Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 with the song "Casanova", composed by Svein Strugstad, with lyrics by Dag Nordtømme, and performed by Anita Skorgan. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, (NRK), selected its entry through 1977. This was the first of three Eurovision appearances (and a further uncredited fourth) for Skorgan.

Before Eurovision 1977 Format The format of 1977 was a lot less centralised than in previous editions. It consisted of each county being assigned to one of five districts with each district providing their own entries to a final. The final would then have six songs, one from each district but two from the district with the Eastern counties. Each district was able to dictate the format of their own semi-finals. These semi-finals were broadcast on regional radio. The North, South, West, and Central Districts had semi-finals with four songs each, while the Eastern District had six songs in their semi-final. +Melodi Grand Prix 1977 Districts District Region Counties District Office1 North Tromsø2 Central Trondheim3 West Bergen4 South Kristiansand5 East Oslo

Competing entries (NRK) opened a submission period for entries which lasted from 16 November 1976 until 10 December 1976. Interested artists were required to send their entries not to NRK but to their respective District Offices. A total of 348 entries were received by the districts and a 3-member jury in each district chose the entries for their district's semi-final.

+Entry selection jury members District Region Jury Members Entries1 NorthIvar Antonsen, Bernt Johan Otten, Egil Pettersen252 CentralAsmund Bjørken, Ivar Gafseth, Henning Sommerro403 WestRuth Bakke, Morten Kvelstad, Anders Skjold484 SouthFinn Ralph Andersen, Alexander Gluck, Sigurd Undsæth Levland365 EastLillemor Ekeland Bakke, Elisabeth Grannemann, Tor Hultin199

+Competing entries District Region Song Songwriter(s)1North"Ikke mitt bord"Axel Gran"Luta lei"Jarle Okstad"Ro i motvind"Axel Gran"Tvilen er vårt liv" 2Central"Casanova" "Salomo"Gunnar Berg colspan="2" colspan="2" 3West"For seint?" "Robåtrock" "Tidig"Ove Thue"Vi trenger kjærlighet på vår jord" 4South"Går her og håper" "Jonathan" "Mellomspill i regn" "Storbyjungel" 5East"Det er hans land" "Mærra hass Ka'l"Helge Stenersen"Make Love Not War" "Poker" "Sang"Mette Hurlen"Springaren"Petter Hurlen

Regional semi-finals

North The competing entries of the Northern District semi-final were broadcast on 14 January 1977, in a show hosted by Leif Erik Forberg, after which the public was able to send in postcard votes until 19 January 1977. The four entries were recorded by either Turid Pedersen or Kristen Lyngedal and were accompanied by Kurt Samuelsen's quartet, who also arranged all four competing entries. The winner of the semi-final was announced on 21 January 1977. +North District - 14 January 1977 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Kristen Lyngedal"Luta lei"1723 2Kristen Lyngedal"Ro i motvind"454 3Turid Pedersen"Tvilen er vårt liv"2122 4Turid Pedersen"Ikke mitt bord"2361Qualified

Central The competing entries of the Central District semi-final were broadcast on 14 January 1977, after which the public was able to send in postcard votes until 19 January 1977. The winner of the semi-final was announced on 21 January 1977. +Central District - 14 January 1977 Artist Song Votes Place Result "Casanova" 601 1 Qualified "Salomo" 489 2 3 4

West The competing entries of the Western District semi-final were broadcast twice, on 13 January and 17 January 1977, after which the public was able to send in postcard votes until 19 January 1977. All four entries were recorded by either Ellen Margrethe Johansen or Helge Nilsen and were arranged by Brødrene Thue. The winner of the semi-final was announced on 21 January 1977. +West District - 13/17 January 1977 Artist Song Votes Place Result "For seint?" "Tidig" 2 3Helge Nilsen"Robåtrock" 1 Qualified 4 "Vi trenger kjærlighet på vår jord"

South The competing entries of the South District semi-final were broadcast on 10 January 1977, in a show hosted by Julius Hougen, after which the public was able to send in postcard votes until 19 January 1977. All four entries were recorded by either Hans Petter Hansen or Magne Høyland and were arranged by Håkon Berge. The winner of the semi-final was announced on 21 January 1977. +South District - 10 January 1977 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Hans Petter Hansen"Går her og håper" 2Hans Petter Hansen"Jonathan" 1 Qualified 3Magne Høyland"Storbyjungel" 4Magne Høyland"Mellomspill i regn"

East The competing entries of the East District semi-final were broadcast on 13 January 1977, after which the public was able to send in postcard votes until 19 January 1977. The entries were recorded by Benny Borg, Nora Brockstedt, and Kirsti Sparboe, with Roy Hellvin's quartet, who also arranged all six competing entries. Around 1,300 votes were received and the winners of the semi-final were announced on 21 January 1977. +East District - 13 January 1977 Artist Song Votes Place Result 1Kirsti Sparboe and Benny Borg"Poker" 3 2Nora Brockstedt"Mærra hass Ka'l" 5 3Kirsti Sparboe"Det er hans land" 4 4Benny Borg"Make Love Not War" 24.6% 1 Qualified 5Kirsti Sparboe and Benny Borg"Sang" 2 Qualified 6Nora Brockstedt"Springaren" 6

Final Prior to the final, the entries were broadcast two at a time in the show Lørdagslag on 29 January, 5 February, and 12 February 1977. The final was held during a special edition of Lørdagslag on 19 February 1977. The competition took place the studios of NRK studios in Oslo and was hosted by Vidar Lønn-Arnesen. The orchestra was conducted by Carsten Klouman. Every song, with the exception of "Sang", was performed by a different singer than in the regional radio semi-finals. The results were decided by regional juries consisting of 8 to 10 members each. + Final – 19 February 1977 Artist Song Points Place 1Rune Larsen"Robåtrock"592 2Dag Spantell"Jonathan" 425 3Odd Børre"Make Love Not War"256 4Anita Skorgan"Casanova"911 5Axel Gran"Ikke mitt bord"554 6Kirsti Sparboe and Benny Borg"Sang"583 + Detailed regional jury votes Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Robåt rock" 14 15 10 2 18 59 2 "Jonathan" 11 5 3 16 7 42 3 "Make Love Not War" 3 8 3 8 3 25 4 "Casanova" 13 12 3032 4 91 5 "Ikke mitt bord" 6 32 1 2 14 55 6 "Sang" 1421 5 6 12 58

At Eurovision On the night of the final Skorgan performed 5th in the running order, following and preceding . At the close of voting "Casanova" had picked up 18 points, placing Norway joint 14th of the 18 entries. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to .

Voting

+ Points awarded to Norway Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Norway Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References

External links Melodi Grand Prix 1977 - norsk finale on