Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country  Norway
National selection
Selection process Melodi Grand Prix 2015
Selection date(s) 14 March 2015
Selected entrant Mørland & Debrah Scarlett
Selected song "A Monster Like Me"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Kjetil Mørland
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015

Norway will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. Their entry was selected through the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2015, organised by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The winning song that will represent Norway was the entry A Monster Like Me written by Kjetil Mørland and performed by Mørland togeher with Debrah Scarlett.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-three times since its first entry in 1960.[1] 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 has the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest. The country has finished last eleven times and has failed to score a point during four contests. Since the introduction of a semi-final round to the format of the contest in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten five times. Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams" in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008 with "Hold On Be Strong", Alexander Rybak won in 2009, Margaret Berger was fourth in 2013 with "I Feed You My Love" and Carl Espen finished eighth in 2014 performing "Silent Storm".

NRK confirmed that Norway would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 21 May 2014.[2] On 5 June 2014, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2015.[3]

Melodi Grand Prix 2015

Melodi Grand Prix 2015 was the 53rd edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix, which selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition underwent major changes compared to the most recent editions. For the first time since 2005 there was no semi-final shows; only one show that features eleven competing songs that took place on 14 March 2015 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo.[4] The show was hosted by Silya Nymoen and Kåre Magnus Bergh.[5] NRK also reinstated a live orchestra as part of the show, a feature that has been absent from the competition for 17 years. The 54 members of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra accompaned each performance in varying capacities.[4]

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK which lasted between 5 June 2014 and 1 September 2014.[3] In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK announced that it would also directly invite certain artists and composers to compete. At the close of the deadline, 800 submission were received – a 30% increase over the previous year.[6] The eleven competing entries were revealed by the broadcaster during a press conference on 21 January 2015.[7] The jury that selected the eleven competing entries consisted of Vivi Stenberg (Melodi Grand Prix producer), Marie Komissar (radio host and music producer), Tarjei Strøm (musician and radio host) and Kathrine Synnes Finnskog (director of Music Norway).[7] Among the competing artists are former Eurovision Song Contest entrants Tor Endresen, who represented Norway in 1997 and Elisabeth Andreassen (Bettan), who represented Sweden in 1982 and Norway in 1985, 1994 and 1996.[7] Andreassen formed half of the duo Bobbysocks!, which won the competition for Norway in 1985.

Final

Draw Artist Song (English Translation) Composer(s) Result
1 Erlend Bratland "Thunderstruck" Joy Deb, Linnéa Deb, Erlend Bratland Gold Final
2 Raylee "Louder" Andreas Stone Johansson, Ricky Hanley Out
3 Tor & Bettan "All Over the World" Are Selheim, Tor Endresen Gold Final
4 Jenny Langlo "Next To You" Jenny Langlo, Robin Mortensen Lynch, Niklas Olovson Out
5 Ira Konstantinidis "We Don't Worry" Øyvind Blikstad, Bjarte Giske, Ali Pirzad, Julie Bergan Out
6 Contrazt "Heaven" Jan Lysdahl, Jacob Launbjerg Out
7 Marie Klåpbakken "Ta meg tilbake" (Take me back) Marie Klåpbakken, Linn Hege Sagen, Olav Tronsmoen Out
8 Staysman & Lazz "En godt stekt pizza" (A well-done pizza) Stian Thorbjørnsen, Petter Kristiansen, Lars-Erik Blokkhus, Jesper Borgen, Magnus Clausen Gold Final
9 Mørland & Debrah Scarlett "A Monster Like Me" Kjetil Mørland Gold Final
10 Alexandra Joner "Cinderella" Erik Smaaland, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke Out
11 Karin Park "Human Beings" Karin Park, Guy Chambers Out

Gold Final

Gold Final – 14 March 2015
Draw Artist Song Eastern Norway Northern Norway Central Norway Southern Norway Western Norway Total Place
1 Tor & Bettan "All Over the World" 19,834 5,222 4,670 5,574 8,386 43,686 4
2 Staysman & Lazz "En godt stekt pizza" 49,068 5,392 3,595 7,010 4,134 69,199 3
3 Mørland & Debrah Scarlett "A Monster Like Me" 47,303 7,778 7,013 17,340 9,435 88,869 1
4 Erlend Bratland "Thunderstruck" 37,334 8,504 7,161 10,816 21,558 85,373 2

At Eurovision

All countries except the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), the special guest (Australia) and the host country, 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 (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[8] On 26 January 2015, an 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 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Norway Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (21 May 2014). "Norway: NRK confirms its participation in Eurovision 2015". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Russell, Peter (5 June 2014). "Norway: MGP 2015 call for submissions now open!". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bakken, Hege Riise (11 November 2014). "Kringkastingsorkesteret tilbake i MGP" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (11 December 2014). "Norway: MGP hosts revealed; tickets go on sale". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Hidalgo, Rodrigo Romero (17 September 2014). "Norway: Preparations for Vienna underway". escXtra.com. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Storvik-Green, Simon (21 January 2015). "Norwegian National Final participants revealed". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Brey, Marco (26 January 2015). "Today: The Semi-Final Allocation Draw". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.