Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

Norway was represented by Tor Endresen, with the song "San Francisco", at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 May in Dublin. "San Francisco" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 8 March, and is mainly remembered for bringing Norway's recent run of Eurovision success – they had finished 5th, 6th, 1st and 2nd in the previous four contests – to a spectacular end.

Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Country Norway
National selection
Selection processMelodi Grand Prix 1997
Selection date(s)8 February 1997
Selected entrantTor Endresen
Selected song"San Francisco"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Tor Endresen
  • Arne Myksvoll
Finals performance
Final result24th, 0 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1996 • 1997 • 1998►

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1997

Melodi Grand Prix 1997 was the Norwegian national final that selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997.

Competing entries

350 submissions were received by NRK. Eight songs were selected for the competition by a three-member jury panel. Among the competing artists, Geir Rønning would later represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.

Final

The final took place on 8 February 1997 at the Studio 2 of NRK, hosted by Tande-P. The winner was selected by a combination of public televoting (60%) and a jury panel (40%), which led to the victory of Tor Endresen on his eighth attempt at the competition.[1] The jury consisted of H.C. Andersen, Elisabeth Andreassen, Kari Gjærum, Ole Evenrud, Leif Erik Forberg and Frode Viken. Several of the jury members were friends of Endresen and Andreassen later told the press that "Endresen deserved to win" regardless of what song he participated with.[2]

Final – 8 February 1997
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Percentage Place
1 Marianne E. Olsen "Min egen superstar" Marianne Elstad Olsen, Henning Hoel Eriksen, Fredrik Friis 11.3% 5
2 Angela Kim Lewis "So ro lille tull" Torstein Bieler, Chris Påhlman, Nora Skaug 14.3% 3
3 Guro Håvik "Consensus" Gunnar Lorentzen 10.6% 6
4 Penthouse Playboys "Om du elsket meg" Kjetil Rolness, Jørn Mortensen 12.6% 4
5 Geir Rønning "Venter på deg" Are Selheim 7.0% 7
6 Beate Olsen "Rolig" Beate Olsen 2.9% 8
7 Tor Endresen "San Francisco" Tor Endresen, Arne Myksvoll 23.9% 1
8 Manjari "Lys" Rune Lindstrøm 18.0% 2

At Eurovision

Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 17th out of the 25 entries.[3] On the night of the final Endresen performed third in the running order, following Turkey and preceding Austria. At the close of voting "San Francisco" had failed to pick up any points at all, the eighth time Norway had found itself at the bottom of the scoreboard at the end of the evening, and a record fourth nul-points finish. The 1997 ignominy was shared with Portugal, who had also been completely shunned by the national juries. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to France.[4]

Voting

Norway did not receive any points at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest.[5]

Points awarded by Norway[5]
Score Country
12 points  France
10 points  Malta
8 points  Sweden
7 points  Denmark
6 points  United Kingdom
5 points  Greece
4 points  Poland
3 points  Ireland
2 points  Cyprus
1 point  Russia

References
  1. ESC National Finals database 1997
  2. Kato M. Hansen. "Norway national final 1997" in OGAE News 56/57, 1997:19.
  3. "What are the Odds?". Radio Telefís Éireann. Archived from the original on 24 February 1999. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  4. ESC History – Norway 1997
  5. "Results of the Final of Dublin 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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