NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster has revealed the format and dates for the 2014 Norwegian Eurovision national selection Melodi Grand Prix. The grand final is scheduled to be held on March 15.
The 2014 Norwegian Eurovision national selection Melodi Grand Prix, will be revamped and have a brand new look next year. The Norwegian national selection will be arranged as a week long music festival, culminating in a grand final in which Norway’s contribution to the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will be decided.
The competition will be hosted by NRKs Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken. Erik is a well known Norwegian host and Eurovision fans will remember him as he co hosted the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.
A new MGP will premiere in 2014. In January, the audience will be introduced to the new show format and the artists on www.nrk.no/mgp. The semi-finals and final will be broadcasted live on NRK1 as part of a week long music festival scheduled to be held on March 7, 8, 9 and 15 in Oslo at the Oslo Spektrum.
Hence the 2014 Norwegian national selection will consist of 4 live shows: 3 semi-finals and the grand final. A total of 15 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Copenhagen.
In each of the semi-finals five of this year’s total of 15 artists will be introduced and perform their song. Three artists from each semi final will go on to the final. During the show the audience will follow the artists’ creative journey, from having their song picked to enter this year’s contest, until he or she enters the stage to perform in front of a live audience. During the live broadcast, the jury will also comment on the performance and voice its opinion on each contribution’s chance to reach the final.
This year’s hosts, Erik Solbakken and Jenny Skavlan, have long since started their preparations. They look forward to yet again host this long-established music contest. Producer Stian Malme is pleased:
It will be 55 years since Norway first entered the Eurovision Song Contest, and I believe that the Norwegian national selection is still a vital scene to showcase new, Norwegian music. Our goal is to give our viewing audience a great musical experience filled with new Norwegian pop music, sure to please many. We are proud to have Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken as hosts for the second year in a row.
High number of entries
Vivi Stenberg- Photograph Kim Erlandsen / NRK
The Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix jury has this year received over 600 contributions from hopeful songwriters, producers and artists. Musical director Vivi Stenberg has spent several months considering the contributions. The process of picking out the very best of the crop is time consuming, exciting and also a lot of fun:
– Before the deadline on September 15, I listened carefully to all the songs, says Vivi Stenberg.
–There have been rough recordings from someone’s living room, as well as highly professional studio recordings made by some of Norway’s best songwriters and producers. After having made a rough selection, I invited music professionals to listen in and give their opinion. At the end we were left with 15 great songs and artists who will compete in March. It’s been a demanding, but fun process and we see several potential hits we can’t wait to share with the rest of Norway, Stenberg added.
The jury
Jury members – Photograph: Hege Bakken Riise / NRK
Four music professionals have been part of this year’s selection process of the 15 entries:
Marie Komissar
Marie is a music producer for NRK P3 radio and has until recently acted as the radio station’s Head of music. Marie is also a known DJ, and for her DJ-project Cloudbusting she has teamed up with the 2013 Norwegian Eurovision representative , Margaret Berger.
Kathrine Synnes Finnskog
Kathrine has several years of experience from the music industry. She has managed ESC-artists such as Maria Haukaas Mittet, Alexander Rybak and Tooji. She is currently the CEO of Music Norway.
Gisle Stokland
Gisle is the owner and editor of the trend-setting web site 730.no. He also acts as manager and has an extensive network within the Norwegian music scene.
Tarjei Strøm
Tarjei is a drummer, currently for the rapper Lars Vaular. He has also played with the Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band, as well as Datarock, he is well known radio host in Norway.
In January the audience can learn more about the jury’s work on www.nrk.no/mgp.
Norway debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 and has won the competition thrice in 1985 with Bobbysocks, in 1995 with Secret Garden and in 2009 with Alexander Rybak. In 2013 Margaret Berger won the Norwegian national final with her entry I feed you my love, and represented Norway in Malmö achieving an honorable 4th place in the final.
Norway will compete in Semi-final 2 at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest on May 8 in Copenhangen, Denmark. Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest information on Norway and the Eurovision Song Contest.
