2010 Nobel Peace Prize Concert

The Nobel Peace Prize Concert ( Norwegian and Swedish: '')'' has been held annually since 1994 on 11 December to honour the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The award ceremony on 10 December takes place in Oslo City Hall, while the concert has been held at Oslo Spektrum, with the attendance of the laureate and other prominent guests. The Concert is broadcast to a global audience and reaches up to 350 million households in 100 countries.

In 2015 the concert venue was moved from Oslo Spektrum to the much larger Telenor Arena. The concert was held there until it was cancelled in 2018, replaced by an outdoor Nobel Peace Party which was organised outside the Oslo City Hall. In 2021 the Concert was relaunched in collaboration with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, architectural firm Snøhetta and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

The concert features performers from a wide range of musical genres with the exception of the 1995 concert, which featured only classical works. Several editions of the concert are recorded, with different lengths and content, for airing in different countries.

The hosts give descriptions of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's work as well as an interview with the laureate. The laureate gives a speech during the concert.

2018-2020 Hiatus

In 2018, the concert organizers announced that the show would be put on hiatus for 2018, hoping to hold a relaunched concert the following year. The official website stated, "The decision emerges from a wish to re-think the concert format and content but also reflects the challenging financial situation of the concert in recent years. Moreover, people’s media preferences have undergone radical change since the first concert in 1994. This is something the concert organizers and producers are keenly aware of as they move forward. We have struggled to maintain an appropriate level of financing and want to use the year ahead to develop a new format for the concert. Our ambition is to launch a renewed and better concert in 2019. ..We plan to use this break to further develop the format and strengthen the financing beyond the continuing and generous support of our long term Norwegian sponsors. The firmer our financial base, the stronger our independence in choice of concert format and profile, say concert producers Odd Arvid Strømstad (Warner Bros. Norway) and Kristian Kirkvaag (Gyro)."

Laureates, hosts and artists by year

Since planning starts in January, the artists invited to the concert aren't typically connected to the winner, who is announced in October. However, a few late additions are usually made to reflect the winner. Originally, the show was hosted by Norwegian celebrities or television personalities. However, since the year 2000 hosts have with few exceptions come from the United States. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra is the main orchestra every year.

1994

;Laureates: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin

;Host: Erik Bye

;Artists:
*Ofra Haza
*Mari Boine
*Ole Edvard Antonsen
*Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
* Sigvard Dagsland
*Sinéad O'Connor
*Sondre Bratland

1995

;Laureates: Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

This year a concert featuring only classical works was held.

1996

;Laureates: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta

;Host: Lise Fjeldstad

;Artists:
*Angélique Kidjo
*Annbjørg Lien
*Jan Garbarek / Angelite
*Joan Osborne
*Morten Harket performed the song "East Timor"
*Solveig Kringlebotn
*Sondre Bratland
*Sølvguttene
* Tata-Mai-Lau

1997

;Laureates: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and Jody Williams

;Host: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

;Artists:
*Anne Grete Preus
*Boyz II Men
*Emmylou Harris – (special wish from the Peace Prize winner)
*Harry Connick, Jr.
* Jewel
*Mariah Carey – "My All", "Butterfly"; "One Sweet Day" with Boyz II Men
*Nils Petter Molvær
*Sinéad O'Connor
*Sølvguttene
*Youssou N'Dour

;Producers:
* Andrew Lanter- IMG

Harry Connick Jr brought 35 musicians with him on stage, when performing at the concert in 1997.

1998

;Laureates: John Hume and David Trimble

;Host: Åse Kleveland

;Artists:
*a-ha – "Summer Moved On", "The Sun Always Shines on TV";
*Alanis Morissette – "Baba", "Uninvited", "Thank U"
*The Cranberries – "Dreams", "Promises", "Linger"
*Elton John (Video screen) – "Your Song", "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"
*Enrique Iglesias
*Espen Lind – "Pop from Hell"
*Hariprasad Chaurasia
*James Galway with Phil Coulter
*Oumou Sangaré
*Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
*Phil Collins – "Both Sides of the Story", "Another Day in Paradise"
*Shania Twain – "You're Still the One", "Black Eyes, Blue Tears"
*Sølvguttene
*Willard White (replacement for Andrea Bocelli)

;Producers:
* Andrew Lanter- IMG

At the concert in 1998, American TV network Fox, did not include A-ha's performance, which was edited out. Another performance edited out by Fox in 1998, was Norwegian artist Espen Lind's "Pop From Hell". The word "hell" was not the problem, but the following sentence: "You make me so hard/because you're a star". A Fox-producer stated it would be too much to take for the American family audience. Espen Lind was told his performance would not be edited out if he did not include the word "hard" in the song, but he would not change the lyrics. He said he did not want to let himself be controlled by a double-moralistic American family channel, and that such compromises were not acceptable for him to make.

1999

;Laureate: Médecins Sans Frontières

;Host: Claus Wiese
:Voice-over: David Fishel

;Artists:
* a1
*Bryan Ferry
*The Corrs
*Denyce Graves
*Ismaël Lô
*Ladysmith Black Mambazo
*Ole Edvard Antonsen with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra
* Secret Garden
*Sting
*Tina Turner "When the Heartache Is Over", " Whatever You Need"

2000

;Laureate: Kim Dae-jung

;Host: Jane Seymour (short notice cancellation by Meryl Streep)

;Artists:
*Bon Jovi
*Bryn Terfel
*Eros Ramazzotti
*Femi Kuti
*Lee Ann Womack
*Moby
*Natalie Cole
*Sissel Kyrkjebø
*Sumi Jo
*Westlife

2001

;Laureates: The United Nations and Kofi Annan

;Hosts: Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep

;Artists:
*a-ha – "Differences", "Hunting High and Low"
*Anastacia
*Barbara Hendricks
*Daniela Mercury
*Destiny's Child
*International Children's Choir
*Jan Garbarek
*Kodo
*Natalie Imbruglia - "Torn"
*Paul McCartney- "Your Loving Flame", "Freedom"
*Russell Watson
*Wyclef Jean – "Redemption Song", "Wish You Were Here"
*Youssou N'Dour – "My Hope Is in You"
*Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman

The 2001 concert's closing song was "Let It Be", performed by Paul McCartney and the other artists.

2002

;Laureate: Jimmy Carter

;Hosts: Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange

;Artists:
*Angélique Kidjo
*Hall & Oates
*Jennifer Lopez – "Jenny From The Block"
*Jessye Norman
*Joaquín Cortés
*Josh Groban – "To Where You Are", "The Prayer" with Sissel Kyrkjebø
*Laura Pausini - " E ritorno da te", " Surrender"
*Mari Boine
*Michelle Branch
*Santana – "Adouma", "Victory is Won", "Oye Como Va"
*Sissel Kyrkjebø – "The Prayer" with Josh Groban
*Suede
*Willie Nelson – "Always on My Mind", "The Great Divide", "Georgia on My Mind" (special wish from the Peace Prize winner)
*Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman

The Grand Finale in 2002, performed by all the artists, was "Imagine" by John Lennon.

2003

;Laureate: Shirin Ebadi

;Hosts: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas

;Artists:
* Aretha Franklin – "Make Them Hear You", "Wonderful"
* Angela Gheorghiu – "Muzica"
* Orchestra Baobab
* Carly Simon – Let The River Run
* The Cardigans – "For What It's Worth", "Communication"
* The Chieftains – "40 Shades of Green" with Rosanne Cash
* Craig David – "World Filled With Love", "Hidden Agenda"
* Jan Werner Danielsen – "Air"
* The Kamkars
* Lene Marlin – "Sorry", "Hope you're happy"
* Roberto Alagna – "'O sole mio"; " Come prima" with Angela Gheorghiu
* Robert Plant – "Morning Dew" with Strange Sensation
* Tim McGraw – "Please remember me", "God's child"
* Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates
* Hearts In Motion Gospel Choir – "Air" with Jan Werner Danielsen

The Grand Finale in 2003, sung by all the artists, was "Imagine". Robert Plant sang and changed the word "religion" with "division" in the sentence "Nothing to kill or die for/ And no division too".

2004

;Laureate: Wangari Maathai

;Hosts: Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise

;Artists:
* Andrea Bocelli – " Dell'amore non-si sa", "In-canto"
* Baaba Maal
* Chris Botti – "Someone To Watch Over Me"
* Cyndi Lauper – "Time After Time"
* Diana Krall
* Joss Stone
* Patti LaBelle
* The Polyphonic Spree
* Sondre Lerche
* Suzanna Owíyo
* Tony Bennett
* Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

The use of Tom Cruise as a host created some controversy both from people fearing it could be used to promote Scientology and from people who were unhappy with his supportive statements on the Iraq War. There was however no mention of Scientology during the concert and Cruise has stated his remarks on the war were misquoted. The Grand Finale was led by Patti LaBelle. For the third year in a row, the song chosen for the finale was John Lennon's "Imagine".

2005

;Laureates: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Mohamed ElBaradei

;Hosts: Julianne Moore and Salma Hayek

;Artists:
* Damien Rice – "Unplayed piano", "Cold Water"
* Duran Duran – "Ordinary world", "(Reach up for the) Sunrise", "Nice"
* Gladys Knight – "Party train / Friendship Train medley", "The best thing that ever happened to me", "I've got to use my imagination", "I heard it through the grapevine", "Midnight train to Georgia"; "I heard it through the grapevine" with Bubba Knight
* Juanes – "La Camisa Negra", "Sueños"
* Katherine Jenkins

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