Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Melodi Grand Prix 2012 was the 50th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. 24 songs were selected to compete in a four-week-long process that commenced on 21 January 2012 and concluded with the final on 11 February 2012. All shows were hosted by Per Sundnes and Marte Stokstad and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.[4] The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[5]

The competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals on 21 January 2012, 28 January 2012 and 4 February 2012 and a final on 11 February 2012.[6] Eight songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries qualified to the final. The results of the semi-finals were determined exclusively by public televoting, while a jury also awarded one of the eliminated acts a wildcard to proceed to the final. The results in the final were determined by jury voting and public televoting. Viewers could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting.[7]

A submission period was opened by NRK between 30 June 2011 and 2 September 2011. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete.[2][3] At the close of the deadline, over 800 submissions were received.[8] 24 songs were selected for the competition by an eight-member jury panel consisting of representatives of NRK, record labels and production companies.[9] The competing acts were revealed between 27 October 2011 and 16 December 2011, while their songs were revealed on 20 December 2011.[10][11][12] Among the artists was past Norwegian Eurovision entrant Benedicte Adrian (member of the group United) who represented the country in 1984 as part of the duo Dollie de Luxe, and Malin Reitan who represented Norway at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005.[13][14]

Eight songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 21 January, 28 January and 4 February 2012. The first semi-final took place at the Hangar E of the Ørland Hovedflystasjon in Ørland, the second semi-final took place at the Arena Larvik in Larvik, and the third semi-final took place at the Florø Idrettssenter in Florø. The top three advanced to the final from each semi-final, and "Sailors" performed by Lise Karlsnes was announced on 31 January 2011 to have received the jury wildcard to also proceed to the final.[15][16]

Ten songs that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo on 11 February 2012. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected by public televoting to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final. In the Gold Final, three regional juries from the three semi-final host cities each distributed points as follows: 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 8,000 points. The results of the public televote were then revealed by Norway's five regions and added to the jury scores, leading to the victory of "Stay" performed by Tooji with 155,480 votes.[17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured the ten artists performing the 1960 Norwegian Eurovision entry "Voi Voi" together, and Norwegian Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak performing a medley of past Eurovision entries, including his entry "Fairytale".[18]

Tooji took part in technical rehearsals on 16 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[24]

The Norwegian performance featured Tooji performing a choreographed routine on stage in a grey top, leather jacket and dark trousers together with four dancers that also performed backing vocals. The stage colours were predominantly red and orange with white strobe lighting and the performance also featured several effects including smoke as well as red fireworks and flames at the end.[25][26] The four dancers/backing vocalists on stage with Tooji were: Anne-Marit Tynes, Daniel Gill, Maria Karlsen and Sérgio Benvindo Júnior (BamBam); the Norwegian performance was choreographed by Karlsen together with Mattias Carlsson.[27][28] An additional backing vocalist, Hans Esben Gihle, was also on stage.[29]

At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Norway had tied for tenth place in the semi-final with Bulgaria, receiving a total of 45 points, but under tiebreak rules the number of countries that voted for Norway (11) was higher than the number for Bulgaria (10) and therefore Norway qualified to the final over Bulgaria.[30]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Norway was drawn to perform in position 12, following the entry from Estonia and before the entry from Azerbaijan.[31]

Tooji once again took part in dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Tooji performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 26 May. Norway placed twenty-sixth (last) in the final, scoring 7 points.[32][33] This was the eleventh time Norway finished in last place at the contest.

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Norway had placed twenty-fourth with both the public televote and the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Norway scored 16 points, while with the jury vote, Norway scored 24 points. In the second semi-final, Norway placed sixth with the public televote with 72 points and eighteenth (last) with the jury vote, scoring 25 points.[34]

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