Norway: NRK sheds light on the Melodi Grand Prix 2021 format
-
NRK's Executive producer and director of Melodi Grand Prix, Stig Karlsen, has unveiled the format of the next edition of the Melodi Grand Prix , the show that will determine Norway's Eurovision 2021 act and entry.
Talking to ESCNorge, Stig Karlsen, shed light on the format according to which Melodi Grand Prix will unfold in 2021. Specifically, the Norwegian national selection will see a total of 26 competing acts instaed of last year's 24 contestants, as the grand final will feature 2 more acts reaching the total number of 12.
The Norwegian broadcaster, NRK, has decided to hold a final with 12 acts, rising the number of the pre-qualified acts to 6 instead of five. The six pre-qualified acts will join the 5 semi final qualifiers and one extra that will be determined by a second chance round.
The semi finals will not feature regional groups but the acts will come from around Norway while in each semi final we will see two duels and one final duel that will determine the winner of each heat. The six qualifier will be selected through an extra second chance round to follow on the Sunday after the 5th semi final show.
The Revelation of acts and entries
On January 11 just befoe the 1st semi final, during a special press conference the first comepting semi-finalists will go public along with the six pre-qualified acts. The rest of the semi-finalist will be unveiled each Monday ahead of each semi final round.
During the semi finals the six prequalified act will have the chance to present their entries starting with the first two the night of the 1st semi final and the rest four to follow in the next four heats.
MGP 2021 dates
The Norwegian national selection will commence on January 16 with the first semi final show and will continue to unfold over six weeks, concluding on February 20 with the Grand final.
This is how Meldi Grand Prix will unfold:
Semi-final 1 - January 16
Semi-final 2 - January 23
Semi-final 3 - January 30
Semi-final 4 - February 6
Semi-final 5 - February 13
Second Chance Round - February 14
Grand final - February 20
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 this year’s 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
Source: ESCNorge/Eurovoix