Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Prior to the 2013 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 51 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 eleven 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 confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest on 1 July 2012.^[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 2013 in order to select the 2013 Norwegian entry.^[3]

Melodi Grand Prix 2013 was the 51st edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. 21 songs were selected to compete in a four-week-long process that commenced on 19 January 2013 and concluded with the final on 9 February 2013. Vivi Stenberg was assigned as the new music producer for the competition, replacing Per Sundnes who held the position since 2007.^[4] All shows were hosted by Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.^[5][6] The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.^[7]

The competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals on 19 January 2013, 26 January 2013 and 2 February 2013 and a final on 9 February 2013. Seven songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries qualified to the final. The results of the semi-finals were determined exclusively by public televoting, while a jury also awarded one of the eliminated acts a wildcard to proceed to the final. The results in the final were determined by jury voting and public televoting. Viewers could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting.^[8]

A submission period was opened by NRK between 1 July 2012 and 1 September 2012. 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.^[2][3] At the close of the deadline, 600 submissions were received.^[9] 21 songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel consisting of Vivi Stenberg (Melodi Grand Prix music producer), Kristin Winsents (NRK music journalist and NRK P2 radio host), Gisle Stokland (editor and owner of the music website 730.no), Christine Dancke (DJ, NRK P3 radio host and Blå booking manager) as well as representatives of NRK and the production company EyeworksDinamo.^[10] The seven acts and songs competing in each semi-final were revealed on 16, 23 and 30 January 2013, respectively, during the special show MGP Direkte, presented by Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken and broadcast via NRK1 and online at nrk.no.^[11]

Seven songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 19 January, 26 January, and 2 February 2013. The first semi-final took place at the Campus Steinkjer in Steinkjer, the second semi-final took place at the Florø Idrettssenter in Florø, and the third semi-final took place at the Arena Larvik in Larvik.^[12] The top three advanced to the final from each semi-final, and "Sweet and Heavy" performed by Lucky Lips was announced on 4 February 2013 to have received the jury wildcard to also proceed to the final.^[13]

Ten songs that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo on 9 February 2013. 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, three regional juries from the three semi-final host cities each distributed points as follows: 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 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 "I Feed You My Love" performed by Margaret Berger with 102,032 votes.^[17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured 2012 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Tooji performing his entry "Stay", and Swedish Eurovision Song Contest 2012 winner Loreen performing her song "My Heart Is Refusing Me".^[18]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 17 January 2013, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2013, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[20]

Once all the competing songs for the 2013 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Norway was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Albania.^[21]

In Norway, the two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on NRK1 with commentary by Olav Viksmo-Slettan.^[22] An alternative broadcast of the final was also televised on NRK3 with commentary by the hosts of the NRK P3 radio show P3morgen Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Reiten Nordnes and Yngve Hustad Reite.^[23] The Norwegian spokesperson, who announced the Norwegian votes during the final, was Tooji who represented Norway in 2012.^[24]

 

Margaret Berger took part in technical rehearsals on 9 and 11 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 15 and 16 May. This included the jury show on 15 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Norwegian performance featured Margaret Berger performing on stage in a white dress with sequins flanked by a drummer on the left side of the stage and three backing vocalists on the right side. The stage colours were predominantly blue and white with the use of spotlights and strobe lighting, and the LED screens displayed highly charged white noise images.^[25][26] The drummer on stage with Margaret Berger was Axel Tidemann, while the three backing vocalists were: Jorunn Hauge, May Kristin Kaspersen and Nicoline Berg Kaasin.^[27][28]

At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Norway placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 120 points.^[29][30]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Norway was drawn to compete in the second half.^[31] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Norway was subsequently placed to perform in position 24, following the entry from Italy and before the entry from Georgia.^[32]

Margaret Berger once again took part in dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Margaret Berger performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 18 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Norway finished in fourth place with 191 points.^[33]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The following members comprised the Norwegian jury: Suzanne Sumbundu, Henning Solvang, Martine Maribel Furulund, Simone Eriksrud and Harald Sommerstad.^[34]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Norway had placed sixth with the public televote and fourth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Norway received an average rank of 7.14, while with the jury vote, Norway received an average rank of 8.23. In the second semi-final, Norway placed fourth with the public televote with an average rank of 5.50 and fourth with the jury vote with an average rank of 5.80.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Malta in the semi-final and to Sweden in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Norway (Semi-final 2)[35] Score Country 12 points   Iceland   Latvia   Spain 10 points   Finland 8 points   Georgia   Romania    Switzerland 7 points   Bulgaria   Hungary   Macedonia 6 points 5 points   Armenia   Azerbaijan   Israel   San Marino 4 points   Greece 3 points   Malta 2 points   Germany 1 point

Points awarded to Norway (Final)[36] Score Country 12 points   Denmark   Finland   Sweden 10 points   Iceland 8 points   Italy   Latvia   Macedonia   Romania 7 points   Belgium   Germany   Russia   San Marino   Serbia    Switzerland 6 points   Israel   Lithuania   Netherlands 5 points   Slovenia   Spain 4 points   Cyprus   Georgia   Greece   Montenegro 3 points   Armenia   Belarus   Croatia   Estonia   Malta   Ukraine 2 points   Albania   Azerbaijan   Hungary   Moldova 1 point   Bulgaria

Points awarded by Norway (Semi-final 2)[35] Score Country 12 points   Malta 10 points   Iceland 8 points   Finland 7 points   Greece 6 points   Romania 5 points   Azerbaijan 4 points   Armenia 3 points    Switzerland 2 points   Hungary 1 point   Bulgaria

Points awarded by Norway (Final)[36] Score Country 12 points   Sweden 10 points   Malta 8 points   Netherlands 7 points   Denmark 6 points   Romania 5 points   Greece 4 points   Iceland 3 points   Belgium 2 points   Hungary 1 point   Ukraine

• Full national final on nrk.no