Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country	Norway
National selection
Selection process	Melodi Grand Prix 2008
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 12 January 2008 19 January 2008 26 January 2008 Last Chance: 6 February 2008 Final: 9 February 2008
Selected entrant	Maria Haukaas Storeng
Selected song	"Hold On Be Strong"
Selected songwriter(s)	Mira Craig
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (4th, 106 points)
Final result	5th, 182 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Hold On Be Strong" written by Mira Craig. The song was performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2008 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. 18 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals, a Last Chance round and a final. Eight entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 9 February 2008 where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, "Hold On Be Strong" performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three regional jury groups and a public televote.

Norway was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 20 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 9, "Hold On Be Strong" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 24 May. It was later revealed that Norway placed fourth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 106 points. In the final, Norway performed last during the event in position 25, and placed fifth out of the 25 participating countries with 182 points.

Background

Prior to the 2008 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 46 times since its first entry in 1960. Norway had won the contest on two occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks! and in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden.^[1] Norway also had 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 latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last 10 times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has, to this point, finished in the top 10 once: in 2005 when Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams".

The nation's national broadcaster, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NRK confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 9 July 2007.^[2] The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participation. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2008 in order to select the 2008 Norwegian entry.^[2]

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 2008

Melodi Grand Prix 2008 was the 46th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. 18 songs were selected to compete in a five-week-long process that commenced on 12 January 2008 and concluded with the final on 9 February 2008. All shows were hosted by Per Sundnes and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.^[3][4][5]

Format

The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 12, 19 and 26 January 2008, a Last Chance round (Sistesjansen) on 6 February 2008 and a final on 9 February 2008. Six songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries directly qualified to the final. The entries that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Last Chance round, and the bottom two were eliminated from the competition. An additional two entries qualified to the final from the Last Chance round. The results of the semi-finals and Last Chance round were determined exclusively by public televoting, while the results in the final were determined by jury voting and public televoting.^[6][7] Viewers could vote through telephone and SMS, and for the semi-finals, the public was able to cast their votes in advance on the day before each show was broadcast.^[8]

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK between 9 July 2007 and 1 September 2007. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete.^[9] At the close of the deadline, 600 submissions were received.^[10][11] 18 songs were selected for the competition and their titles were revealed on 13 December 2007.^[12] The six acts competing in each of the three semi-finals were revealed on 18 December 2007, 28 December 2007 and 4 January 2008, respectively.^[13][14][15]

Shows

Semi-finals

Six songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 12, 18 and 26 January 2008. The first semi-final took place at the Sandvigå in Stavanger, the second semi-final took place at the Kongsvingerhallen in Kongsvinger, and the third semi-final took place at the Bodø Spektrum in Bodø. In each semi-final the top two directly qualified to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs proceeded to the Last Chance round. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, a past Norwegian Eurovision entrant was featured in each semi-final as the interval act: Kirstie Sparboe performed her 1969 entry "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli" in the first semi-final, Anne-Karine Strøm performed her 1976 entry "Mata Hari" in the second semi-final, and Ketil Stokkan performed his 1986 entry "Romeo" in the third semi-final.^[16][17][18]

Last Chance round

The Last Chance round took place on 6 February 2008 at the Oslo Stratos in Oslo. The six entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding three semi-finals competed and the top two entries qualified to the final.^[19] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2007 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Guri Schanke appeared as a special guest.^[20]

Final

Eight songs that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals and the Last Chance round competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo on 9 February 2008. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, public televoting selected the top four entries to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. In the Gold Final, three regional juries from the three semi-final host cities each distributed points as follows: 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 10,000 points. The results of the public televote were then revealed by Norway's five regions and added to the jury scores, leading to the victory of "Hold On Be Strong" performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng with 195,661 votes.^[21][22] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured 1978, 1982 and 1983 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Jahn Teigen performing several of his past Melodi Grand Prix entries: "Optimist", "Mil etter mil", "Do Re Mi" and "Glasnost", and a Melodi Grand Prix medley performed by 2007 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Guri Schanke.^[23][24]

Ratings