Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Melodi Grand Prix 2012 was the 50th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition consisted of three semi-finals and a final in different cities across Norway, hosted by Marte Stokstad and Per Sundnes.[3] The shows were televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[4]

The competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals on 21 January, 28 January and 4 February 2012 and a final on 11 February 2012. Eight songs competed in each semi-final and the top three entries proceeded to the final. The results in the semi-finals were determined exclusively by public televoting. A jury panel also selected out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals a wildcard to proceed to the final. The results in the final were determined by public televoting and three regional juries.

A submission period was opened by NRK between 30 June 2011 and 2 September 2011. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while NRK reserved the right to choose the performers of the selected songs in consultation with the songwriters.[5] At the close of the deadline, a record-breaking 800 submissions were received. Twenty-four songs were selected for the competition by an eight-member jury panel consisting of representatives of NRK, record companies and production companies.[6][7] The competing acts and songs were revealed between 27 October 2011 and 16 January 2012, while the songs were premiered on 16 January 2012.

Eight songs competed during the first semi-final on 21 January 2012. The top three entries were selected to proceed to the final: "High on Love" performed by Reidun Sæther, "Somewhere Beautiful" performed by Nora Foss al-Jabri and "Don't Touch the Flame" performed by The Carburetors.

Eight songs competed during the second semi-final on 28 January 2012. The top three entries were selected to proceed to the final: "Make It Better" performed by Tommy Fredvang, "Crush" performed by Malin Reitan and "Ola Nordmann" performed by Plumbo.

Eight songs competed during the third semi-final on 4 February 2012. The top three entries were selected to proceed to the final: "Stay" performed by Tooji, "Things Change" performed by Petter Øien & Bobby Bare and "Sammen" performed by Yaseen & Julie Maria.

Ten songs consisting of the nine semi-final qualifiers alongside the jury wildcard, Lise Karlsnes, competed during the final on 11 February 2012. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four entries were selected by public televoting to proceed to the second round, the Gold Final: "Stay" performed by Tooji, "Ola Nordmann" performed by Plumbo, "Somewhere Beautiful" performed by Nora Foss al-Jabri and "Things Change" performed by Petter Øien & Bobby Bare. In the Gold Final, three regional juries from the three semi-final host cities awarded 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 points to their top four songs. The results of the public televote were then revealed by Norway's five regions and added to the jury scores, leading to the victory of "Stay" performed by Tooji with 155,480 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured performances of Eurovision Song Contest 2009 winner Alexander Rybak.

• In the Semi-final Norway came 10th with 45 points: the public awarded Norway 6th place with 72 points and the jury awarded 18th place (last) with 25 points.[9]
• In the Final Norway came 26th with 7 points: the public awarded Norway 24th place with 16 points and the jury awarded 24th place with 24 points.[9]