Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "Stress", composed by Tor Hultin, with lyrics by Ola B. Johannessen, and performed by Odd Børre. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 1968 in order to select its entry for the contest.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1968 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) | |||
| Country |  Norway | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Melodi Grand Prix 1968 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 2 March 1968 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Odd Børre | |||
| Selected song | "Stress" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 13th, 2 points | |||
| Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
"Stress" originally finished second in the Melodi Grand Prix on 3 March, but NRK chose it as the Norwegian entry when the winning song "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg" was withdrawn for Eurovision by its composer amid persistent allegations that it plagiarised the 1963 hit "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard – who was the United Kingdom's representative in the 1968 contest.
Before Eurovision
editMelodi Grand Prix 1968
editNorsk rikskringkasting (NRK) held the Melodi Grand Prix 1968 at its studios in Oslo, hosted by Jan Voigt.
Five performers and songs took part in the final with each song sung twice by different singers, once with a small combo and once with a full orchestra. The winning song was chosen by voting from ten regional juries.[1]
| Draw | Combo | Orchestra | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Per Asplin | Nora Brockstedt | "Nysgjerrig-Per" | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Kirsti Sparboe | Odd Børre | "Stress" | 14 | 2 |
| 3 | Nora Brockstedt | Per Müller | "Nordlys" | 10 | 3 |
| 4 | Kirsti Sparboe | Odd Børre | "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg" | 20 | 1 (W/D) |
| 5 | Per Müller | Per Asplin | "Ingenmannsland" | 2 | 5 |
At Eurovision
editOn the night of the final Børre performed 13th in the running order, following the United Kingdom and preceding Ireland. Each national jury had 10 points to distribute between the songs, and at the close "Stress" had picked up 2 points (1 each from Luxembourg and Spain), placing Norway joint 13th (with Austria and Switzerland) of the 17 entries. The Norwegian jury awarded 6 of its 10 points to Sweden.[2]
The conductor of the Norwegian entry was Øivind Bergh.
Voting
edit
References
edit- ^ ESC National Finals database 1968
- ^ ESC History - Norway 1968
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of London 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.