Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966

Eurovision Song Contest 1966
Country	Norway
National selection
Selection process	Melodi Grand Prix 1966
Selection date(s)	5 February 1966
Selected entrant	Åse Kleveland
Selected song	"Intet er nytt under solen"
Finals performance
Final result	3rd, 15 points

Norway was represented by Åse Kleveland, with the song '"Intet er nytt under solen", at the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City. "Intet er nytt under solen" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 5 February.

Final

The MGP was held at Centralteatret in Oslo, hosted by Øivind Bergh. 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]

MGP - 5 February 1966

Draw	Combo	Orchestra	Song	Points	Place
1	Wenche Myhre	Kirsti Sparboe	"Lørdagstripp"	6	4
2	Grynet Molvig	Anita Thallaug	"Ung og forelsket"	7	3
3	Kirsti Sparboe	Åse Kleveland	"Gi meg fri"	11	2
4	Åse Kleveland	Grynet Molvig	"Intet er nytt under solen"	22	1
5	Anita Thallaug	Wenche Myhre	"Vims"	4	5

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Kleveland performed 6th in the running order, following Yugoslavia and preceding Finland. "Intet er nytt under solen" was an unusual and adventurous song for Eurovision at the time, with a sophisticated, atmospheric instrumental arrangement. Kleveland was the first female performer in Eurovision to appear on stage with a guitar. Voting was by each national jury awarding 5-3-1 to their top 3 songs, and at the close "Intet er nytt under solen" had picked up 15 points (5 from Italy, 3s from Austria, Spain and Sweden, and 1 from Germany), placing Norway third of the 18 entries. This was Norway's best Eurovision showing at the time, and would remain so until the victory of Bobbysocks! in 1985. Kleveland went on to present the 1986 contest in Bergen, the first to be hosted by Norway.^[2]

See also

• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 1966

References

1. ^ ESC National Finals database 1966
2. ^ ESC History - Norway 1966