They were only the second country to confirm their participation at next year’s Eurovision, more than two months before Tel Aviv’s edition. Now they have every reason to celebrate and look forward to Eurovision 2020, following their 6th place at this year’s event. Preparations for Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2020 have already begun and to the artists’ great pleasure, the submission window will still be open by 31 July!
Two and a half months more…
It was just early March when Norway decided to announce their intentions to send a representative at Eurovision 2020, while they also officially confirmed the expansion of their annual selection event Melodi Grand Prix, from one to six shows! Now their country’s delegation is even more excited after the outstanding performance of the group KEiiNO and their song Spirit in the sky, which brought them to the top of the public vote in the final, and to a 6th placing overall.
While the initial deadline for song submissions for Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) 2020 was 17 May, the national broadcaster NRK has now opted for an extension until the middle of summer, as all wishing-to-participate composers and artists will be able to apply their music by 31 July. NRK has released an online contest sign-up platform, which can be seen and completed here.
Renewed format for MGP
As already stated by NRK, MGP 2020, which will be celebrating its 60 years in 2020, will be consisting of 6 shows in total, five semi-finals and the Grand Final, which will crown the nation’s entry to the Eurovision 2020, which will be staged in the Netherlands. All six shows will be aired live from Oslo and will include performers from the five regions of the Scandinavian country, these being: Northern Norway, Central Norway, Western Norway, Eastern Norway, and Southern Norway. You may discover more about the format and the rules of the refreshed Norwegian national selection process here.
Norway at Eurovision 2019
Norway took part at the Eurovision Song Contest for the 58th time this year. In keeping with their tradition, the country chose their entry for the contest through their annual music competition, Melodi Grand Prix. The group KEiiNO with their electropop song Spirit in the sky prevailed both with the international jury and the final public vote and received the coveted ticket to Tel Aviv.
The trio flew to Israel and defended the Norwegian colors with remarkable success, as they managed to qualify from the second semi-final and win the public vote in the final of 18 May. However, their relatively low scoring with the national juries made them end up in the 6th place of the scoreboard, with 331 points overall. This marked the 4th Top 10 placing for Norway in the current decade.
