Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Stian Barsnes Simonsen (pictured in 2018) alongside Synnøve Svabø, were the two hosts of Melodi Grand Prix 2006.

Melodi Grand Prix 2006 was the 44th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. 18 songs were selected to compete in a five-week-long process that commenced on 13 January 2006 and concluded with the final on 4 February 2006. All shows were hosted by Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen and televised on NRK1 with commentary by Jostein Pedersen as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.[4][5]

The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 13, 20 and 27 January 2006, a Last Chance round (Sistesjansen) on 3 February 2006 and a final on 4 February 2006. Seven songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries directly qualified to the final. The entries that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Last Chance round, and the bottom two were eliminated from the competition. An additional two entries qualified to the final from the Last Chance round.[6] The results of the all shows were determined exclusively by public televoting. Viewers could vote through telephone and SMS.[7]

A submission period was opened by NRK between 4 July 2005 and 1 October 2005. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, however NRK reserved the right to choose the performers for the selected songs written by foreign songwriters. Songs longer than three minutes were also eligible to compete, however they could only last up to 3:20.[2][3] At the close of the deadline, 586 submissions were received.[8] 18 songs were selected for the competition and the six acts and songs competing in each of the three semi-finals were revealed on 20 December 2005, 27 December 2005 and 2 January 2006, respectively. Among the artists were past Eurovision entrants Tor Endresen who represented Norway in 1997, Hanne Haugsand who represented Norway in 2000 as part of the group Charmed, and Geir Rönning who represented Finland in 2005.[9][10][11]

Six songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 13, 20 and 27 January 2006. The first semi-final took place at the Finnmarkshallen in Alta, the second semi-final took place at the Nordlandshallen in Bodø, and the third semi-final took place at the Framohallen in Bergen. In each semi-final the top two directly qualified to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs proceeded to the Last Chance round.[12]

The Last Chance round took place on 3 February 2006 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo. The six entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding three semi-finals competed and the top two entries qualified to the final.[12]

Eight songs that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals and the Last Chance round competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo on 4 February 2006. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. In the Gold Final, the results of the public televote were revealed by Norway's five regions and led to the victory of "Alvedansen" performed by Christine Guldbrandsen with 77,568 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured the lead singer of 2005 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Wig Wam, Åge Sten Nielsen, performing his entry "In My Dreams".[13]

Out of the 18 competing entries in Melodi Grand Prix 2006, only five featured Norwegian songwriters (two of them went on to place in the top two) with a majority of the remaining (12) being written by Swedish songwriters.[13] This led to criticism from the local public and press in the days leading up to the competition. Melodi Grand Prix project manager Stian Malme stated that there were many songs written by Swedes because "they were simply among the better ones". Malme also stated that more than 60% of the submitted songs came from foreign songwriters and emphasised that all performers are Norwegian.[15][16] On 3 March, NRK held a debate with Norwegian songwriters to raise their participation in future editions of Melodi Grand Prix.[16]

Christine Guldbrandsen specifically promoted "Alvedansen" as the Norwegian Eurovision entry on 15 March 2006 by performing the song during the Greek Eurovision national final Feel the Party.[17]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-final and to Finland in the final of the contest.