Norway debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 and has competed in every contest except for two of them: 1970 (boycotted due to the four-way tied result of the previous year) and 2002 (relegation).
From the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, the Bendik Singers and their songwriters dominated Norway's participations; Anne-Karine Strøm making appearances in 1973 and 1974 with the group, and 1976 as a soloist, Ellen Nikolaysen appearing as a backing singer in 1974, and a soloist in 1975, whereas Arne Bendiksen (soloist in 1964) wrote songs for Åse Kleveland, Kirsti Sparboe and Hanne Krogh.
The nation is the ultimate example of being an "under-achiever" in the contest, even more so than its Nordic neighbor, Finland. Norway has appeared at the bottom of the results table a record 12 times - four of those occasions with the dreaded Nul Points! Ironically, Jahn Teigen's 1978 "nul pointer" became a huge hit and stayed on the Norwegian charts for 20 weeks.
Despite their losing form, Norway has also won the contest 3 times: Bobbysocks! gave the country its first win in 1985, Secret Garden followed 10 years later in 1995, and in 2009, Alexander Rybak's Fairytale shattered the all-time point record and earned 16 sets of 12-point scores.
In the semifinal era, Norway finished in the top 10 five times. Overall in the contest, they have 11 top 5 finishes and 21 top 10 finishes.
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.png "01 Norway - Kate Gulbrandsen - Mitt liv (2).png (531 KB)")
.PNG "22 Norway - Lars Fredriksen - Alltid sommer (2).PNG (551 KB)")
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