The location of this year's Melodi Grand Prix2008 in Norway, Oslo Spektrum, was packed with cheerful people when the outcome of tonight's final was revealed. Maria Haukaas Storeng is going to represent the Scandinavian country in Belgrade in May. Maria Haukaas Storeng's win was superior in votes to her contestants after the voting procedure had finished; she won with more than 75,000 votes to the runner-up!
For many people including bookmakers, it was a big surprise that CRASH! and Ann-Mari Andersen did not make the 'golden finalists' round.
The voting procedure
Out of the eight finalist, four 'golden finalists' were selected by televote to present their songs once more. The voting procedure at Melodi Grand Prix 2008 was made up both by juries and televoters. Three juries from Stavanger, Kongsvinger and Bodø each gave a finalist 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 or 10,000 votes, and after that the televotes were reaveled from five different regions of the country. The 'golden finalists' were:
Torstein Sødal - Eastern Wind
Veronica Akselsen - Am I Supposed To Love Again
King of Trolls - Far Away
Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong
Entries eliminated after the first round:
Ann-Mari Andersen - Ándagassii
CRASH! - Get Up
Ole Ivars - Som I Himmelen
Tinkerbells – Hold On
The result
Tonight's result of Melodi Grand Prix 2008 after the voting procedure is as follows:
Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong 195,661 votes
Torstein Sødal - Eastern Wind 118,095 votes
King of Trolls - Far Away 115,011 votes
Veronica Akselsen - Am I Supposed To Love Again 109,957 votes
The selected entrant for Norway is going to participate in the first Semi-Final in Belgrade, on the 20th of May.
