NRK will reveal the songs competing in Melodi Grand Prix 2018 on January 15, nearly two months before the final takes place.
Stig Karlsen the Producer behind Melodi Grand Prix has revealed to ESCNorge that changes are being made to the way the songs competing in Norway’s selection are revealed. For 2018 the songs will be revealed a full month earlier than in recent years. The songs will be revealed in full at a press conference on January 15 at NRK’s Store Studio.
The way in which songs have been selected for this years contest has also changed. A larger number of the songs submitted have made it through to focus groups. These groups are formed of various individuals of different ages. Furthermore a number of NRK’s music editors have been consulted on the songs taking part.
Mr Karlsen explains that;
We have done this to see if there are any of the submitted songs that stand out in all the groups and thus have greater impact than the others
NRK remains in long term discussions with producers and record companies to work on attracting bigger name talent to take part in Melodi Grand Prix.
Almost 1200 songs were submitted to Melodi Grand Prix 2018 (almost 200 more than on the previous edition). Over the last three years, the Norwegian National Final process has seen an increasing number of interested artists and composers. The final of Melodi Grand Prix 2018 takes place on March 10.
Source: ESCNorge.net
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
Norway debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, and have won the contest three times – in 1985, 1995 and 2009. The country has the dubious record of finishing last the most times, eleven in total, and have received nul points four times. Norway last won the contest in 2009 when Alexander Rybak broke all records with his song “Fairytale”. He scored 387 points in the final, receiving 16 sets of 12 points and scoring points from every country.
