Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976

Norway was represented by Anne-Karine Strøm, with the song '"Mata Hari", at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in The Hague. "Mata Hari" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 7 February. This was a third Eurovision appearance in four contests for Strøm.

Eurovision Song Contest 1976
Country Norway
National selection
Selection processMelodi Grand Prix 1976
Selection date(s)7 February 1976
Selected entrantAnne-Karine Strøm
Selected song"Mata Hari"
Finals performance
Final result18th, 7 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1975 1976 1977►

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1976

The final was held at Centralteatret in Oslo, hosted by Jan Voigt. Five songs were presented in the final with each song sung twice by different singers, once with a small combo and once with a full orchestra which was conducted by Helge Hurum. The winning song was chosen by voting from ten regional juries.[1]

Final – 7 February 1976
Draw Artist Song Points Place
Combo Orchestra
1 Jahn Teigen Anita Skorgan "Hastverk" (Haste) (H. & K. Hauger) 226 3
2 Gudny Aspaas & Jahn Teigen Dag Spantell, Anne Lise Gjøstøl, Gro Anita Schonn & Stein Ingebrigtsen "Alltid en vind" (Always a Breeze) (B. Endreson, T. Hultin) 147 4
3 Gudny Aspaas Hans Petter Hansen "Du fikk meg glad" (You make me Glad) (K.E. Vindtorn, M. Amdahl) 131 5
4 Gudny Aspaas & Jahn Teigen Inger Lise Rypdal & Jahn Teigen "Voodoo" (T. Rypdal) 351 2
5 Gudny Aspaas Anne-Karine Strøm "Mata Hari" (F. Thingnæs, P. Kruse) 643 1

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Strøm performed 9th in the running order, following the Netherlands and preceding Greece. "Mata Hari" was an uptempo song which had been given a very contemporary disco arrangement, and prior to the contest had attracted more attention than was the norm for Norwegian entries at the time. It was not expected to challenge for the win as the consensus was that the title would be fought out between France and the United Kingdom, but was widely predicted as likely to give Norway one of its better placements to date. However things did not go to plan, and at the close of voting "Mata Hari" had picked up only 7 points (4 from Portugal and 3 from the Netherlands), placing Norway last of the 18 entries, the fourth time the country had finished the evening at the foot of the scoreboard. However, in the broadcast, France failed to award its 4 points to Yugoslavia, so the two countries swapped places. In the wake of the poor result, it was widely suggested that Strøm's odd presentation in which she appeared on stage in a very unflattering pair of sunglasses, which she proceeded at apparently random intervals to remove and wave around and then put back on again may have been puzzling and distracting for viewers and juries. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners the United Kingdom.[2]

Points awarded to Norway

Points awarded to Norway
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Norway

12 points United Kingdom
10 points  Switzerland
8 points France
7 points Israel
6 points Belgium
5 points Monaco
4 points Finland
3 points Italy
2 points Austria
1 point Netherlands

See also

References

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