Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country	Norway
National selection
Selection process	Melodi Grand Prix 2010
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 8 January 2010 16 January 2010 23 January 2010 Last Chance: 30 January 2010 Final: 6 February 2010
Selected entrant	Didrik Solli-Tangen
Selected song	"My Heart Is Yours"
Selected songwriter(s)	Hanne Sørvaag Fredrik Kempe
Finals performance
Final result	20th, 35 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "My Heart Is Yours" written by Hanne Sørvaag and Fredrik Kempe. The song was performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen. In addition to participating in the contest, the Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2009 with the song "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak. NRK organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2010 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo. 21 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 6 February 2010 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, "My Heart Is Yours" performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from four regional jury groups and a public televote.

As the host country, Norway qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 3 during the final, Norway placed twentieth out of the 25 participating countries with 35 points.

Background

Prior to the 2010 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since its first entry in 1960. 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.^[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 three 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", and Alexander Rybak won in 2009

The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NRK 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. On 6 July 2009, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2010 in order to select the 2010 Norwegian entry.^[2]

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 2010

Melodi Grand Prix 2010 was the 48th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. 21 songs were selected to compete in a five-week-long process that commenced on 8 January 2010 and concluded with the final on 6 February 2010. All shows were hosted by Per Sundnes and Marte Stokstad and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.^[3][4]

Format

The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 8, 16 and 23 January 2010, a Last Chance round (Sistesjansen) on 30 January 2010 and a final on 6 February 2010. Seven songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries directly qualified to the final, while the entries that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Last Chance round. Two wildcards were also awarded to the two acts that received the most votes out of the bottom three songs in the semi-finals to proceed to the Last Chance round. 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.^[5] Viewers could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting.^[6]

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK between 6 July 2009 and 1 September 2009. Songwriters were required to hold Norwegian citizenship or have permanent residency in Norway in order to be eligible to compete. Collaborations with foreign songwriters were permitted, however their percentage of contribution must not exceed 50%. Performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters, and the broadcaster reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete in addition to the public call for submissions.^[2] At the close of the deadline, a record-breaking 1,000 submissions were received.^[7][8] 21 songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel headed by Melodi Grand Prix project manager Per Sundnes, and their titles were revealed on 27 November 2009.^[9][10] The seven acts competing in each semi-final were revealed on 4, 11 and 17 December 2009, respectively, and among the artists was past Norwegian Eurovision entrant Maria Haukaas Storeng who represented the country in 2008.^[11][12][13]

Shows

Semi-finals

Seven songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 8, 16 and 23 January 2010. The first semi-final took place at the Hangar E of the Ørland Hovedflystasjon in Ørland, the second semi-final took place at the Bodø Spektrum in Bodø, and the third semi-final took place at the Skien Fritidspark in Skien. 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.^[14] The two acts with the most votes out of the bottom three songs in the semi-finals also proceeded to the Last Chance round as wildcards and were announced on 25 January 2010: "Rewind Love" performed by Johnny Hide and "Life Is Here Today" performed by Skanksters.^[15]

Last Chance round

The Last Chance round took place on 30 January 2010 at the Sparta Amfi in Sarpsborg.^[16] The six entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding three semi-finals as well as the two wildcards competed and the two entries that qualified to the final were selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the eight entries competed in four duels and the winners of each duel proceeded to the second round. In the second round, the remaining four entries competed in two duels and the winners of each duel qualified to the final.^[17][18]

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 6 February 2010. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected by public televoting to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. In the Gold Final, four regional juries from the three semi-final and Last Chance round host cities each distributed points as follows: 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 8,000 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 "My Heart Is Yours" performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen with 466,675 votes.^[19][20] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show was opened with Norwegian Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak performing his entry "Fairytale", while the interval act featured a Melodi Grand Prix medley performed by Ingrid Bjørnov.^[21][22]