Melodi Grand Prix 2009
| Eurovision Song Contest 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Norway
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Melodi Grand Prix 2009 | |||
| Selection date(s) |
Semi-finals 24 January 2009 31 January 2009 7 February 2009 Second Chance 14 February 2009 Final 21 February 2009 |
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| Selected entrant | Alexander Rybak | |||
| Selected song | "Fairytale" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (1st, 201 points) | |||
| Final result | 1st, 387 points | |||
| Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Norway and Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) won the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia on 16 May. Their song was chosen at a national final, Melodi Grand Prix, held on 21 February 2009.
After three semi-finals, a Siste Sjansen, second chance qualifier, and the grand final, the winner was singer/songwriter and violinist Alexander Rybak with "Fairytale", winning in the biggest landslide in Melodi Grand Prix history.
Norway first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, following their Scandinavian neighbours Denmark and Sweden, who debuted in 1957 and 1958 respectively. Their first entry, "Voi Voi" performed by Nora Brockstedt, won the inaugural Melodi Grand Prix in 1960, and went on to place 4th at the international contest in London. Before 1985, their best result came in 1966, when Åse Kleveland came third for Norway with "Intet er nytt under solen" in Luxembourg.
However, by the 1980s Norway had become synonymous with coming last place at the contest, with the country gaining six last-place finishes in the contest, and a total of three entries getting nul points. However, in 1985, Norway gained their first victory, with Bobbysocks! (consisting of Elisabeth Andreassen and Hanne Krogh) winning with "La det swinge" in Gothenburg, and bringing the contest to Norway for the first time - in 1986 the contest was held in Norway's second city, Bergen.1995 brought Norway its second win at the contest, with Secret Garden winning in Dublin with Nocturne, and became the first mainly instrumental song to win the contest. As such the 1996 Contest was held in Oslo.
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