Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The Norwegian broadcaster NRK organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2017 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine.

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country Norway
National selection
Selection processMelodi Grand Prix 2017
Selection date(s)11 March 2017
Selected entrantJOWST
(with Aleksander Walmann)
Selected song"Grab the Moment"
Selected songwriter(s)Joakim With Steen
Jonas McDonnell
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (5th, 187 points)
Final result10th, 158 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Background
Main article: Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-five times since their first entry in 1960.[1] 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. 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 only failed to qualify on three occasions, their most recent failure occurring in Norway with the song "Icebreaker" performed by Agnete.[2]

The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. 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. On 9 June 2016, NRK revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2017 in order to select the 2017 Norwegian entry.[3]

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 2017

Melodi Grand Prix 2017 was the 55th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and it selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. In the aim of improving Norway's chances of victory, international juries were reintroduced into the Melodi Grand Prix format; international juries were previously used to select Norway's entries in Norway and Norway, which resulted in the selection of songs that went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest.[4]

Competing entries

A submission period was opened by NRK on 9 June 2016 and lasted until 11 September 2016.[3] Prior to the deadline, a record-breaking number of 1,035 entries were submitted to NRK.[5] Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while the performers of the selected songs were 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. In late 2016 and early 2017, ten songs from different genres were chosen to participate,[6] and the selected singers, entries and composers were revealed on 7 February.[7]

Final

Ten songs competed during the final on 11 March 2017, hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh and Line Elvsåshagen. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and ten international juries to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 580 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 1–8, 10 and 12 points. The public vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through SMS voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 580 points rounded to the nearest integer: 58 points.[8] In the Gold Final, the winner, "Grab the Moment" performed by JOWST, was selected solely by the public vote, receiving 46,064 votes.[9]

Melodi Grand Prix 2017 was seen by 1,155,000 viewers in Norway, roughly 158,000 less than the viewing figures for 2016.[10]

Final – 11 March 2017
Draw[11] Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s) Result
1 Ulrikke "Places" Ulrikke Brandstorp, Tony Alexander Skjevik Gold Final
2 Jenny Augusta "I Go Where You Go" Jenny Augusta Enge, Inga Þyri Þórðardóttir Eliminated
3 Rune Rudberg Band "Run Run Away" Peter Danielson, Åsa Larsson, Mats Larsson Eliminated
4 JOWST[lower-alpha 1] "Grab the Moment" Joakim With Steen, Jonas McDonnell Gold Final
5 Kristian Valen "You & I" Kristian Valen Eliminated
6 In Fusion "Nothing Ever Knocked Us Over" Gustav Eurén, Danne Attlerud, Niklas Arn, Ulrik Eurén, Cissi Kallin Eliminated
7 Amina Sewali "Mesterverk" (Masterpiece) Amina Sewali Eliminated
8 Ammunition "Wrecking Crew" Åge Sten Nilsen, Erik Mårtensson Gold Final
9 Elin & The Woods "First Step in Faith (Oadjebasvuhtii)" (First Step in Faith (Safety)) Robin Lynch, Elin Kåven Gold Final
10 Ella "Mama's Boy" Per Kristian Ottestad, Ida Maria Eliminated
Gold Final – 11 March 2017
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 JOWST[lower-alpha 1] "Grab the Moment" 46,064 (36.14%) 1
2 Ulrikke "Places" 12,662 (9.94%) 4
3 Elin & The Woods "First Step in Faith (Oadjebasvuhtii)" 28,591 (22.43%) 3
4 Ammunition "Wrecking Crew" 40,128 (31.49%) 2

At Eurovision
JOWST (right) together with Aleksander Walmann during a press meet and greet

The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017.[12] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. Norway was required to be ranked among the top ten entries from their respective semi final in order to compete in 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.[13] On 31 January 2017, 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, which was held on 11 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[14]

Once all the competing songs for the 2017 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. Originally, Norway was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Croatia and before the entry from Switzerland.[15] However, following Russia's withdrawal from the contest on 13 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Norway's performing position shifted to 12.[16]

Points awarded to Norway
Points awarded to Norway (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Norway (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Norway

Split voting results
Split voting results from Norway (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Big Daddy DivaDean J. Monsen-Tveit A. K. Strøm E. Bakke Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Serbia551585612
02 Austria8611667413
03 Macedonia715311118314
04 Malta10131516141516
05 Romania167517101238
06 Netherlands334473883
07 Hungary121014749256
08 Denmark1473321074
09 Ireland13161613161692
10 San Marino17171714171717
11 Croatia41191212101101
12 Norway
13  Switzerland986856515
14 Belarus69101591111
15 Bulgaria22211112112
16 Lithuania151212101313210
17 Estonia1414139151465
18 Israel1118224747
Split voting results from Norway (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Big Daddy DivaDean J. Monsen-Tveit A. K. Strøm E. Bakke Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Israel1449646512
02 Poland8162318161883
03 Belarus21221521142019
04 Austria17122116171917
05 Armenia13182013151721
06 Netherlands578997413
07 Moldova11852489256
08 Hungary2215127111174
09 Italy927224792
10 Denmark354533815
11 Portugal411111210112
12 Azerbaijan1021198121324
13 Croatia232424222424101
14 Australia69612138311
15 Greece12131610221620
16 Spain25202523252522
17 Norway
18 United Kingdom21113111910118
19 Cyprus16172220232214
20 Romania241014141015210
21 Germany20231725212325
22 Ukraine18251815202123
23 Belgium1514219181247
24 Sweden763355665
25 Bulgaria1314711238
26 France1919101761416

Notes
  1. "Grab the Moment" features unaccredited vocals from Norwegian singer Aleksander Walmann.

References
  1. "Norway Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. Roxburgh, Gordon (12 May 2016). "10 more finalists through to the Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  3. Hyttebakk, Jon Marius (9 June 2016). "Sitter du på neste års vinnerlåt?". nrk.no (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  4. Laufer, Gil (7 September 2016). "Norway: NRK introduces international juries to Melodi Grand Prix 2017". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  5. Granger, Anthony (9 November 2016). "Norway: 1035 songs received for Melodi Grand Prix 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  6. Strønen, Anja (14 December 2016). "Loreen vender tilbake til Melodifestivalen". nrk.com. Nrk. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. "Her er MGP-artistene 2017 - Melodi Grand Prix - Eurovision Song Contest". Nrk.no. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  8. "Slik kåres årets MGP-vinner - Melodi Grand Prix - Eurovision Song Contest". Nrk.no. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  9. "Her er resultatet fra MGP-gullfinalen - Melodi Grand Prix - Eurovision Song Contest". Nrk.no. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  10. "Mer enn 1,1 millioner så JOWST vinne MGP-finalen - NRK Kultur og underholdning - Nyheter og aktuelt stoff". Nrk.no. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. "Her er låtrekkefølgen i årets MGP - Melodi Grand Prix - Eurovision Song Contest". Nrk.no. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  12. Jordan, Paul (9 September 2016). "Kyiv to host Eurovision 2017!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  13. Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  14. Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  15. Jordan, Paul (31 March 2017). "Semi-Final running order for Eurovision 2017 revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  16. "EBU: "Russia no longer able to take part in Eurovision 2017"". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
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