Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Participating broadcaster	Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK)
Country	Norway
Selection process	Melodi Grand Prix 2015
Selection date	14 March 2015
Competing entry
Song	"A Monster Like Me"
Artist	Mørland andDebrah Scarlett
Songwriters	Kjetil Mørland
Placement
Semi-final result	Qualified (4th, 123 points)
Final result	8th, 102 points
Participation chronology
◄2014 • 2015 •2016►

Norway was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "A Monster Like Me" written byKjetil Mørland. The song was performed by Mørland andDebrah Scarlett. The Norwegian broadcasterNorsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national finalMelodi Grand Prix 2015 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2015 contest inVienna, Austria. Eleven entries competed in a show that took place on 14 March 2015 and the winner was determined over two rounds of public televoting. The top four entries in the first round of voting advanced to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of public televoting, "A Monster Like Me" performed by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett was selected as the winner with 88,869 votes.

Norway was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 21 May 2015. Performing during the show in position 6, "A Monster Like Me" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 23 May. It was later revealed that Norway placed fourth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 123 points. In the final, Norway performed in position 9 and placed eighth out of the 27 participating countries, scoring 102 points.

Prior to the 2015 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 53 times since its first entry in 1960.^[1] Norway had won the contest on three occasions: in1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed byBobbysocks!, in1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed bySecret Garden, and in2009 with the song "Fairytale" performed byAlexander Rybak. Norway also has 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 country has finished last eleven times and has failed to score a point during four contests. Following theintroduction of semi-finals in2004, Norway has finished in the top ten five times, including their2014 entry "Silent Storm" performed byCarl Espen.

The Norwegian national broadcaster,Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NRK confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 21 May 2014.^[2] The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national finalMelodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participation. On 5 June 2014, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization ofMelodi Grand Prix 2015 in order to select the 2015 Norwegian entry.^[3]

Melodi Grand Prix 2015 was the 53rd edition of the Norwegian national finalMelodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The show took place on 14 March 2015 at theOslo Spektrum inOslo, hosted bySilya Nymoen andKåre Magnus Bergh.^[4] For the first time since1998, NRK reinstated a live orchestra as part of the show; the 54 members of theNorwegian Radio Orchestra accompanied each performance in varying capacities.^[5] The show was televised onNRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official websitenrk.no and the official Eurovision Song Contest websiteeurovision.tv.^[6] The national final was watched by 1.25 million viewers in Norway with a market share of 69.8%, making it the most watched Melodi Grand Prix final since2011.^[7]

A submission period was opened by NRK between 5 June 2014 and 1 September 2014. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete.^[3] At the close of the deadline, over 800 submissions were received.^[8][9] Eleven songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel consisting of Vivi Stenberg (Melodi Grand Prix music producer), Marie Komissar (radio host and music producer),Tarjei Strøm (musician and radio host) and Kathrine Synnes Finnskog (manager and director of Music Norway).^[10] The competing acts and songs were revealed on 21 January 2015 during a press conference at NRK studios, presented by Kåre Magnus Bergh and broadcast viaNRK1 and online atmgp.no. Among the competing artists were former Eurovision Song Contest entrantsTor Endresen who represented the country in1997, andElisabeth Andreassen (Bettan) who represented Sweden in1982 and Norway in1985 (as part ofBobbysocks!),1994 (alongsideJan Werner Danielsen) and1996.^[11] 15-second clips of the competing entries were released during the press conference, while the songs in their entirety were premiered on 2 February.

Eleven songs competed during the final on 14 March 2015. Six of the songs were performed together with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. In the Gold Final, the results of the public televote were revealed by Norway's five regions and led to the victory of "A Monster Like Me" performed byMørland andDebrah Scarlett with 88,869 votes.^[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured2014 Norwegian Eurovision entrantCarl Espen performing his entry "Silent Storm" together with Josefin Winther.^[10]

Mørland and Debrah Scarlett made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "A Monster Like Me" as the Norwegian Eurovision entry. On 18 April, Mørland and Debrah Scarlett performed during theEurovision in Concert event which was held at theMelkweg venue inAmsterdam, Netherlands and hosted byCornald Maas andEdsilia Rombley.^[13] On 26 April, the duet performed during theLondon Eurovision Party, which was held at theCafé de Paris venue inLondon, United Kingdom and hosted byNicki French andPaddy O'Connell.^[14]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.^[15] TheEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[16] On 26 January 2015, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[17]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Norway was set to perform in position 6, following the entry fromMalta and before the entry fromPortugal.^[18]

In Norway, the two semi-finals and the final were broadcast onNRK1 with commentary byOlav Viksmo-Slettan.^[19] The Norwegian broadcaster also broadcast the three shows with sign language performers for the hearing impaired onNRK1 Tegnspråk.^[20] The final was also broadcast via radio onNRK P1 with commentary byPer Sundnes, while an alternative broadcast of the final was also televised onNRK3 with commentary by the hosts of theNRK P3 radio showP3morgen Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Reiten Nordnes and Markus Ekrem Neby.^[21][22] The Norwegian spokesperson, who announced the Norwegian votes during the final, wasMargrethe Røed.^[23]

Mørland and Debrah Scarlett took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury show on 20 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.^[24]

The Norwegian performance featured Mørland and Debrah Scarlett performing on stage in costumes designed by Elisabeth Stray Pedersen: Mørland appeared in a white and black suit and Scarlett appeared in a white crop top and skirt with an ornate silver hair clip. The stage colours transitioned from bronze and orange to white towards the end, and most of the performance was filmed using onesteadicam. The choreographer of the Norwegian performance, Mattias Carlsson, stated: "all the focus should be on the song and the artists, so we don't think we need any graphics".^[25][26] Mørland and Debrah Scarlett were also joined by four off-stage backing vocalists: Julie Lillehaug Kaasa, May Kristin Kaspersen, Håvard Gryting and Bjørnar Reime.^[27]

At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.^[28] It was later revealed that the Norway placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 123 points.^[29]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Norway was drawn to compete in the first half.^[30] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Norway was subsequently placed to perform in position 9, following the entry fromSerbia and before the entry fromSweden.^[31]

Mørland and Debrah Scarlett once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.^[32] The duet performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Norway placed eighth with 102 points.^[33][34]

TheMarcel Bezençon Awards, first awarded during the2002 contest, are awards honouring the best competing songs in the final each year. Named after the creator of the annual contest,Marcel Bezençon, the awards are divided into three categories: the Press Award, given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the event; the Artistic Award, presented to the best artist as voted on by the shows' commentators; and the Composer Award, given to the best and most original composition as voted by the participating composers. "A Monster Like Me" was awarded the Composer Award, which was accepted at the awards ceremony by the song's composer Kjetil Mørland.^[35]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.^[36]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Norway had placed seventeenth with the public televote and seventh with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Norway scored 43 points, while with the jury vote, Norway scored 163 points.^[37] In the second semi-final, Norway placed fifth with the public televote with 104 points and third with the jury vote, scoring 144 points.^[38]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Norway (Semi-final 2)[39] Score Country 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Iceland   Switzerland 8 points  Australia  Lithuania  Portugal  San Marino 7 points  Czech Republic  Germany  Latvia 6 points  Cyprus  Montenegro  Poland  Slovenia 5 points  Malta 4 points  Ireland 3 points 2 points  Italy  United Kingdom 1 point  Israel

Points awarded to Norway (Final)[40] Score Country 12 points 10 points  Iceland   Switzerland 8 points 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Portugal  Romania  San Marino 5 points  Italy  Lithuania 4 points  Australia  Austria  Estonia  Finland  Germany  Hungary  Ireland  Slovenia 3 points  Denmark  Netherlands  Poland 2 points  Latvia  Malta  Spain 1 point

Points awarded by Norway (Semi-final 2)[39] Score Country 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Lithuania 8 points  Israel 7 points  Latvia 6 points  Cyprus 5 points  Poland 4 points  Slovenia 3 points  Montenegro 2 points  Iceland 1 point   Switzerland

Points awarded by Norway (Final)[40] Score Country 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Australia 8 points  Latvia 7 points  Belgium 6 points  Lithuania 5 points  Italy 4 points  Israel 3 points  Estonia 2 points  Russia 1 point  Slovenia

The following members comprised the Norwegian jury:^[36]

• Alexander Stenerud (jury chairperson) – singer-songwriter
• Anita Wisløff – booking agent
• Marianne Jemtegård – editor
• Margaret Berger – singer, representedNorway in the 2013 contest
• Sverre Vedal – editor

Detailed voting results from Norway (Semi-final 2)^[41]

Draw	Country	A. Stenerud	A. Wisløff	M. Jemtegård	M. Berger	S. Vedal	Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Points
01	Lithuania	7	4	5	5	4	4	1	2	10
02	Ireland	1	11	12	4	9	8	14	11
03	San Marino	16	13	16	15	13	16	15	16
04	Montenegro	15	8	10	10	7	9	9	8	3
05	Malta	6	5	7	6	8	6	16	12
06	Norway
07	Portugal	5	16	9	12	10	11	13	14
08	Czech Republic	13	10	13	14	16	14	10	13
09	Israel	14	2	2	3	2	3	4	3	8
10	Latvia	2	3	3	2	6	2	5	4	7
11	Azerbaijan	12	9	15	11	11	13	12	15
12	Iceland	11	15	14	16	15	15	6	9	2
13	Sweden	4	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	12
14	Switzerland	9	12	8	8	14	10	11	10	1
15	Cyprus	10	6	4	7	3	5	7	5	6
16	Slovenia	3	7	6	13	5	7	8	7	4
17	Poland	8	14	11	9	12	12	3	6	5

Detailed voting results from Norway (Final)^[42]

Draw	Country	A. Stenerud	A. Wisløff	M. Jemtegård	M. Berger	S. Vedal	Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Points
01	Slovenia	2	8	7	16	8	7	13	10	1
02	France	26	11	12	13	21	16	24	20
03	Israel	10	5	4	5	3	4	10	7	4
04	Estonia	20	4	5	11	7	9	9	8	3
05	United Kingdom	25	25	23	25	22	25	19	24
06	Armenia	24	24	24	23	23	24	26	26
07	Lithuania	13	7	10	6	6	8	3	5	6
08	Serbia	14	13	14	21	17	15	12	12
09	Norway
10	Sweden	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	12
11	Cyprus	8	10	6	7	5	6	14	11
12	Australia	7	3	2	2	2	3	2	2	10
13	Belgium	4	6	11	4	9	5	5	4	7
14	Austria	5	15	9	15	12	12	21	16
15	Greece	16	22	21	20	16	20	25	25
16	Montenegro	22	16	20	12	18	17	17	17
17	Germany	12	14	18	14	13	14	22	18
18	Poland	21	23	17	22	19	22	7	13
19	Latvia	1	2	3	3	4	2	6	3	8
20	Romania	17	18	16	24	20	21	11	15
21	Spain	9	19	15	10	11	13	16	14
22	Hungary	23	21	26	18	26	23	18	22
23	Georgia	15	20	19	17	24	19	20	19
24	Azerbaijan	18	17	22	19	14	18	23	23
25	Russia	6	9	13	9	15	11	8	9	2
26	Albania	19	26	25	26	25	26	15	21
27	Italy	11	12	8	8	10	10	4	6	5

• Official NRK Eurovision site
• Full national final on nrk.no

• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
• Melodi Grand Prix by year
• 2015 in Norwegian music
• 2015 in Norwegian television

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