | Kåre Grøttum & Ivar Børsum | 73 | 14 | |
| 1973 | "Å, for et spill" | Bendik Singers | Arne Bendiksen | 89 | 7 | |
| 1974 | "Hvor er du?" | Anne Karine Strøm & Bendik Singers | Philip Kruse | Frode Thingnæs | 3 | 14 |
| 1975 | "Det skulle ha vært sommer nå" | Ellen Nikolaysen | Svein Hundsnes | 11 | 18 | |
| 1976 | "Mata Hari" | Anne-Karine Strøm | Philip Kruse | Frode Thingnæs | 7 | 18 |
| 1977 | "Casanova" | Anita Skorgan | Dag Nordtømme | Svein Strugstad | 18 | 15 |
| 1978 | "Mil etter mil" | Jahn Teigen | Kai Eide | 0 | 20 | |
| 1979 | "Oliver" | Anita Skorgan | Phillip Kruse | Anita Skorgan | 57 | 11 |
| 1980 | "Samiid ædnan" | Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta | Ragnar Olsen | Sverre Kjelsberg | 15 | 16 |
| 1981 | "Aldri i livet" | Finn Kalvik | 0 | 20 | ||
| 1982 | "Adieu" | Jahn Teigen & Anita Skorgan | Herodes Falsk | Jahn Teigen | 40 | 12 |
| 1983 | "Do-re-mi" | Jahn Teigen | Herodes Falsk & Jahn Teigen | Anita Skorgan & Jahn Teigen | 53 | 9 |
| 1984 | "Lenge leve livet" | Dollie de Luxe | Benedicte Adrian & Ingrid Bjørnov | 29 | 17 | |
| 1985 | "La det swinge" | Bobbysocks | Rolf Løvland | 123 | 1 | |
| 1986 | "Romeo" | Ketil Stokkan | 44 | 12 | ||
| 1987 | "Mitt liv" | Kate Guldbrandsen | Rolf Løvland & Hanne Krogh | Rolf Løvland | 65 | 9 |
| 1988 | "For vår jord" | Karoline Krüger | Erik Hillestad | Anita Skorgan | 88 | 5 |
| 1989 | "Venners nærhet" | Britt Synnøve Johansen | Leiv Grøtte | Inge Enoksen | 30 | 17 |
| 1990 | "Brandenburger Tor" | Ketil Stokkan | 8 | 21 | ||
| 1991 | "Mrs Thompson" | Just 4 Fun | P G Røness & Kaare Skevik Jr | Dag Kolsrud | 14 | 17 |
| 1992 | "Visjoner" | Merethe Trøan | Eva Jansen | Robert Morley | 23 | 18 |
| 1993 | "Alle mine tankar" | Silje Vige | Bjørn Erik Vige | 120 | 5 | |
| 1994 | "Duett" | Elisabeth Andreassen & Jan Werner Danielsen | Hans Olav Mørk | Rolf Løvland | 76 | 6 |
| 1995 | "Nocturne" | Secret Garden | Rolf Løvland & Petter Skavlan | 148 | 1 | |
| 1996 | "I evighet" | Elisabeth Andreassen | Torhild Nigar | 114 | 2 | |
| 1997 | "San Francisco" | Tor Endresen | Tor Endresen & Arne Myksvol | 0 | 24 | |
| 1998 | "Alltid sommer" | Lars A. Fredriksen | Linda Andernach Johannesen | David Eriksen | 79 | 8 |
| 1999 | "Living My Life Without You" | Stig van Eijk | 35 | 14 | ||
| 2000 | "My Heart Goes Boom" | Charmed | Tore Madsen | Morten Henriksen | 57 | 11 |
| 2001 | "On My Own" | Haldor Lægreid | Antonsen, Hanssen & Olsen | 3 | 22 | |
| 2003 | "I'm Not Afraid To Move On" | Jostein Hasselgård | Arve Furset | 123 | 4 | |
| 2004 | "High" | Knut Anders Sørum | Dan Attlerud | Thomas Thörnholm & Lars Andersson | 3 | 24 |
| 2005 | "In My Dreams" | Wig Wam | Teeny | 125 | 9 | |
| 2006 | "Alvedansen" | Christine Guldbrandsen | Kjetil Fluge & Christine Guldbrandsen | Kjetil Fluge, Atle Halstensen & Christine Guldbrandsen | 36 | 14 |
| 2007 | "Ven a bailar conmigo" | Guri Schanke | Thomas G:son | (48) | 32 (18 in SF) | |
| 2008 | "Hold On Be Strong" | Maria Haukaas Storeng | Mira Craig | 182 | 5 | |
Explanation of colour codes: Gold = Victory | Green = Best third | Blue = Middle third | Violet = Last third | Red = Last place
[edit] See also
- Melodi Grand Prix Nordic
- Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Danish Melodi Grand Prix
- Melodifestivalen
- Eurovision: Your Decision
[edit] External links
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