Best of the Bunch: Norway

Norway debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1960, and since then, has won the contest three times, in 1985, 1995 and 2009. On the other end of the scale, Norway has also score no less than 11 last places, with 4 of those nul points. Today, we’re beginning our Norwegian Eurovision journey in 2006, continuing through to 2015 to decide which Norwegian song is the Best of the Bunch from the last 10 years!

In 2006, Norway sent Christine Guldbrandsen with the song Alvedansen, which was sung in Norwegian. This was the only time within these latest 10 years where we would hear the Norwegian language sung at the contest. Norway had automatically qualified to the final as they were top 11 in the previous year. In the final, the song ended up in 14^th place.

The following year, Guri Schanke was chosen to represent Norway with the song Ven a Bailar Conmigo. The upbeat pop song was in English and Spanish, however it wasn’t enough to win over the audience, ending up in 18^th place in the semi-final with 48 points.

Norway continued the girl power, sending Maria Haukaas Storeng with Hold On Be Strong. The classy performance of a good pop song took the song into the final, and received 182 points to end up in 5^th place. Not bad, Norway!

In 2009, Norway hit the jackpot with Alexander Rybak. The song was called Fairytale, and managed to score the highest amount of points ever up until that point in Eurovision history. Alexander easily made it through the final with a total of 201 points, and then the record breaking 387 points in the final to score Norway’s third Eurovision win, first since 1995.

With the hometown advantage (or, the hometown pressure), Norway selected Didrik Solli-Tangen with the uplifting love song, My Heart is Yours. Being in the final automatically, it didn’t have to face the semi-final, and it finished up in 20^th place with 35 points.

In 2011, the nation sent Stella Mwangi with the song Haba Haba. The song featured English and Swahili, but it wasn’t enough to push the song through to the final, ending up in 17^th place in the semi-final, with 30 points.

The following year, it was up to Tooji to get Norway back into the final with the pop track titled Stay. The song just scraped through to the final in 10^th spot, however ended up in last place in the final with 7 points.

In 2013, the Norwegian public selected Margaret Berger as the lucky artist to represent their country on the international stage. The song was called I Feed You My Love and was a hit with the Eurovision audiences. The song ended up in 4^th position in the final with a total of 191 points.

In the next year, Norway was represented by Carl Espen and his ballad Silent Storm. The song sailed through to the final, and ended up in 8^th place in the final with a total of 88 points.

And the last of our Best of the Bunch years is 2015, where the duo of Mørland and Debrah Scarlett were chosen to represent Norway with the song A Monster Like Me. Like the previous year, Norway easily qualified to the final, and ended up in 8^th place with a total of 102 points.

Now, the decision is up to you! Tell us in the poll down below which Norwegian song you think is the Best of the Bunch!