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About Norway...
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2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A
Points in Final: 3
Position in Final: 24th
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2003)
Norway's previous appearances: 42 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1960-1969; 1971-2001; 2003-
Best result: 1st (1985, 1995)
Norway is renowned for scoring 'nul points' - under the present voting system, introduced in 1975, it has achieved the feat three times (most recently in 1997), and finished last on a further two occasions (including 2001). However, victories in 1985 with the dreadful 'La det swinge' and in 1995 with Secret Garden's beautiful 'Nocturne' have helped redress the balance. Certainly, Norway's two winners could hardly be more different - remarkable then that both were written by Rolf Lovland, composer of 'You raise me up' - originally recorded by Secret Garden themselves (with vocals by Brian Kennedy), but more famously covered by Josh Groban in 2003.
While neighbours Sweden seem to have prospered under televoting, with a run of top ten finishes stretching back to 1998, Norway has struggled. After a respectable 8th place in 1998, the awful 'Living my life without you' finished an undeservedly high 14th in 1999. 2000 brought a catchy song in 'My heart goes boom', but a relatively disappointing 11th place. In 2001, Haldor performed 'On my own', what I thought was a rather attractive and powerful ballad. However, televoters were evidently distracted by Haldor's grimacing, and it scored just 3 points from Portugal for its efforts. Following this poor result, some were wary when Norway came back in 2003 with another male-sung ballad. However, Jostein was cuter and more endearing than Haldor, and 'I'm not afraid to move on' finished a very respectable 4th. As a result, Norway found itself directly qualified for the Final in 2004.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 3
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Norway's hope this year are with Knut Anders Sørum, and his Ronan Keating-esque ballad 'High'. It's a very attractive song, with a strong chorus and a powerful finish, though the studio version sounds a little overproduced - hopefully Knut can give it a bit more soul and emotion in his live performance on the night. So, will this be a third win for Norway or yet another 'nul points'?"
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 13th to 14th
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"Norway are third in the running order for the Final, but may benefit from being the first song to be performed in English. It can also count itself lucky to be sandwiched between Austria and France, possibly two of the weakest songs directly qualified for the Final. When I heard 'High' the first time I thought it was a contender for victory, but since then, many stronger songs have emerged, including Iceland, Germany, Romania and Sweden. Looking at this competition, I think Norway could find itself finishing around 12th place, the challenge being to do enough to gain a place in the Final next year; if Knut can deliver a powerful live performance, that should be possible."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
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What actually happened
Well, I thought Knut gave a decent performance, and deserved at least a little more than the solitary three points from Sweden that he ended up with. Whenever a song finishes last, some analysis is warranted, though its hard to pinpoint exactly why 'High' performed so disastrously. Sure, Knut had a horrible outfit, and yes, the backing singers were a little intrusive at times. In truth, maybe the problem was the feeling of overproduction that I noted in my original prediction - while Knut performed the song powerfully, perhaps there was a sense that it lacked soul and believability? Whatever the reason, it scuppered my prediction - wrong again!
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What the bookies thought...
 | Norway to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 80-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 66-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 25-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 25-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 20-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 20-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 20-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 20-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 25-1 |
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Despite pessimistic odds of 80-1, Norway didn't really deserve to finish last.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.knutanders.com/
 http://www.nrk.no/mgp/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (17)
From Maja, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Added 09:10:33 2007-05-10
People, I realy dont know what's going on...??? Norway were the best!!! And song was the best!!! And Knut was realy good!!!
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 16:43:25 2004-5-16
He realy lacks charisma in that dull outfit. But this years last position??? Come on EUROPE, wake up!!!
From Martin de Roo, NETHERLANDS
Added 11:49:6 2004-5-16
Only 3 points from Sweden and in last place... they really didn't deserve it!
From Fille, SWEDEN
Added 11:46:30 2004-5-16
I feel so sorry for Norway! Thaks for your points to Lena Ph..! /your dear neighbour
From dd, POLAND
Added 17:37:7 2004-5-15
dunno why but....i dont like it
From cenk, TURKEY
Added 14:40:19 2004-5-12
good luck norway. i love you. i hope Anders win...
From Marie, SWEDEN
Added 13:54:15 2004-5-12
HEJA NORGE!!!!
From v.anton, NORWAY
Added 0:27:16 2004-5-12
You may listen to the band EXPECT with Knut singing and music composed partly by Knut:
http://www.eam.no/sound.htm
Even more powerful singing than he perfoms on High.
From Manu, BELGIUM
Added 18:16:15 2004-5-3
This song is so dull. It's not even bad, it's just boring ... Some bad songs may sometimes be very funny (Slovenia is soooooooo bad that it's funny!!!). At least there's something to write about them but in this case, the only thing I can say about the Norwegian entry is that it'll forgotten before it's finished. A few points from Scandinavian or Baltic neighbours won't help very much I'm afraid.
From Liam, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 18:42:14 2004-4-30
This is the best song in it along with the United Kingdom entry. It is quite a powerful song and I'm just surprised that it isn't doing better in any of the polls. It's got to do better in the contest than just 12th.PLEASE vote for it !!!
From Hanna, NORWAY
Added 20:53:37 2004-4-28
I hate this song! And the guy singing it is the least charistmatic one in the whole contest. Here's his answer from fans about turkish culture, and what kurds in Turkey think of the eurovision: "Uhh...I don't know much about Turkey. Difficult question". I hope my country will learn that this doesn't work, and that we'll chose someone worthy of the victory next year. But I have no expectations that norwegians will learn yet. Nocturne was actually one of the most beautiful songs ever, this one is worse than any of the "zero points to norway-songs" that we've sent before. They guy is completely arrogant and uses every chance he gets in the media to point himself out as the winner of the ESC 2004. Very charming, Knut!! And he constantly makes fun of ALL the other entries, except sweden ,but that's probably because he fancies her and sees chances there. He can just stop critisizing everyone else, cos they're ALL better than him! (Even Switzerland.. ALMOST!! HAHA) 0 POINTS FOR NORWAY THIS YEAR!!
From kevin vittles, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 24/04/2004 13:00
this song really grabs you from the begining and has a good powerful finish. it will score well from most countries and be a strong contender for the title
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 23/04/2004 15:07
ups, only few entrys here?
thats typically. all that teeny-weenie-casting-bullshit-songs were betting high, but the real "High" is evrywhere. Ok, the song is just nice. but this guy is pure SEX! Full of Energy and Stamina. 12 points for the Man, 8 Points for his Song.
From Klara, SWEDEN
Added 18/04/2004 18:31
Bra låt!Hoppas det går bra för Norge i år med, ni slog ju oss förra året!Lycka till //Klara från Sverige.
From dafi, ISRAEL
Added 08/04/2004 19:44
my second runner up after belgium. though it sounds simmilar to ireland's last year,but as i saw on the video,the singer is trained in standing infront of audience and can make an impressive show.
From Jensen, DENMARK
Added 07/04/2004 14:04
Top-song. Knut gave a top-performance in the norwegian final and i'm pretty sure he will do taht in Istanbul too. And then....he's so sexy in a pretty un-sexy way:-)
From Sérgio Rego, PORTUGAL
Added 06/04/2004 17:15
This is a great entry, very sophisticated. Good luck, Norge!
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Norway
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