Norway’s national selection, Melodi Grand Prix, has scrapped its three heats ahead of the 2025 edition of the contest, opting instead for a single 10-song final.
Reduction in songs and change in venue
Melodi Grand Prix’s new music director Tarjei Strøm and project manager Mads Tørklep, both of whom are taking over various roles from the outgoing Stig Karlsen, have wasted no time in making sweeping changes to the competition.
The delfinalene, which has existed in various forms since the 2020 edition of Melodi Grand Prix, has been scrapped. NRK instead opts for a single show comprised of 10 songs. The songs will be revealed, alongside their artists, on Thursday, 16 January. MGP itself will take place on 15 February.
MGP will also return south to the Oslo Spektrum for the first time since 2019. This comes after a two-year run in Trondheim in 2023 and 2024.
Speaking of the decision to return to the capital, Mads Tørklep said:
Now we take the final back to sacred ground. Oslo Spektrum has been used as an arena many times before, and in 1996 this was also the place where the Eurovision Song Contest was held. No TV show in the country reaches as widely and engages as much as MGP. Trønder has delivered a wild atmosphere in recent years, and now we believe that the audience in Eastern Norway can help create Norway’s biggest music festival together with us
“Outsider” amongst the three hosts
The hosting team for the upcoming contest has also been confirmed as Markus Neby, Marte Stokstad, and Tete Lidbom.
Markus Neby is a musician, comedian and presenter, best known for hosting the morning radio show P3Morgen for 5 years between 2014 and 2019.
Stokstad has hosted MGP twice, alongside Per Sundnes, and has hosted NRK’s Adresse programmes, that preview each year’s Eurovision entries, since 2018.
Tete Lidbom is another former P3Morgen host and thinks of himself as something of an outsider to the MGP world. He’s best known for hosting the football podcast Heia Fotball, and initially thought he was being asked to host MGP as a joke, speaking of his decision to accept the hosting offer, he said:
I didn’t actually accept right away, but after I asked who I would host it with, there was no doubt. After all, MGP is Norway’s biggest music festival, and I don’t think there are many people who love such a wide range of music as I do. In MGP there is room for everything, and that is perhaps what I like most. From fairy-tale lullabies with Secret Garden’s “Nocturne”, via cold Scandi pop with Margaret Berger’s “I Feed You My Love” to the 80s “banger” that wasn’t written in the 80s, Wig Wam’s “In My Dreams
What is Melodi Grand Prix?
Melodi Grand Prix is the Norwegian method of selection for Eurovision. This national final selection method is over 60 years old. The only year where Melodi Grand Prix has not taken place was 2002, when Norway were relegated from the Eurovision Song Contest. Melodi Grand Prix had undertaken a few different formats. The changes in format have mainly taken place in the last few years, since 2020.
Norway’s Eurovision Journey
The Scandinavian nation made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960, with Nora Brockstedt and the song “Voi Voi”, which placed 4th. Since their debut, they have participated 62 times, and made the Grand Final 59 of these. In addition, Norway has won the competition three times – in 1985, 1995, and 2009.
Norway’s latest Eurovision participation saw them being represented by Gåte with the song “Ulveham”. After qualifying for the final, Norway placed 25th and last place in the Grand Final, receiving 16 points, 12 of which from the jury and 4 from televoters.
What do you make of the changes to MGP? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we start our preparations for Eurovision 2025!
News Source: NRK
Photo Credit: Celina Øler / NRK
Rory Gannon 
Giwrgos Oiko