They’re the Scandinavian nation who ended their three-year run of top-ten finishes with an unexpected non-qualification in Stockholm. But Norway’s plans for Kyiv are continuing, with confirmation that its national final Melodi Grand Prix will be held on Saturday 11 March 2017.

While broadcaster NRK has not formally confirmed the date, a listing for Melodi Grand Prix has appeared on Ticketmaster’s website. It lists 11 March as the date of the MGP final, with the show due to be held at Oslo Spektrum arena.

It will be a very busy Saturday for fans of Nordic national finals. The grand finals of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen and Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin will also be held on the same evening.

Last month, MGP boss Stig Karlsen revealed that 1035 entries had been received for the competition. From that, a shortlist of 100 songs will be selected. These will go through various screening processes, before the MGP team select the 10 finalists of Melodi Grand Prix 2017.

Melodi Grand Prix 2017 will also reintroduce international juries. Jury members from 10 to 12 countries will help select the act, offering an international perspective.

Melodi Grand Prix has only used an international jury twice before — in 1985 and 1995 — and both times Norway went on to win Eurovision. Earlier we reported that Norway had looked to Sweden’s recent successes after replacing its regional juries with international juries at Melodifestivalen.

Norway last won Eurovision in 2009 with Alexander Rybak’s “Fairytale”. They have since placed in the top ten three times but placed last in the final in 2012. Norway has also failed to qualify for the grand final twice, most recently in Stockholm with Agnete’s “Icebreaker”.

Meanwhile, Rybak and his violin of victory will make an appearance at the UK’s national final Eurovision: You Decide on 27 January.

Which national final will you be watching on 11 March? Should broadcasters try to avoid date clashes? Share your thoughts below!

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irish esc
irish esc
7 years ago

boo i can only watch one damn you norway , sweden and iceland

Stian F
Stian F
7 years ago

…also I wouldnt be surprised if there will be a live feed from both shows in the others respective show as both shows have international juries this year. So maybe they will make something out of the fact that the neighbour is having the final on the same date 😉 Would also have loved an co-interval act where we “fight” each other as the good neighbours we are 😉

Stian F
Stian F
7 years ago

Great 🙂 Now I can watch all 5 of the Melodifestivalen shows before the final in peace and still get to see the whole of the Norwegian final 🙂 Norways final last year was amazing (as long as we dont consider the songs). Iceland also has semifinals so we get to see all these performances beforehand as well – but Norways final will be the first time we see all the performances 🙂

Grande Amore
Grande Amore
7 years ago

Melodifestivalen is overrated.

Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

@ Denis – if you send formulatic songs with cheesy lyrics and a predictable melody and by chance you’re Sweden (perhaps the most overrated country by the betting odds), then you kinda have a guaranteed high finish. Heck, even the You song from 2013 finished 3rd in the jury votes. It’s beyond me!

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

Polegend Gdgarina, and yet the MF has produced two winners and 5 top 5 entries since 2011. Not bad for a selection that’s supposedly filled with mediocrity.

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Broadcasters should definitely avoid date clashes! Which show am I going to watch now? On the one hand, Iceland is my favorite country at Eurovision and I always get excited about them. But then we have Sweden and Norway, countries that usually have a great national selection too. I guess it will depend on which selection has the best songs… Please, stop this mess from next year on though. 🙁

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

I have to agree with Ali on this. Although it’s a pity for us, (most) broadcasters probably don’t care that much about international viewers – the national viewers are priority – maybe other Saturdays are already packed with other big shows in Norway, idk.

Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

@ Davve – and yet, the Mediocrityfestivalen has hardly produced something better than “Bombo” by Adelén.

Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Adelén better have submitted a song

Smurfen
Smurfen
7 years ago

Wow, bad planning from NRK. What are they thinking?

MF is much better than MGP.

fredrik
fredrik
7 years ago

soooo, im from norway, but im going to watch melfest.

Ali
Ali
7 years ago

To be honest, does a country put on their national final in hopes of people in other countries watching it? i don’t think so. NRK exists to provide norwegian people with entertainment, so I don’t think they care if people outside of Norway don’t watch MGP….. the swedish and norwegian winners will both get plenty of publicity, it doesn’t all hinge on one night of TV

Ddraven
Ddraven
7 years ago

If Portugal having it’s final a week prior to Melfest is already horrible, I can only imagine how bad this will be for Norway (and Iceland too).

Øystein
Øystein
7 years ago

I am Norwegian myself and in my experience, not a considerable amount of the general public will switch to Mello, Loreen alone doesn’t have THAT BIG an exposure for Norwegian people to switch national broadcasters completely (many people I know vaguely remember her as some Eurovision winner), so I don’t think there is a lesson to be learnt at all to be completely honest; NRK has picked a pretty plum primetime broadcasting slot for Norwegian viewers, so whilst Eurofans might tune into Mello instead, I think MGP’s still going to be not too bad off… Obviously, I don’t and can’t… Read more »

fikri
fikri
7 years ago

SCREW NORWAY AND SWEDEN… I’M GONNA WATCH UMK!

nahh jk. i’ll watch melodifestivalen of course. what kind of question is that?! loreen ftw!

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

Yes it is poor planning. More people will watch the MF than the Norwegian MGP. And to be fair I can’t really blame them..
NRK haven’t learned their lesson at all!

MoreMusicLessGlamourPlease
MoreMusicLessGlamourPlease
7 years ago

Too bad it crashes with MF….I thought NRK had learned it’s lesson!

I don’t agree MF is so much better than MGP though. MF is far too much about gitz, glam and cheesy gimnicks too me….too “visual” too much glamour. MGP is more a real “music program”. As ESC should be.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

Yes it IS bad planning, particularly for the performers and songwriters who want to get some international recognition, not just national. There’s also a very real possibility that with Loreen returning to Sweden’s MF this coming year, even Norway’s own audience might watch Sweden’s MF instead. That won’t be good for the Norwegian broadcaster. The only silver lining I can think of is that the non-fanfare approach to the winner may work in the artists’ favour once they get to Eurovision in May. But frankly, with all music videos having the same set deadline nowadays, it’s not much of an… Read more »

No its not poor planning
No its not poor planning
7 years ago

Is it really poor planning if MGP (a show intended for the Norwegian public to select their Eurovision representative) happens to be on the same date as Melodivestivalen (a show intended for the Swedish public to select their Eurovision representative)?

Erik
Erik
7 years ago

I’m Norwegian, and even I’ll choose the Swedish final.

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
7 years ago

Not good. VERY not good. The MGP will be pulverized in the European viewership ratings if Loreen’s song is spectacular and she makes the MF final.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

No wonder Norway’s MGP management haven’t formally announced the date if it clashes with Sweden’s MF! It’s poor planning I’m afraid.

Davve
Davve
7 years ago

Sorry Norway but Swedens national selection is muuuuuuuch better!