Country Norway Selection date(s) 11 March 2017 Date 11 March 2017 | Selection process Melodi Grand Prix 2017 Selected song "Grab the Moment" | |
Selected entrant JOWST feat. Aleksander Walmann Selected songwriter(s) Joakim With Steen
Jonas McDonnell Location Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway | ||
Norway will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) will organise the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2017 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine.
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Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-five times since their 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. 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 for the 2004 contest, Norway has only failed to qualify on three occasions, their most recent failure occurring in 2016 with the song "Icebreaker" performed by Agnete.
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.
Melodi Grand Prix 2017
Melodi Grand Prix 2017 will be the 55th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and will select Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. In the aim of improving Norway's chances of victory, international juries will be reintroduced into the Melodi Grand Prix format; international juries were previously used to select Norway's entries in 1985 and 1995, which resulted in the selection of songs that went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by NRK on 9 June 2016 and lasted until 11 September 2016. Prior to the deadline, a record-breaking number of 1,035 entries were submitted to NRK. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while the performers of the selected songs will be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK reserves the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete. In late 2016 and early 2017, ten songs from different genres was chosen to participate, and the selected singers, entries and composers was revealed on 7 February.
Final
Ten songs will compete during the final on 11 March 2017, hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh and Line Elvsåshagen. This year 10 international juries will give 1–8, 10 and 12 to their favorite songs making it a total of 580 points from the juries while the Norwegian public also gave the points 1-8 10 and 12 to there favorite songs. The four songs with the most points will proceed to the Gold Final. Melodi Grand Prix 2017 was seen by 1,155,000 viewers in Norway, roughly 158,000 less then the viewing figures for 2016.
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. 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) 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. Norway will be required to be ranked among the top ten entries from their respective semi final in order to compete in the final.