Norway in EuroMusic Song Contest

Norway is a member of the EBU. Because of that they can participate in EuroMusic Song Contest. NRK is responsible for the Norwegian participation.

History
The Norwegian broadcaster tried a several years to participate in the contest. NRK announced their début in the fourth edition in Liverpool, were they finished second. The following edition, in Dublin, Norway ended in the eight place. In Sweden, edition number six, they finished for the first time below the top 10. The next edition, they ended at the 16th place. For the eighth edition, the NRK decided to select a song in the Norwegian language. This was not a huge success. They received only five points, what was good for a 17th place.

At their neighbors in Sweden, they finished after three editions again in the top ten. With 66 points, they became 7th. In Amsterdam during the tenth edition, they became very unexpected second. In the next edition, they were the top favorite to win the show. They finished first in the semi final, but 4th in the final. In Zurich, it was the first time they failed to qualify. In Israel, they finished 10th in the final. In Berlin, the expectations were high, however, they finished at the 17th place. In Madrid they just finished out of the top ten, at the 11th place. In Malta, Norway finished at the last place in their semi final.

When the EBU published the official list of participating countries for in the 17th edition, in Cologne, it was clear that Norway would not take part in this edition. A few days later, NKR announced that they withdrew because the last several editions there was a lack of Norwegian inhabitants who watched the contest live. After the Swedish victory in the 18th edition, there were some rumors that Norway would return for the 19th edition in Stockholm. These rumors turned out to be incorrect.

The Norwegian broadcaster announced that the country would return for the 22nd edition. They couldn't qualify for the final. In Bucharest, Norway qualified for the final. In the Grand Final, they finished at the fourth place. It was their best result since the 11th edition. For the 24th edition, only 28 countries signed up to participate. Because of this, there was only one semi-final. The first eleven countries from the previous edition, like Norway, automatically qualified for the final. Norway finished at the 11th place in the grand final.

The 25th edition took place in Bratislava. For this edition, the EBU decided to drop the semi finals because of the lack of interesting broadcasters. Norway took part and finished at the 6th place. They again finished at the top ten in the next edition. In Warsaw, Norway finished at the 17th place. They finished at the last place in the 28th edition. The same happend in the 32nd edition. In the next edition in the semi final, the country finished again at the last place. In Dublin, there were high expectations to win the contest for the first time. In the semi final, the Norwegian entry finished at the first place. In the final however the act finished at the fourth place. The first Norwegian victory was obtained in the 35th edition. Because of their victory, the country hosted the next edition.