Norway was represented by

Finn Kalvik Finn Bjørn Kalvik (born 30 April 1947) is a Norwegian singer and composer. Early career He was born in Fåvang, but his family moved to the working class district of Grorud, Oslo in 1952. Early in his career Kalvik found success putting music t ...

, with the song "Aldri i livet", at the

1981 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Europea ...

, which took place on 4 April in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. "Aldri i livet" 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 dete ...

on 7 March.

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1981

The

1981 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 the previous year's Norwegian performer

Sverre Kjelsberg Sverre Kjelsberg (18 October 1946 – 18 June 2016) was a Norwegian singer, guitarist, bassist, composer, and lyricist. He was a member of the band The Pussycats from 1964. He and Mattis Hætta represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 198 ...

. Ten songs took part in the final, with the winner chosen by a 9-member jury, two of whose members were

Ellen Nikolaysen Ellen Helen Nikolaysen (born 10 December 1951) is a Norwegian singer/actress.Ellen Nikolaysen
in Store norske leksikon ...

, who represented Norway in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

(as a member of the

Bendik Singers The Bendik Singers were a four-member Norwegian vocal group, brought together by singer and composer Arne Bendiksen to participate in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection, Melodi Grand Prix, in 1973. The group consisted of Anne-Karine S ...

) and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and

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 th ...

, who represented Norway in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, who awarded 10 points to their favourite song down to 1 point to the least-liked.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Kalvik performed 13th in the running order, following

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 ...

– in one of Eurovision's stranger coincidences, this was to be the first of six consecutive contests in which Norway was drawn to perform immediately before the United Kingdom. Kalvik performed the low-key ballad seated and strumming a guitar, and it was surmised that the song may have suffered by being sandwiched between the Irish and British entries, both of which were uptempo, instantly catchy pop songs with eye-catching stage presentations. "Aldri i livet" got totally lost, and at the close of voting had failed register any score, giving Norway a second nul-points in four contests and a sixth time at the foot of the scoreboard. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to

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 ...

.ESC History - Norway 1981
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Voting

Norway did not receive any points at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

References

External links

Full national final on nrk.no
{{Melodi Grand Prix (Norway)

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision 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 ...