Record number of songs submitted for Melodi Grand Prix 2018

The deadline for submitting songs for Melodi Grand Prix 2018 was midnight last night. For the third year running a record number of entries were recieved. The answer to the question; “But who wants to take part in MGP?” seems to be “Quite a lot of people!”

Record number of songs submitted for Melodi Grand Prix 2018

Close to 1200 songs were submitted by the deadline, which is almost a 20% increase from last year. In 2017 NRK received approximately 1000 songs. As the format of MGP will be very similar to last year’s edition, NRK will now have to reduce these 1200 songs to just 10. It sounds like they’re in for a difficult couple of months.
As if this wasn’t challenging enough, the man responsible for MGP at NRK, Stig Karlsen, is also in contact with central players in the Norwegian music industry. He is actively encouraging procucers, songwriters and artists to submit their work.

Spoilt for choice

It’s clear that Stig Karlsen and his team now have their work cut out for them. Earlier today he told nrk.no; “A lot of talented people want to be part of next year’s MGP. It is going to be painful having to select only 10 songs and artists to compete for the right to represent Norway at Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.” He adds; “This is a luxury problem.”
It was the duo JOWST and Aleksander Walman who represented Norway at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv. They finished in 10th place with the song “Grab the Moment”.

Do you have a favorite Norwegian artist you would like to see on the Eurovision stage in Lisbon?