The Norwegian preselection Melodi Grand Prix 2008 has been very exciting, and Norwegian television viewers has had quite a number of entries to choose from. 600 entries were submitted of which 16 went on to compete in the three semi-finals. The semi-finals took place in the Norwegian cities of Stavanger, Kongsvinger and Bodø, and the big final will take place in the capital of Oslo at the Spektrum arena.
The voting procedure
The voting procedure at Melodi Grand Prix 2008 is made up both by juries and televoters. Three juries from Stavanger, Kongsvanger and Bodø will give each finalist 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 or 10,000 votes, and after that the televotes will be reaveled from five different regions of the country. The song who ends up with the highest amount of votes in total will represent Norway in Belgrade.
Only Norwegian composers
Despite the fact that national broadcaster NRK allowed both international and domestic composers and songwriters to submit songs, only Norwegian composers were selected. This is interesting because the tendency is that many countries select or invite international composers to write songs.
Who is taking part?
The line-up for the final is as follows:
Veronica Akselsen - Am I Supposed To Love Again
Ann-Mari Andersen - Andagazzi
Crash! - Get Up
Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong
Torstein Sødal - Eastern Wind
King of Trolls - Far Away
Ole Ivars - Som I Himmelen
Tinkerbells – Hold On
The winner of tonight's Norsk Melodi Grand Prix 2008 will appear in the first Semi-Final in Belgrade on May 20th.
