Norway: Alessandra wins 'Melodi Grand Prix' with 'Queen of Kings'

On Saturday 4 February, Norway watched as 9 Melodi Grand Prix finalists were performed, having made their way to the evening's final via 3 weeks of semi-finals. 

After an exciting vote that saw multiple entries in with a shot at winning, the song that triumphed in the end was Queen of Kings by Alessandra.

The Norwegian voting public weren't alone in scoring the 9 songs. For Melodi Grand Prix 2023, Norwegian broadcaster NRK introduced an international jury comprising 10 countries with 5 jurors apiece. Both the international jury and the public vote had a 50% say in deciding on Norway's entry to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Queen of Kings by Alessandra won both the international jury vote, and the public vote - resulting in a unanimous winner of Melodi Grand Prix 2023.

Queen of Kings is the debut single to be released from newcomer Alessandra Mele.

Going into Melodi Grand Prix, Alessandra had the highest charting song of the 9 finalists on Spotify. And on Saturday 4 Feburary, the day of the Melodi Grand Prix final, Queen of Kings had climbed to the number 1 position on Spotify Global's viral chart.

You can listen to the other 8 songs that competed at Melodi Grand Prix 2023 right here.

Norway will perform in the First Semi-Final at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in May. 

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Norway made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960. The Nordic nation has the dubious record of finishing last most times (11 in total), including scoring nul points on 4 occasions. However, Norway has won the contest 3 times and scored the biggest margin of victory ever in 2009, with Fairytale by Alexander Rybak.

The first Norwegian victory happened in 1985, when Bobbysocks won with La Det Swinge. Secret Garden scored the second victory for Norway with Nocturne., 10 years after that in 1995.

In the past 10 Contests, Norway has scored a Top 10 finish an impressive 6 times.