About Norway...

2006 Result
History (1956 to 2005)
This year's entry
What I predicted...
What you thought...
What actually happened...
What the bookies thought...

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2006 Result

Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A

Points in Final: 36
Position in Final: 14th
More about the 2006 result for Norway

2007 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final

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History (1956 to 2005)

Norway's previous appearances: 44 year(s) out of 50 [note]
Years participated: 1960-1969; 1971-2001; 2003- [note]
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. 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, Ireland's participant in 2006), but perhaps more famously covered by Josh Groban in 2003, and Westlife in 2005.

While neighbours Sweden have generally prospered under televoting, with a run of top ten finishes between 1998 and 2004, Norway's record has been patchy. 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, finishing last. 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 (again) with just 3 points, the title of Norway's song assumed an amusing irony, Knut's position being anything but 'High'.

Fortunately, 2005 brought better things for Norway, with Wig Wam's rock anthem, 'In my dreams', finishing a promising 6th in the Semi Final, before going on to secure 9th place in the Final. Thanks to this top ten finish, Norway is therefore guaranteed a place in the 2006 Final.
Get 'The Eurovision Song Contest: The Offical History' at Amazon.co.uk

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This year's entry

Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 5

What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Norway's good result in 2005 seems to have given the country a new-found confidence in 2006, with the Melodi Grand Prix following the example of Sweden's Melodifestivalen in holding a series of Semi Finals in different parts of the country. In the end, however, the bookies' favourite won, with Christine Guldbrandsen's 'Alvedansen' - meaning 'Dance of the elves' - securing most televotes in the Final. The quality of the contenders meant that it was quite a tight result though, with all the top four songs - the others being Hans Petter Moen and Kim Arne Hagen's 'I hear music', Queentastic's 'Absolutely fabulous' and Geir Rønning and Jorun Erdal's 'Lost and found' - of a standard that would surely have gained Norway an excellent result in Athens. Geir Rønning is particularly notable for seeking to represent his native Norway just a year after singing for Finland in Kiev - had he managed to win, he would have been the first performer to represent different countries in back-to-back Contests.

Back to Christine, however, and she is a strikingly beautiful 20-year-old described as having "the voice of a glacier" - that's "crystal clear and powerful", in case you were wondering. Indeed, her song - the only one in the entire MGP to be performed in Norwegian - has more than a whiff of mid-1990s Eurovision about it. Drawing from Norwegian folk music, it echoes the haunting beauty of Eimear Quinn's 'The voice' and One More Time's 'Den vilda' from 1996, or even Norway's own 'Nocturne' of 1995. Christine also has a stunning voice, not unlike that of fellow Norwegian singer Sissel (one of my favourite artists), and has shown herself to be an impressive live performer. Certainly, 'Alvedansen' has all the ingredients to bring Norway another impressive result, and thankfully isn't going to be ruined by being translated into English. Indeed, Christine had made very clear her desire to sing in Norwegian, and the recent excellent results for other ethnic-flavoured songs such as Urban Trad's 'Sanomi' (Belgium, 2003) and Željko Joksimović's 'Lane moje' (Serbia & Montenegro, 2004) has shown that it isn't necessary to sing in English in order to score highly at Eurovision. "

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What I predicted...

My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 4th to 6th, possible winner
See all my predictions for the 2006 Semi Final
See all my predictions for the 2006 Final

What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"I think Norway is one of 2006's dark horses. Just like Sertab's 'Everyway that I can' in 2003, Alvedansen is a song that has performed consistently well in the polls and bookmakers' odds while never being among the hot favourites. However, I see it as one of the possible contenders for victory, certainly with a very good chance of ending up in the top ten, and reports from rehearsals suggest that Christine is winning converts with her impressive performance of a beautiful song. It's been a while since something gentle won Eurovision, and 2006 could be the year that changes. With that in mind, my each-way bet at 20-1 seems quite promising. "
Want an alternative prediction? See Simon Hylands' 'Je t'adore, Eurovision!' site

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What you thought...

View the final leader board

In the run up to the Contest, 1,721 visitors to this site awarded points to their favourite songs in the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote 2006, voting as a representative of their own country's 'jury'. The votes awarded by representatives of each country were totalled, with each of the 38 participating countries (plus the 'Rest of the World') then awarding points - 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - based on the overall voting preference of its representatives. The points awarded to the entry from Norway are shown in the tables below:

Points awarded to Norway overall:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	7	MK	0	PL	0	ES	3
AD	0	CY	0	IS	2	MT	0	PT	3	SE	0
AM	0	DK	8	IE	4	MD	3	RO	3	CH	4
BY	0	EE	0	IL	4	MC	0	RU	0	TR	3
BE	7	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	4	FR	0	LT	0	NO	X	SI	0	UK	3
BG	3	DE	0	WO	0	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: 61, from 15/39 juries
Position: 13 out of 37

Points awarded to Norway in the Semi Final:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	0	MK	0	PL	0	ES	0
AD	0	CY	0	IS	0	MT	0	PT	0	SE	0
AM	0	DK	0	IE	0	MD	0	RO	0	CH	0
BY	0	EE	0	IL	0	MC	0	RU	0	TR	0
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	0	FR	0	LT	0	NO	X	SI	0	UK	0
BG	0	DE	0	WO	0	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: N/A, from N/A/39 juries
Position: N/A out of 23

Points awarded to Norway in the Final:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	7	MK	0	PL	0	ES	3
AD	0	CY	0	IS	3	MT	0	PT	3	SE	0
AM	0	DK	8	IE	4	MD	5	RO	3	CH	4
BY	1	EE	0	IL	4	MC	0	RU	1	TR	4
BE	7	FI	0	LV	0	NL	1	CS	0	UA	0
BA