NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster, has revealed that Melodi Grand Prix 2025 will consist of only one show.
Melodi Grand Prix 2025 will now be a single show: a Grand Final that the Norwegian broadcaster has confirmed will be held on February 15, 2025. This will be the first time since 2019 that there will be no semi-finals in Melodi Grand Prix.
In recent years, MGP has featured semi-finals to help bring a larger field of contestants and songs into the competition. However, this announcement marks a return to the original format of the show. This year’s Melodi Grand Prix will also be hosted at Oslo’s Spektrum, returning to the classic venue for the first time since 2018.
10 artists will compete during the MGP final, down from 18 acts across the 2024 contest. The artists themselves will be revealed during a press conference on January 16, 2025. Tickets for the show will go on sale this Friday, 22 November at 12:00 CET.
NRK has confirmed in an article on their website that MGP will be hosted by three Norwegian presenters: Marte Stokstad, Tete Lidbom and Markus Neby.
Stokstad has previously hosted the Melodi Grand Prix final as recently as 2012. Not only that, Stokstad will also be the commentator during the broadcast on NRK, meaning she’ll be doing both roles at once. She said on taking on the challenge:
I am really looking forward to this. The last time I officiated the MGP Final was in 2012 and I haven’t lost interest in the competition since then. It does happen that artists get to try again in this competition, and it’s good to see that this also applies to presenters. This is a long-awaited reunion for me.
Tete Lidbom will be working on Melodi Grand Prix for the first time this year. He says that while he didn’t accept straight away, he loves that the MGP stage is a place where anything can happen:
It’s great that MGP is both the place where artists break through, make a comeback and change their style. It shows that in MGP anything is possible.
Finally, Markus Neby will return to host Melodi Grand Prix after being involved in the show in 2024 as a roving reporter. He says he’s excited to return to the contest and work with the new presenting team:
After all, this is the purest form of hit song competition, where it’s about catching as many people as possible in the shortest time. I’m looking forward to doing this with good and seasoned Marte, and also Tete, although I dread feeling underdressed next to him.
The decision to change the Melodi Grand Prix format for 2025 follows further changes within the Norwegian Eurovision team. Stig Karlsen, the country’s longtime Head of Delegation and Music Director of Melodi Grand Prix, has decided to leave both roles.
He is being replaced by two people to fill both of his existing roles. Tarjei Strøm will be the new Music Director for Melodi Grand Prix, while Mads Tørklep is the new Head of Delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest.
The changes to the format make Norway one of many countries to alter their selection process ahead of Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. Some other countries, like Estonia, have opted to remove their semi-finals to focus on one live final. However, countries like Germany have opted to expand their national selections to include semi-finals.
NRK, and Norwegian Eurovision fans, will hope the new format helps the country win their first Eurovision Song Contest since Alexander Rybak took the trophy with “Fairytale” at Eurovision 2009.
Norway was represented by Gåte at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with “Ulveham”. They finished last in the Grand Final in Sweden, scoring 16 points. Its highest points received were 6 points from the Albanian jury.
Image Source: Corinne Cumming / EBU | Source: NRK
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, twelve 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.
