Melodi Grand Prix 2006

Date:	4 February 2006
Presenter:	Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen
Venue:	Oslo Spektrum (other venues hosted semifinals)
Voting:	Jury, SMS and telephone voting
Winner:	Alvedansen performed by Christine Guldbrandsen
Winner's result at Eurovision:	14th

Melodi Grand Prix 2006 (shortened MGP 2006) is the television show in which the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 is chosen.

The contest was held on February 4th in the Oslo Spektrum and was hosted by Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen. In addition, the notorious Eurovision commentator for Norwegian television, Jostein Pedersen played a role as side commentator for all five shows. In the three weeks leading up to the final, four qualification rounds were held; three semi finals, and a second chance round, where the last two final tickets were given out.

The winner was Christine Guldbrandsen with the song Alvedansen.

Swedish dominance

This year, NRK received 586 compositions, one of the highest numbers ever. However, the foreign songs exceed 60% of this total, coming mainly from Swedish composers. And as a result, 13 out of the 18 semi final entries are written by Swedes. However, the top two songs at MGP 2006 were written by Norwegians.

A new concept

The three initial semi finals were held in three different Norwegian cities, based on the successful formula that has been used in the Swedish Melodifestivalen since 2002. That is to say, the semi final concept in Norway is new of the year. NRK has decided that those cities which were awarded with the concept this year, will have the right to host one semi final each for the next three years.

Final

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	Here For The Show	Trine Rein	?	Knocked out
2	I Hear Music	Hans-Petter Moen & Kim Arne Hagen	?	Gold final
3	Dreaming of a New Tomorrow	Tor Endresen	?	Knocked out
4	Absolutely Fabulous	Queentastic	?	Gold final
5	Saturday	Birgitte Einarsen	?	Knocked out
6	Alvedansen	Christine Guldbrandsen	?	Gold final
7	Like A Wind	Veronica Akselsen	?	Knocked out
8	Lost And Found	Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning	?	Gold final

Gold Final

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	I Hear Music	Hans-Petter Moen and Kim Arne Hagen	67223	2
2	Alvedansen	Christine Guldbrandsen	77568	1
3	Lost And Found	Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning	57905	4
4	Absolutely Fabulous	Queentastic	61997	3

• A total of 264,693 televotes were counted in the super final.
• Both the top two songs in the super final were composed by Norwegians, despite NRK having only selected five songs with Norwegian composers out of the initial 18 semi final entries.

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 1

Date:	13 January 2006
Presenter:	Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen
Venue:	Finnmarkshallen, Alta
Voting:	Telephone and SMS voting
Qualifiers:	Here For The Show performed by Trine Rein and Lost And Found performed by Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning
Second Chance:	Misled performed by Kirsti Carr and Sunshine performed by Arlene Wilkes

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	Here For The Show	Trine Rein	?	Final
2	Lost And Found	Jorun Erdal and Geir Rönning	?	Final
3	Misled	Kirsti Carr	?	Second chance
4	My Dream	Christina Undhjem	?	Knocked out
5	Tonight	Mocci	?	Knocked out
6	Sunshine	Arlene Wilkes	?	Second chance

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 2

Date:	20 January 2006
Presenter:	Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen
Venue:	Bodø Spektrum, Bodø
Voting:	Telephone and SMS voting
Qualifiers:	Absolutely Fabulous performed by Queentastic and I Hear Music performed by Hans-Petter Moen and Kim Arne Hagen
Second Chance:	The Better Side of Me performed by Ovi Martin and I Wanna Be performed by Jannicke Abrahamsen

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	Absolutely Fabulous	Queentastic	?	Final
2	Heaven's In Your Eyes	Hanne Haugsand	?	Knocked out
3	The Better Side of Me	Ovi Martin	?	Second chance
4	Too Much Love	Marit Strømøy	?	Knocked out
5	I Hear Music	Hans-Petter Moen and Kim Arne Hagen	?	Final
6	I Wanna Be	Jannicke Abrahamsen	?	Second chance

Semifinal 3

Semifinal 3

Date:	27 January 2000
Presenter:	Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen
Venue:	Framohallen, Bergen
Voting:	Telephone and SMS voting
Qualifiers:	Alvedansen performed by Christine Guldbrandsen and Dreaming of a New Tomorrow performed by Tor Endresen
Second Chance:	Saturday performed by Birgitte Einarsen and Like a Wind performed by Veronica Akselsen

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	Saturday	Birgitte Einarsen	?	Second chance
2	Like A Wind	Veronica Akselsen	?	Second chance
3	Shut Up And Kiss Me	Phung	?	Knocked out
4	Alvedansen	Christine Guldbrandsen	?	Final
5	Paparazzi World	Kathrine Strugstad	?	Knocked out
6	Dreaming of a New Tomorrow	Tor Endresen	?	Final

Second Chance Round

Second Chance Round

Date:	3 February 2006
Presenter:	Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen
Venue:	Oslo Spektrum, Oslo
Voting:	Telephone and SMS voting
Qualifiers:	Saturday performed by Birgitte Einarsen and Like A Wind performed by Veronica Akselsen

Running order	Song	Artist	Televotes	Place
1	Misled	Kirsti Carr	?	Knocked out
2	Sunshine	Arlene Wilkes	?	Knocked out
3	The Better Side of Me	Ovi Martin	?	Knocked out
4	I Wanna Be	Jannicke Abrahamsen	?	Knocked out
5	Saturday	Birgitte Einarsen	?	Final
6	Like A Wind	Veronica Akselsen	?	Final

External links

Official site

• NRK: Melodi Grand Prix 2006

Artists' websites

• Christine Guldbrandsen
• Trine Rein
• Queentastic
• Mocci
• Jorun Erdal
• Geir Rönning
• Ovi Martin
• Kathrine Strugstad
• Tor Endresen