NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster, has confirmed that Norway will participate at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest following the cancellation of the competition this year. The broadcaster has also confirmed that Norway will stick to its traditional national selection MGP for 2021.

Thus Norway follows Sweden, Finland and Estonia in the list of countries who will select a new song and singer via their traditional national selections for Eurovision 2021. NRK will not invite Ulrikke to represent Norway at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, but extended an invite to the artist to partake at the Norwegian national final as a finalist.

Ulrikke does not wish to compete at MGP 2021 and will perfom her 2020 Eurovision entry ‘Attention‘ and a brand new song at the Norwegian national final next year.

Ms. Christina Rezk Resar (Head of Entertainment/NRK) says:

We are confident that it is the right decision to stick with the Norwegian MGP model, both for the audience and to maintain the sixty-year long tradition.

Ms. Rezk Resar believes that MGP next year will be more important than ever, due to trying times for the Norwegian music industry. She hopes many artists and songwriters will submit their contributions for the competition.

Resar adds:

MGP has always been important to showcase Norwegian music. And based on the situation the music industry is in right now during the pandemic, it is more important than ever to fulfill this role and showcase the diverse field of Norwegian artists and new music.

Ulrikke offered a place at MGP 2021

This week, Ulrikke Brandstorp met with the management at the Entertainment Department, who outlined NRK’s ​​plans for MGP next year.

Resar goes on to comment:

The cancellation of this year’s competition is obviously sad for Ulrikke, who has worked very hard leading up to this year’s MGP and Eurovision. But everyone agrees that the situation the world is in does not allow for major music competitions or events. We offered Ulrikke to be a finalist in next year’s MGP, but I understand that this can’t replace the honour of performing on the Eurovision stage this year. Ulrikke is an amazing artist who I am sure we will hear more from in the years to come.

Ulrikke was crowned the winner of MGP 2020 and was set to represent Norway at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with her entry ‘Attention’.

Norway in Eurovision

Norway debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 and has won the competition thrice: 1985 (Bobbysocks), 1995 (Secret Garden) and 2009 (Alexander Rybak).

The Nordic country has successfully hosted the competition thrice, once in Bergen and twice in Oslo and has partaken in Europe’s favorite television show 58 times.

Source: NRK