Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
| Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) | |||
| Country |  Norway | |||
| Selection process | Melodi Grand Prix 2026 | |||
| Selection date | 28 February 2026 | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Norway will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), will organise the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Background
Prior to the 2026 contest, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Norway sixty-four times since its first entry in 1960. It had won the contest on three occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks!, in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden, and in 2009 with the song "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak. Norway also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having received nul points (zero points) four times, the latter being a record shared 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 for 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten ten times.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, NRK organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of its participation. NRK confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest on 19 June 2026,[2] and announced on 20 June the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2026 in order to select its 2026 entry.[3]
Before Eurovision
Melodi Grand Prix 2026
Melodi Grand Prix 2026 will be the 64th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) and will select Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The show will take place on 28 February 2026 at the Håkons Hall in Lillehammer, hosted by Ronny Brede Aase, Marte Stokstad and Markus Neby.[4][5]
Format
The competition will consist of two stages. The first stage was a radio selection titled MGP-cupen ("the MGP cup") and took place between 20 and 26 January 2026 during the NRK P1 programme Nitimen. Eight songs competed over three rounds of duels and the winning entry qualified to the second stage, the final on 28 February 2026, joining the eight pre-qualified finalists. The results of MGP-cupen were determined exclusively by public online voting through NRK's official website nrk.no.[6][7]
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by NRK between 20 June and 1 September 2025. Each song had to have at least one Norwegian songwriter, and each songwriter could submit a maximum of three songs.[3][8] In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK directly invited certain artists and composers to submit songs.[9] At the close of the deadline, approximately 1,500 submissions were received.[10] A total of 16 songs were selected for the competition by the newly assigned MGP music producer Tarjei Strøm: eight songs for MGP-cupen and an additional eight songs that qualified directly for the final.[4] The directly qualified competing acts and songs were revealed on 19 January 2026 during a press conference at NRK's studio 1, presented by Ronny Brede Aase, Marte Stokstad and Markus Neby, while the acts competing in MGP-cupen were revealed on 20 January 2026.[11][12] Due to Israel's participation in Eurovision amidst the Gaza war, Ylvis withdrew prior to the announcement of the participants despite having been selected to compete.[13] Among the competing artists are Alexander Rybak, who won the 2009 contest and represented Norway in 2018, and Emmy, who represented Ireland in 2025.[12][14]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Rybak | "Rise" | Alexander Rybak |
| Aranja | "Pyjamas Song" |
|
| Emma | "Northern Lights" |
|
| Emmy | "Sykt fin" |
|
| Gothminister | "The Spell" | Bjørn Alexander Brem |
| Hedda Mae | "Snap Back" |
|
| Jonas Lovv | "Ya Ya Ya" |
|
| Leonardo Amor | "Prayer" |
|
| Mileo | "Frankenstein" |
|
| Raylee | "Where Did Your Friend Go" |
|
| Sander Silva and Victorjus | "Fritt fall" |
|
| Silke | "Forevermore" |
|
| Skrellex | "Into the Wild" |
|
| Storm | "Lullaby" |
|
| Thomas Jenssen | "Smalltown" |
|
| Vika Anonymous | "Har du itte vørri på toten før?" |
|
MGP-cupen
MGP-cupen took place between 20 and 26 January 2026 and consisted of three rounds of public voting. The first round featured four daily duels between 20 and 24 January 2026 and the winners of the duels proceeded to the second round. The second round featured two daily duels on 24 and 25 January 2026 and the winners of each duel proceeded to the last round on 26 January 2026, where the winner will proceed to the final.[6][7]
On 25 January 2026, Sander Silva and Victorjus announced their withdrawal from the competition, also citing Israel's participation in Eurovision amidst the Gaza war as the reason.[15]
| Duel | Date | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 20 January | Skrellex | "Into the Wild" | Advanced |
| Emmy | "Sykt fin" | Eliminated | ||
| II | 21 January | Gothminister | "The Spell" | Advanced |
| Vika Anonymous | "Har du itte vørri på toten før?" | Eliminated | ||
| III | 22 January | Aranja | "Pyjamas Song" | Eliminated |
| Sander Silva and Victorjus | "Fritt fall" | Advanced | ||
| IV | 23 January | Raylee | "Where Did Your Friend Go" | Advanced |
| Thomas Jenssen | "Smalltown" | Eliminated |
| Duel | Date | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 24 January | Skrellex | "Into the Wild" | Advanced |
| Gothminister | "The Spell" | Eliminated | ||
| II | 25 January | Sander Silva and Victorjus | "Fritt fall" | Withdrew |
| Raylee | "Where Did Your Friend Go" | Advanced |
| Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Raylee | "Where Did Your Friend Go" | Eliminated |
| Skrellex | "Into the Wild" | Advanced |
Final
Eight pre-qualified entries and the winner of MGP-cupen will compete in the final, held on 28 February 2026.
| Draw | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| TBA | Alexander Rybak | "Rise" |
| Emma | "Northern Lights" | |
| Hedda Mae | "Snap Back" | |
| Jonas Lovv | "Ya Ya Ya" | |
| Leonardo Amor | "Prayer" | |
| Mileo | "Frankenstein" | |
| Silke | "Forevermore" | |
| Skrellex | "Into the Wild" | |
| Storm | "Lullaby" |
References
- ^ "Norway". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ Farren, Neil (19 June 2025). "🇳🇴 Norway: Eurovision 2026 Participation Confirmed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b Conte, Davide (20 June 2025). "🇳🇴 Norway: MGP 2026 Song Submission Window Open". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b Conte, Davide (20 November 2025). "🇳🇴 Norway: MGP 2026 on February 28". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Fjørtoft, Kristine Elise (8 January 2026). "Her er programlederne for årets MGP-finale". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b Conte, Davide (20 January 2026). "🇳🇴 Norway: Melodi Grand Prix 2026 Wildcard Acts Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Disse skal kjempe om den siste finalebilletten i MGP". kommunikasjon.ntb.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Conte, Davide (20 June 2025). "🇳🇴 Norway: MGP 2026 Song Submission Window Open". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Pettersen, Mandy (20 June 2025). "Påmeldingen til MGP 2026 har åpnet -" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ ESC-Panelen (19 January 2026). "Startfältet i Norsk MGP 2026 presenterat". ESC-Panelen (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Sand, Camilla (12 January 2026). "Akkrediteringsvarsel til Melodi Grand Prix - artistlansering". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b Hjetland, Geir Bjarte (20 January 2026). "No kan du stemme på din favoritt til den siste finaleplassen i MGP". NRK (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Kurseth, Hedda (16 January 2026). "Ylvis trekker seg fra MGP: – Ikke mulig for oss å stå inne for det" [Ylvis withdraws from MGP: 'It's impossible for us to stand by it']. VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 31 January 2026.
- ^ Hjetland, Geir Bjarte (19 January 2026). "Her er dei åtte første finalistane i Melodi Grand Prix". NRK (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Fredriksen, Håkon Borge (25 January 2026). "Trekker seg fra MGP: – Tragisk at Israel får delta" [Withdraws from MGP: – Tragic that Israel is allowed to participate] (in Norwegian Bokmål). TV 2. Retrieved 26 January 2026.