Norway: NRK confirms Eurovision 2022 participation and opens Melodi Grand Prix submission window

Norway: NRK confirms Eurovision 2022 participation and opens Melodi Grand Prix submission window
Saturday, 29 May 2021

  • The Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, has confirmed that they will participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Italy and have already launched their MGP preparations. 

    NRK, is losing no time and a week after this year's contest,  has joined the list of nations that will be present at Eurovision 2022 in Italy and has kicked off the process for Melodi Grand Prix 2022, the format of which will determine the next Norwegian Eurovision act and entry. 

    Within this framework. NRK has released the rules and regulation of the forthcoming national selection and opened the submission window for interested acts and composers that ambition to represent the country in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Italy. 

    Applications can be sent here while the submission period deadline ends on August 15. The national selection is expected to unfold in February 2022 and will consist of semi final rounds and a grand final show. 

    The Norwegian Head of Delegation Stig Karlsen stated:

    The invitation is open to anyone who writes songs. This is a unique chance to try and grab a place in the world’s biggest music competition. We are open to all kinds of music within a broad understanding of the pop genre. It can be anything from sophisticated beautiful pop songs, to bone-hard rock, pink chewing gum pop, and everything in between.

     

    Norway in Eurovision 

    Norway has been taking part in the Eurovision Song contest since 1960 and has won the contest three times, in 1985, 1995 and 2009. However the country has marked some records , as it has finished in the last place most times than any other country, finishing in the last placing on the scoreboard 11 times. A total of four times it has received zero points, while in 2009 victory it received the remarkable number 16 sets of 12 points and was voted by every single country, reaching the impressive winning score of 387 points! Norway hasn’t qualified two times in the final the last decade, in 2011 with Stella Mwangi and in 2016 with Agnete

    In 2018 the country was represented for the second time by Alexander Rybak and his song That’s How You Write A Song, which finished in the 15th place of the grand final. Last year the three member group KEiiNo with their entry “Spirit in the Sky” defended the Norwegian colors in Tel Aviv achieving a remarkable 1st place in the televoting while they finished 6th on the overall scoreboard.

    Ulrikke won Melodi Grand Prix 2020 and was set to go on and represent Norway at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her entry “Attention” . Unfortunately the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic  and the female act never saw her Eurovision journey completed.

    This year TIX was crowned winner in the national final with his song 'Fallen Angel' which he performed on Rotterdam Ahoy's stage achieving to qualify to the grand final, where he finished 18th. 

     

    News Source: NRK/ESCToday

    Image: EBU/THOMAS HANSES