Background
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.
However between, and after, these two wins at the contest Norway still managed to keep its last-place reputation intact, gaining another four last-place finishes in the contest, along with outright relegation from competing at the 2002 Contest. Throughout Norway's 50 year participation at Eurovision the organisation of the national selection process, and the broadcast of the international final and semi-finals has been the job of Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK).
Read more about this topic: Norway In The Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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