NRK have this morning announced the first details of next year’s Melodi Grand Prix 2016 with the news that an International Jury will be making a return to help decide the winner.
The project leader for next year’s competition, Stig Karlsen, announced the news on radio station NRK P2 this morning, citing Sweden’s ever successful Melodifestivalen as one of the main reasons for bringing back the International Jury.
For those unaware of how it all works – an international jury consists of several countries, each of which are represented by a select few who will watch the show and score each song, very much in the same way as the main contest. These scores are converted into Eurovision style points and announced individually, before being added to the final scoreboard.
The International Jury was previously used in MGP 1985 & 1995 when represented by Bobbysocks and Secret Garden – both of whom went on to win the entire contest. NRK are keen to restore their Eurovision glory and feel that taking these steps once again is a ‘Recipe for success’.
– It’s a recipe for success, we’ve tried it two out of three times we’ve won. I think it’s a good idea to test the Norwegian flavor to an International audience.
President of OGAE Norway, Morten Thomassen praised Swedish national selection show Melodifestivalen for their inclusion of an International Jury which has led them to two victories since its introduction in 2011. He is also keen that Eurovision will return to Norwegian soil fairly soon stating ‘We’re going to the finals, and we shall win. Whether it happens in 2017, 2018 or 2019 – we’ll see!”
Watch the International Jury announce their results from this year’s Melodifestivalen final below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-OLCACwlV8
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