Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Country Norway
National selection
Selection processMelodi Grand Prix 1998
Selection date(s)28 February 1998
Selected entrantLars A. Fredriksen
Selected song"Alltid sommer"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • David Eriksen
  • Linda Andernach Johansen
Finals performance
Final result8th, 79 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1997 • 1998 • 1999►

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Alltid sommer" written by David Eriksen and Linda Andernach Johansen. The song was performed by Lars A. Fredriksen. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 1998 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Eight entries competed in a show that took place on 27 February 1999 and the winner, "All I Ever Wanted (Was You)" performed by Lars A. Fredriksen, was determined by the votes from a six-member jury panel and a regional televote. The song was later translated from English to Norwegian for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Alltid sommer".

Norway competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performing during the show in position 22, Norway placed eighth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 79 points.

Background

Prior to the 1998 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its first entry in 1960.[1] 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. 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 seven times and had failed to score a point during four contests.

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. The broadcaster organized of Melodi Grand Prix 1998 in order to select the 1998 Norwegian entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1998

Melodi Grand Prix 1998 was the 37th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. The show took place on 28 February 1998 at Studio 2 of NRK in Oslo, hosted by Øystein Bache and Rune Gokstad and was televised on NRK1. A live orchestra conducted by Geir Langslet accompanied each performance in varying capacities.[2] The national final was watched by 1.271 million viewers in Norway.

Competing entries

Composers were directly invited by NRK to compete in the national final. For the first time, entries were able to be performed in the English language.[3] Eight songs were selected for the competition and among the competing artists was former Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest entrant Elisabeth Andreassen who represented Sweden in 1982 and Norway in 1985 (as part of Bobbysocks!), 1994 (alongside Jan Werner Danielsen) and 1996.[4]

Final

Eight songs competed during the final on 28 February 1998. The winner was selected by a combination of votes from regional televoting (5/7) and an expert jury (2/7). The results of the public televote were divided into Norway's five regions and each region distributed points as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 points. The jury then distributed points that had a weighting equal to the votes of two televoting regions, leading to the victory of "All I Ever Wanted (Was You)" performed by Lars A. Fredriksen.[5] The jury panel consisted of Ellen Foss-Sørensen (NRK P2 radio host), Tor Milde (music journalist), Finn Bjelke (NRK P3 radio producer), Olve Brekke (product manager), Stein Dag Jensen (NRK P1 radio host) and Silje Stang (P4 Radio music director and TVNorge presenter).[6] More than 63,000 votes were registered by the televote during the show, however Telenor later revealed that an additional 440,000 votes were unable to be registered due to technical issues.[7][8] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured the Great Garlic Girls performing several past British Eurovision entries.[9]

Final – 28 February 1998
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 Lars A. Fredriksen "All I Ever Wanted (Was You)" David Eriksen, Per Kristian Ottestad 6 50 56 1
2 Christin Hoff and Erik Jacobsen "Bare du og jeg" Ulf Risnes 14 0 14 6
3 Gjermund Elgenes "Som en engel" Ingrid Bjørnov 4 1 5 7
4 G'stén "Always Will" Kyrre Fritzner, Åge Sten Nilsen 20 11 31 3
5 Elisabeth Andreassen "Winds of the Northern Seas" Torhild Nigar, Rolf Graf 10 35 45 2
6 Bjelleklang "På do" Finn Evensen 0 23 23 4
7 Tore Holm "Nam nam" Geir Olav Bøkestad, Per Kristian Indrehus 0 4 4 8
8 Malin Holberg "En ny mårrån" Stein Berge Svendsen, Nora Skaug, Malin Holberg 2 16 18 5
Detailed Regional Televoting Results
Draw SongTrondheimTromsøBergenKristiansandOsloTotal
1 "All I Ever Wanted (Was You)"101010101050
2 "Bare du og jeg"0
3 "Som en engel"11
4 "Always Will"2222311
5 "Winds of the Northern Seas"7777735
6 "På do"3555523
7 "Nam nam"11114
8 "En ny mårrån"5333216

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Norway was set to perform in position 22, following the entry from Finland and before the entry from Estonia.[10][11] The day before the contest, Norway was considered by bookmakers to be the twelfth most likely country to win the competition.[12] At the contest, Lars A. Fredriksen performed the Norwegian version of "All I Ever Wanted (Was You)", titled "Alltid sommer". The Norwegian conductor at the contest was Geir Langslet, and Norway finished in eighth place with 79 points.[13]

In Norway, the show was broadcast on NRK1 with commentary by Jostein Pedersen as well as broadcast via radio on NRK P1 with commentary by Stein Dag Jensen.[14][15] The Norwegian spokesperson, who announced the Norwegian votes during the show, was Ragnhild Sælthun Fjørtoft.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Malta in the contest.[16]

Norway's backup jury results[18]
Score Country
12 points  France
10 points  Netherlands
8 points  Sweden
7 points  Germany
6 points  United Kingdom
5 points  Finland
4 points  Portugal
3 points  Ireland
2 points  Croatia
1 point  Cyprus

References

  1. ↑ "Norway Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 Jacobsen, Hasse Christian. "MGP 1998 -" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Norway 1998". mylittleworld.nfshost.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "NORWEGIAN NATIONAL FINAL 1998". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  5. ↑ ESC National Finals database 1998
  6. ↑ Melodi Grand Prix 1998 - norsk finale (in Norwegian Bokmål), retrieved 25 April 2023
  7. ↑ Grønneberg, Anders (5 March 1998). "Den riktige vinneren vant". dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "Tror på suksess i Birmingham". Norsk Telegrambyrå (in Norwegian). 1 March 1998.
  9. ↑ "Norway 1998 - review". mylittleworld.nfshost.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Birmingham to stage Eurovision". The Irish Times. 9 August 1997. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Jones, David (13 November 1997). Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina and compere Terry Wogan[...]. Birmingham, United Kingdom: Alamy. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "Radio og TV". Moss Dagblad. 9 May 1998. pp. 33–35. Retrieved 22 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  15. ↑ "Norgeskanalen NRK P1 – Kjøreplan lørdag 9. mai 1998" (in Norwegian). NRK. 9 May 1998. p. 14. Retrieved 20 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  16. ↑ ESC History - Norway 1998
  17. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Backup jury score 1998".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.