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About Norway...
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2005 Result
Points in Semi Final: 164
Position in Semi Final: 6th
Points in Final: 125
Position in Final: 9th
2006 Contest: Directly qualified to Final
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History (1956 to 2004)
Norway's previous appearances: 43 year(s) out of 49
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 three occasions (including 2001 and 2004). 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, the Norwegians found themselves directly qualified for the Final in 2004, and were probably confident about sending yet another male with a ballad - unfortunately, however, as far as the televoters were concerned, Knut Anders Sørum had more in common with Haldor than Jostein. Finishing last with just 3 points, the title of Norway's song assumed an amusing irony, Knut's position being anything but 'High'. As a result, the Norwegians find themselves competing in the Semi Final in 2005.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: 13
Position in Final draw: 5
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"The Scandinavians really seem to be trying to confuse us this year - the Finns are sending a Swede, the Swedes have Elvis, and the Norwegians have borrowed Bon Jovi. Performed by the band Wig Wam, 'In my dreams' is a headbanging rock anthem that would not sound out of place in the 1980s - certainly, Eurovision has never heard anything like it, even if it is 20 years too late. For what it's worth, the song is very enjoyable, but I'm uneasy about how to respond to it. Taken by itself, it's a pretty good song, if an unashamedly retro one. However, with the band dressing up in ridiculous Darkness-style costumes (though with Wig Wam being around first, maybe it's The Darkness who are Wig Wam-esque), I wonder whether we're not supposed to take the song seriously at all, but instead appreciate it as a parody of those big-haired, spandex-clad days of yore. If that's the case, I still like the song, but I don't get the joke..."
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: 2nd to 4th
My prediction for Final: Definite qualifier; 4th to 6th
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"It's a memorable song, and Wig Wam will give a rousing performance - it's difficult to know how people across Europe will react, but it seems more than likely that Norway will do well enough to secure itself a place in the Final. The bookies have Norway as the second favourite behind Greece, with odds of 4-1; the fans meanwhile seem less than enthralled, ranking it 25th out of 39 in the Soult.com Eurovision. As with Turkey's entry in 2004, I find it hard to believe that Wig Wam will muster enough support across the board to win the whole Contest; but they must be in with a chance of a strong Top 5 placing."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 39 ()
(Updated 22 May 2005; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, 27,998 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll (up from 5,000 in 2004!)
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What actually happened...
Bringing a refreshingly retro feel to Eurovision, it was hard not to enjoy Wig Wam's Semi Final performance. With a great stage presence and strong vocals, it was therefore no surprise that Norway qualified for the Final after finishing a very respectable 6th place with 164 points. In the Final, another great performance allowed Wig Wam to hold their own against the increased competition, this time securing 125 points and 9th place - enough to secure direct entry for Norway in the 2006 Final.
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What the bookies thought...
 | Norway to win: | 21/05/05 (prior to Final) | 4-1 |
| | 19/05/05 (after Semi Final) | 4-1 |
| | 19/05/05 (prior to Semi Final) | 4-1 |
| | 16/05/05 | 4-1 |
| | 15/05/05 | 11-2 |
| | 08/05/05 | 5-1 |
| | 02/05/05 | 5-1 |
| | 24/04/05 | 9-2 |
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With odds of 4-1, Wig Wam's chances of success were perhaps a little overrated, even if their eventual 9th place in the Final was still a very good result.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.wigwam.no/
 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 (79)
From Glamaniac, Lithuania
Added 15:44:50 2007-02-02
Hello!
in Lithuania we have Wig Wam fan club
www.piczo.com/wigwamlt
Dorota Wig Wam FC president in lithuania
my e-mail wwdoti@yahoo.com
From Matthew, Malta
Added 13:06:48 2006-12-02
for me the best song was IN MY DREAMS.
From Doti_glamaniac, Lithuania
Added 22:21:39 2006-05-19
so LITHUANIAN fans we have a WIG WAM fan club in LITHUANIA...
www.piczo.com/wigwamlt
ROCK ON PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From Indrė, Lithuania
Added 10:35:50 2006-03-25
I loooove WIG WAW!!!They are best in every Eurovision and Glam(WIG WAM vokal)are best!!!I have meny theyr songs and it's Cool!WIG WAM,I love you from all my heart!
From ..., Lithuania
Added 08:42:40 2006-03-13
We love you Wig Wam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From Marino, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Added 8:7:19 2005-9-4
This song ownssssss can somebody plz tell were i can download it??
From HELEN, LITHUANIA
Added 22:29:14 2005-8-17
Wow! You are the best rockers i ever neard ! YOU are the ONE YOU my number One ! You are the best and cool boys !
From Asia, POLAND
Added 14:24:58 2005-6-21
this song should win!it's great!
From Maria Vella, MALTA
Added 16:53:58 2005-6-17
GREAT SONG NORWAY!!! I loved the fact that you introduced rock in the Eurovision Song Contest. Wig Wam was great complimented with an excellent song!!! Keep it up!!!
From wicked, LITHUANIA
Added 13:41:0 2005-6-11
this song is funny. i don`t know why, but I think this song was the best for me this year. pretty good voice.but the look was tragick. the vocalist look. I liked it, but elder people say that it`s enormous or sth like that.
at the moment i`m listening this song. it reminds me the legend KISS
From michela marie, MALTA
Added 19:22:46 2005-6-8
the song was great but the singers were AWFUL!!!!!!!1
From Rasa, LITHUANIA
Added 7:43:25 2005-6-6
the great song!!! i'm rapt about it!!!
From Laura, LITHUANIA
Added 12:6:9 2005-6-5
comeon, comeon, comeon! love is all over me! you we're the best of all, in the eurovision!
From Ulrika, SWEDEN
Added 10:14:54 2005-6-3
Norway! You rock! Your song with Wig Wam was much more better than Sweden!
Wig Wam! YOU ROCK!!
From renny, LITHUANIA
Added 9:58:32 2005-6-3
i like this show. it is good song. i am listening it now.
From Laura S., LITHUANIA
Added 11:20:7 2005-6-2
Wig Wam! you are realy cool!!!!! can someone send to me this song? my e-mail is cocacola_girl@one.lt
From Zane, LATVIA
Added 16:20:40 2005-6-1
oh my GOD!! i just CAN'T believe that you guys were not the first ones!! your song just ROCKS!!
From samus, LITHUANIA
Added 19:6:38 2005-5-29
wig wam rulezzzzz
From labinot, KOSOVA
Added 17:47:13 2005-5-28
BRAVO WIG WAM you are the best
From Kristina, NORWAY
Added 18:9:28 2005-5-26
Guys, wig wam also attended the norwegian national final last year with the song "crazy things" witch was so much better than this one. They came third! I'm happy they came in the top ten, but I think wig wam could be more active on stage. would't hurt with a slightly better song either :)
From ali, TURKEY
Added 0:13:20 2005-5-25
very nice song for me .wig wam real king of rockn roll...
From TAKADA, LITHUANIA
Added 17:57:53 2005-5-24
I like this song, but where I can download the video of this song?
From james, IRELAND
Added 17:50:17 2005-5-24
rock on d bhoys absolute class performance ireland loved it
From giedre, LITHUANIA
Added 17:40:20 2005-5-24
good song. l like it really much... =]
From Natasha, AUSTRALIA
Added 11:6:22 2005-5-24
I think Wigwam was cool and by far the best entry for 2005 - BY A MILE. It was original, seemed to catch the crowd's attention (in a positive way) and was just so 'boppy'. It was such a refreshing change from most of the other entries for the last 3 years: attractive females in revealing attire whose performance - always mundane - 'the same'! This makes it so hard for the others who do have talent, but do not appeal to some of the 'judges'. To prove how keen I am - I am searching for (yet having a difficult time on the net on how to find a) Wigwam CD/DVD. Fortunately, my father is from the Netherlands - aside from this, I doubt I would have ever experienced Eurovision!! I love it and look forward to it every year and have encouraged several friends/realtives on this. I can account that they thought Wigwam was the s@#$!!!
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Norway
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