NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster has unveiled further details regarding the forthcoming edition of Melodi Grand Prix and the introduction of some major changes to the competition.
Melodi Grand Prix 2023 will consist of four live televised shows with the Grand Final set to be held in Trondheim on Saturday 4 February. There will be fewer and bigger semi-finals, no pre-qualified artists, no duels and the Grand Final will feature an international jury.
The three semi-finals will be held in Oslo whilst the Grand Final will be travelling to Trondheim. A total of 21 acts will partake in the competition. The shows will be hosted by Arian Engebø and Stian ‘Staysman’ Thorbjørnsen. NRK will unveil the names of the competing acts on 4 January.
MGP 2023 Agenda
- 14/ 01/ 2023- Semi-final 1
- 21/01/2023- Semi-final 2
- 28/01/2023- Semi-final 3
- 04/02/2023- Grand Final
No prequalified acts
NRK has scrapped out having pre qualified acts at next year’s competition. All the 21 competing acts will have the equal chances to proceed to the Grand Final.
Stig Karlsen (MGP Producer) says:
There were several good reasons for the solution with pre-qualified acts, but MGP is in constant development. We are now going for a competition model that is easier to understand, and where all the artists compete with the same starting point. More is at stake for everyone from day one.
Three semi-finals – no duels – no last chance
The semi-finals have been whittled down from five to three and there will not be a second chance show either next year.
A total of 7 acts will partake in each of the semi-finals, there will be no duels. The top three acts from each semi-final will proceed to the Grand Final.
Grand Final in Trondheim
It will be the third time in the history of MGP that the competition will be travelling outside Oslo. The Grand Final of MGP will be held in Trondheim for the second time in the history of the competition.
Stig Karlsen says:
After two years of a pandemic, we can finally bring MGP back to a large arena. We have dreamed of a packed venue since we last had a full house, just weeks before the country shut down in March 2020. The commitment we saw from the audience of 8,500 is difficult to describe in words, but the TV images speak for themselves. We are looking forward to creating a Grand Final again from the middle of the country, to the whole of Norway.
International Jury back at the Grand Final
NRK has decided to introduce an internal jury to MGP in order to be in league with the Eurovision Song Contest and increase Norway’s chances of winning the competition. The last time MGP used an international jury was back in 2019. The 2023 Norwegian entry will be determined via a 50/50 international jury-public televoting deliberation.
Stig Karlsen says:
MGP is part of an international music competition, and we want to use a similar voting model to that used in the Eurovision Song Contest. This is to increase the chances of winning in ESC. A model with both a professional jury and audience votes also gives us a better basis for creating a more exciting MGP.
Official launch of competing acts and entries
NRK is set to officially present the names of the twenty one competing acts on 4th January. The competing entries will be premiered on the Mondays preceding to the shows (semi-finals): 9th, 16th and 23rd January. We will also find out which act will compete in which semi-final during the press confence.
Source: NRK
Photo credit: NRK
