Norway is a country of mixed fortunes in the Eurovision Song Contest, coming last 10 times but also winning the competition in 1985, 1995 and 2009.
Now NRK has opened shop for entries to follow in the footsteps of Bobbysocks, Secret Garden and Alexander Rybak, calling for songwriters to send in their songs for the 2012 edition of Melodi Grand Prix, the popular Norwegian national selection.
Last year the broadcaster received more than 700 songs and they hope for just as many this year, says Skjalg Solstad, NRK project leader.
Presenter of Melodi Grand Prix, Per Sundnes already knows what he wants to see in 2012, "I hope we have more comebacks and that we get even more hard metal songs. I would also like to see more R&B and hip pop, more arctic pop, electronica and of course something sami-inspired. I want bigger voices and better shows".
Acts such as Secret Garden and Alexander Rybak both found success by entering Melodi Grand Prix and subsequently went on to win Europe's TV show. NRK hope that there will be a similar hit entry among the songs it receives for 2012.
Entries must be received by NRK by the 2nd of September. Details of venues and dates of the Norwegian selection will be released here as soon as they become available, later on in the year.
This year in Düsseldorf, Stella Mwangi unfortunately did not qualify to the final with her uptempo and colourful number, Haba Haba.
