Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "I Feed You My Love" written by Karin Park, Robin Lynch and Niklas Olovson. The song was performed by Margaret Berger. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2013 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. 21 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals and a final. Ten entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 9 February 2013 where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, "I Feed You My Love" performed by Margaret Berger was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three regional jury groups and a public vote.
Norway was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 16 May 2013. Performing during the show in position 13, "I Feed You My Love" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Norway placed third out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 120 points. In the final, Norway performed in position 24 and placed fourth out of the 26 participating countries with 191 points.
Background
Prior to the 2013 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 51 times since its first entry in 1960. Norway had won the contest on two occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks! and in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden. Norway also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last eleven times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has, to this point, finished in the top 10 three times: Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams" in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng was fifth in 2008 with "Hold On Be Strong", and Alexander Rybak won in 2009.
The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NRK confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest on 1 July 2012. The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participation. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2013 in order to select the 2013 Norwegian entry.
Before Eurovision
Melodi Grand Prix 2013 Melodi Grand Prix 2013 was the 51st edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. 21 songs were selected to compete in a four-week-long process that commenced on 19 January 2013 and concluded with the final on 9 February 2013. Vivi Stenberg was assigned as the new music producer for the competition, replacing Per Sundnes who held the position since 2007. All shows were hosted by Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
Format The competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals on 19 January 2013, 26 January 2013 and 2 February 2013 and a final on 9 February 2013. Seven 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.
Competing entries A submission period was opened by NRK between 1 July 2012 and 1 September 2012. 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. At the close of the deadline, 600 submissions were received. 21 songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel consisting of Vivi Stenberg (Melodi Grand Prix music producer), Kristin Winsents (NRK music journalist and NRK P2 radio host), Gisle Stokland (editor and owner of the music website 730.no), Christine Dancke (DJ, NRK P3 radio host and Blå booking manager) as well as representatives of NRK and the production company EyeworksDinamo. The seven acts and songs competing in each semi-final were revealed on 16, 23 and 30 January 2013, respectively, during the special show MGP Direkte, presented by Jenny Skavlan and Erik Solbakken and broadcast via NRK1 and online at nrk.no. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Adelén "Bombo"Ina Wroldsen, Quiz & Larossi Anina "The Young"Anine Stang, Mattias Frändå, Johan Åsgärde Annsofi "I'm With You"Alexander Rybak Carina Dahl "Sleepwalking"Carina Dahl, Ben Adams, Søren Pagh Datarock "The Underground"Fredrik Saroea, Pål Myran-Håland Fjellfolk "Ulvetuva"Trym Bjønnes Gaute Ormåsen "Awake"Gaute Ormåsen, Fredrik Borgen, Jesper Borgen Gothminister "Utopia"Bjørn Alexander Brem Gromth feat. Emil Solli-Tangen "Alone"Gromth, Emil Solli-Tangen, Sven Atle Kopperud Haji "Shine With Me"Haji, Morad Aziman Hank "No One"Josefin Winther, Magnus Åserud Skylstad Julie Bergan "Give a Little Something Back"Ben Adams, Sara Skjoldnes, Julie Bergan Lucky Lips "Sweet and Heavy"Malin Pettersen Martin Blomvik "Det vakje mi tid"Martin Blomvik, Bjørn Johan Muri, Mats Weinholdt Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love"Karin Park, Robin Lynch, Niklas Olovson Mimi Blix "Catch Me"Dr. Shiver, Luca Monticelli, Mauro Cottini, Mimi Blix Shackles "On Hold"Silya Nymoen, KeiOne, John Lundvik Sirkus Eliassen "I Love You Te Quiero"Magnus Eliassen, Erik Eliassen Tom Hugo "Det er du"Tom Hugo Hermansen Vidar Busk "Paid My Way"Tim Scott McConnell, Vidar Busk Winta "Not Afraid"Beyond 51, Winta Efrem
Shows Semi-finals Seven songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 19 January, 26 January, and 2 February 2013. The first semi-final took place at the Campus Steinkjer in Steinkjer, the second semi-final took place at the Florø Idrettssenter in Florø, and the third semi-final took place at the Arena Larvik in Larvik. The top three advanced to the final from each semi-final, and "Sweet and Heavy" performed by Lucky Lips was announced on 4 February 2013 to have received the jury wildcard to also proceed to the final.
+ Semi-final 1 – 19 January 2013 Artist Song Place Result 1 Vidar Busk "Paid My Way" 3 Advanced 2 Carina Dahl "Sleepwalking" — 3 Tom Hugo "Det er du" — 4 Gromth feat. Emil Solli-Tangen "Alone" 1 Advanced 5 Julie Bergan "Give a Little Something Back" — 6 Mimi Blix "Catch Me" — 7 Datarock "The Underground" 2 Advanced
+ Semi-final 2 – 26 January 2013 Artist Song Place Result 1 Martin Blomvik "Det vakje mi tid" — 2 Annsofi "I'm With You" 3 Advanced 3 Shackles "On Hold" — 4 Hank "No One" — 5 Fjellfolk "Ulvetuva" 2 Advanced 6 Haji "Shine With Me" — 7 Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love" 1 Advanced
+ Semi-final 3 – 2 February 2013 Artist Song Place Result 1 Gothminister "Utopia" — 2 Adelén "Bombo" 1 Advanced 3 Lucky Lips "Sweet and Heavy" — Wildcard 4 Gaute Ormåsen "Awake" 3 Advanced 5 Anina "The Young" — 6 Winta "Not Afraid" — 7 Sirkus Eliassen "I Love You Te Quiero" 2 Advanced
Final Ten songs that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed during the final at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo on 9 February 2013. 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: 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 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 "I Feed You My Love" performed by Margaret Berger with 102,032 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured 2012 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Tooji performing his entry "Stay", and Swedish Eurovision Song Contest 2012 winner Loreen performing her song "My Heart Is Refusing Me". + Final – 9 February 2013 Artist Song Result 1 Vidar Busk "Paid My Way" 2 Fjellfolk "Ulvetuva" 3 Adelén "Bombo" Advanced 4 Gromth feat. Emil Solli-Tangen "Alone" 5 Gaute Ormåsen "Awake" 6 Lucky Lips "Sweet and Heavy" 7 Datarock "The Underground" 8 Annsofi "I'm With You" Advanced 9 Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love" Advanced 10 Sirkus Eliassen "I Love You Te Quiero" Advanced + Gold Final – 9 February 2013 ArtistSong Jury Televote TotalPlace 1 Adelén "Bombo" 6,000 53,414 59,414 2 2 Annsofi "I'm With You" 6,000 25,226 31,226 4 3 Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love" 12,000 90,032 102,032 1 4 Sirkus Eliassen "I Love You Te Quiero" 6,000 35,447 41,447 3
+ Song Steinkjer Florø LarvikTotal 1"Bombo" 2,000 1,000 3,0006,000 2"I'm With You" 1,000 3,000 2,0006,000 3"I Feed You My Love" 4,000 4,000 4,00012,000 4"I Love You Te Quiero"3,0002,0001,0006,000 Spokespersons SteinkjerJamil Kvitvang Florø? LarvikJane Løken
+ Song Total 1"Bombo" 6,410 1,032 8,226 11,907 25,83953,414 2"I'm With You" 2,828 308 3,350 5,223 13,51725,226 3"I Feed You My Love" 15,105 900 14,558 16,621 42,84890,032 4"I Love You Te Quiero" 5,694 2,254 4,877 7,342 15,28035,447 Spokespersons Central NorwayCarina Dahl Northern NorwayAnina Western NorwayMartin Blomvik Southern NorwayShackles Eastern NorwayJulie Bergan
Ratings + Viewing figures by showShowDateViewers Semi-final 1 19 January 2013 752,000 Semi-final 2 26 January 2013 666,000 Semi-final 3 2 February 2013 677,000 Final 9 February 2013 975,000
At Eurovision According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 17 January 2013, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2013, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2013 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Norway was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Albania.