Norway has been represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

63 times since making its debut in and has only been absent twice since then. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, the country boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, they were relegated. The Norwegian participating broadcaster in the contest is (NRK), which select its entrant with the national competition

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norsk Melodi Grand Prix, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster (NRK). It determines for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been sta ...

. Before 1985, Norway's best result in the contest was a third-place with "

Intet er nytt under solen Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 with the song "", written by Arne Bendiksen, and performed by Åse Kleveland. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, (NRK), organised the national final 1966 in order to select its ...

" by

Åse Kleveland Åse Maria Kleveland (born 18 March 1949) is a Norwegian singer, guitarist, politician and activist. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 with the entry " Intet er nytt under solen". A well-known folk singer and traditiona ...

in . Norway's three victories in the contest were achieved by "

La det swinge "La det swinge" (; "Let it swing") is a song recorded by the pop duo Bobbysocks! –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– with music composed and Norwegian lyrics written by Rolf Løvland. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 held in Gothenb ...

" by

Bobbysocks Bobbysocks is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "La det swinge" ("Let it swing"). Elisabeth went by the surname Andreasson ...

in , "

Nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

" by Secret Garden in , and "

Fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful being ...

" by

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (; born 13 May 1986) or Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak () is a Belarusian-born Norwegian musician and actor. Based in Oslo, Norway, Rybak extensively worked on television programs and on tours in Europe, particularly in S ...

in . Norway also finished second at the contest, with "" by former Bobbysocks member

Elisabeth Andreassen Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen (; born 28 March 1958), also known simply as Bettan, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Her talent was discovered in 1979 by Swedish musician an ...

. Norway has finished last in twelve Eurovision finals, of which four times with "

nul points The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is determined by a positional voting system. The most recent version of the system was implemented in the . Each participating country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, based on th ...

". Norway has a total of 12 top-five results in the contest, the latest being a fifth place with "

Queen of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with Iran (historically known as Persia in the West), especially the A ...

" by Alessandra in .

History

(NRK) is a full member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU), thus eligible to participate in the

. It has participated in the contest representing Norway since its in 1960. NRK's first entrant in the contest was " Voi Voi" performed by

Nora Brockstedt Nora Brockstedt (20 January 1923 – 5 November 2015) was a Norwegian singer. She was the first person ever to represent Norway in the European Song Contest, appearing as the Norwegian entrant in 1960 and 1961. She was first nationally kno ...

in , who finished fourth; Brockstedt would return with "

Sommer i Palma The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 March 1961 in the in Cannes, France. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTF), and originally known as the () ...

", this time placing seventh. "

" by

then finished third in , following which Norway would fail to reach the top ten in fourteen out of their next fifteen attempts, with the exception being seventh place finish with "It's Just a Game" by 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-Kari ...

in . Before , Norway had only received a top-ten score in six out of twenty-four attempts, and had finished last the same number of times.

gave the country its first victory in 1985, with the song "

". Norway went on to achieve two more top five results over the next ten years, with

Karoline Krüger Karoline Krüger (born 13 February 1970) is a Norwegian singer and composer. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 final in Dublin, where she finished fifth. Career Krüger's first TV appearance was at the age of 11, in ...

in and

Silje Vige Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 with the song "", written by Bjørn Erik Vige, and performed by 16-year-old Silje Vige. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, (NRK), selected its entry through the 1993. Before Eu ...

in , who both finished fifth. Norway's second victory came in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

with Secret Garden's mainly instrumental Celtic-influenced ethno-piece "

". In ,

, who had won the contest as one half of Bobbysocks, returned to the contest as a solo artist, finishing in second place. In ,

Jostein Hasselgård Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "I'm Not Afraid to Move On", written by Arve Furset and VJ Strøm, and performed by Jostein Hasselgård. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, the Norwegian Broadcastin ...

came fourth. Norway won for the third time in , with

and his song "

". The song's score of 387 points was the highest ever winning total under the 1975-2015 voting system, and also achieved the biggest ever margin of victory: 492 points in total were distributed between the competing countries in 2009, meaning "Fairytale" received 78.7% of the points that could be rewarded. Rybak later returned to the contest in , performing "

That's How You Write a Song "That's How You Write a Song" is a song written and performed by Belarusian-Norwegian singer Alexander Rybak. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. The song was released as a digital download on 15 January ...

"; he received the highest number of votes of the second semi-final, but ultimately placed fifteenth. He remains the only Norwegian entrant to have won a semi-final, as well as the only two-time semi-final winner in the history of the contest. In , Norway finished last in the final for the twelfth time. Norway has the dubious distinction of finishing last in the Eurovision final more than any other country, and along with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, has received "

" (zero points) in the contest on four occasions; in , , and . Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten eight times.

Wig Wam Wig Wam is a Norwegian glam metal band formed in Halden in 2001. Wig Wam's lineup—consisting of vocalist Glam (Åge Sten Nilsen), guitarist Teeny (Trond Holter), bassist Flash (Bernt Jansen) and drummer Sporty (Øystein Andersen)—has remain ...

finished ninth in ,

Maria Haukaas Storeng Maria Haukaas Mittet (née Storeng, born 3 August 1979) also known as simply Maria is a Norwegian recording artist. She gained national recognition in 2004 for her participation in the '' Idol'' reality television series, and international recog ...

was fifth in , Alexander Rybak won in 2009,

Margaret Berger Margaret Berger (born 11 October 1985) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, music director, and DJ. She made her debut on Sony BMG after she placed second on the second season of '' Norwegian Idol'' in 2004.Hoffman, K. Ross. Review"">"Chameleon ...

was fourth in , Carl Espen finished eighth in , Mørland and

Debrah Scarlett Joanna Deborah Bussinger (born 20 July 1993), known professionally as Debrah Scarlett and as of 2019 known under the moniker Red Moon, is a Norwegian-Swiss singer and songwriter. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along w ...

finished eighth in ,

Jowst Joakim With Steen (born 26 June 1989), better known as Jowst (stylised in all caps), is a Norwegian music producer and songwriter. He Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 alongside voca ...

finished tenth in , Keiino won the public vote and finished sixth overall in , Subwoolfer finished tenth in , and Alessandra finished fifth in . In total, Norway has 12 top-five and 27 top-ten finishes in the contest.

Participation overview

Hostings

Songs of Europe

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Winner by OGAE members

Related involvement

Conductors

Additionally, there was an orchestra present at the 1999 national final, conducted by Geir Langslet (the winning song, however, was presented without orchestral accompaniment) and at the 2015 national final, conducted by

Anders Eljas Anders Erik Gillis Eljas (born 15 January 1953 in Stockholm) is a Swedish musician, orchestrator and conductor. Biography He was educated at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he studied piano and violin, began his musical career at ...

Heads of delegation

Supervisors

List of supervisors of

, better known as MGP-general or GP-general in Norway:

Commentators and spokespersons

Photo gallery

File:Eurovision Song Contest 1976 rehearsals - Norway - Anne-Karine Strøm 6.png,

Anne-Karine Strøm Anne-Karine Strøm (born 15 October 1951) is a Norwegian singer, best known for having taken part in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection, Melodi Grand Prix, in six consecutive years between 1971 and 1976, winning on three occasions ( ...

performing "

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (, ; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari ( , ; , ), was a Dutch Stripper, exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for German Empire, Germany during World War ...

" in The Hague () File:Bobbysocks (11096943775).jpg,

performing "

" in Gothenburg () File:ESC 2007- Guri Schanke.jpg,

Guri Schanke Guri Annika Schanke (; born 14 December 1961) is a Norwegian actress and singer. She is known in Norway for her acting career, and was part of the 2005 round of the Norwegian version of ''Dancing with the Stars'', where she came in second. Caree ...

performing " Ven a bailar conmigo" in Helsinki () File:Maria Eurovision semi-final 2008.jpg,

performing "

Hold On Be Strong "Hold On Be Strong" is a song performed by Norwegian singer Maria Haukaas Storeng, written by Mira Craig. It was presented by in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serb ...

" in Belgrade () File:Flickr - aktivioslo - Didrik Solli-Tangen på scenen - Første prøve (5).jpg,

Didrik Solli-Tangen Didrik Solli-Tangen (born 11 June 1987) is a Norwegian singer who represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song " My Heart Is Yours". Biography Solli-Tangen was born in Porsgrunn. From his early years he was interested ...

performing "

My Heart Is Yours Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "My Heart Is Yours" written by Hanne Sørvaag and Fredrik Kempe, and performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, (NRK), selected its entry ...

" in Oslo () File:ESC2013 - Norway 01 (crop).jpg,

performing " I Feed You My Love" in Malmö () File:ESC2014 - Norway 01.jpg, Carl Espen performing " Silent Storm" in Copenhagen () File:20150520 ESC 2015 Mørland & Debrah Scarlett 3385.jpg, Mørland and

performing "

A Monster Like Me "A Monster Like Me" is a song written by performed by Norwegian singer Kjetil Mørland and Norwegian-Swiss singer Debrah Scarlett, written by the former. The song represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. It was released as a digit ...

" in Vienna () File:Agnete Saba, ESC2016 - Norway 13 (crop).jpg,

Agnete Agneta (also spelt Agnete, Agnetha, or Agnethe) is a Scandinavian variant of the feminine given name Agnes. It was derived from Latin and is the ablative case attached form of Agnes. Notable people Agneta * Agneta Andersson (born 1961), Swedish c ...

performing "

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

" in Stockholm () File:JOWST (Norway). Photo 355.jpg,

and

Aleksander Walmann Aleksander Walmann Åsgården (born 12 January 1986) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 alongside Jowst with the song "Grab the Moment", finishing in 10th place. Early life and caree ...

performing "

Grab the Moment "Grab the Moment" is a song by Norwegian music producer JOWST featuring uncredited vocals from Norwegian singer Aleksander Walmann. The song represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. It was released as a digital download on 15 F ...

" in Kyiv () File:ESC2018 - Norway 02.jpg,

performing "

" in Lisbon () File:Semi2Dress2019-039-20190516-EuroVisionary.jpg, Keiino performing "

Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in December 1969 from his album '' Spirit in the Sky''. The single became a gold record in the United S ...

" in Tel Aviv () File:ESC 2021 Rotterdam 1st Semi Jury Show Norway2.jpg, Tix performing "

Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

" in Rotterdam () File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 1 - Norway - Subwoolfer (02).jpg, Subwoolfer performing " Give That Wolf a Banana" in Turin () File:Eurovision 2023 - Jury Semi-final 1 - Norway - Alessandra (02).jpg, Alessandra performing "

" in Liverpool () File:Gåte Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Final dress rehearsal 03.jpg,

Gåte (; ) is a band from Trøndelag, Norway playing Norwegian folk music bred with metal and electronica. Their style has been referred to as progressive folk-rock. The band was put together by Sveinung Sundli (violin, keyboards) in 2000 and ori ...

performing "

Ulveham "" (; ) is a song by Norwegian folk rock and metal band Gåte. It was originally released 12 December 2023 on the EP ''Vandrar'' as a track. It was later shortened and re-published as a single upon its selection to participate in Melodi Grand P ...

" in Malmö () File:Kyle Alessandro at ESC2025 for Norway 22.jpg,

Kyle Alessandro Kyle Alessandro Helgesen Villalobos (born 10 March 2006) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "Lighter". Early life Alessandro was born on 10 March 2006 in Levanger and raised in ...

performing "Lighter" in Basel ()

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

NRK official site
{{Authority control Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest Melodi Grand Prix

History

Participation overview

Hostings

Songs of Europe

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Winner by OGAE members

Related involvement

Conductors

Heads of delegation

Supervisors

Commentators and spokespersons

Photo gallery

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links