Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Alvedansen" written by Kjetil Fluge, Christine Guldbrandsen and Atle Halstensen. The song was performed by Christine Guldbrandsen. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2006 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. 18 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals, a Last Chance round and a final. Eight entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 4 February 2006 where the winner was determined over two rounds of public televoting. The top four entries in the first round of voting advanced to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of public televoting, "Alvedansen" performed by Christine Guldbrandsen was selected as the winner with 77,568 votes.
As one of the ten highest placed finishers in 2005, Norway automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing during the show in position 5, Norway placed fourteenth out of the 24 participating countries with 36 points.
Background
Prior to the 2006 contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 44 times since its first entry in . Norway had won the contest on two occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks!, and in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden. Norway also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last 10 times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has, to this point, finished in the top 10 once: in 2005 when Wig Wam finished ninth with the song "In My Dreams".
The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. NRK confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 July 2005. The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participation. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2006 in order to select the 2006 Norwegian entry.
Before Eurovision
Melodi Grand Prix 2006
Melodi Grand Prix 2006 was the 44th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. 18 songs were selected to compete in a five-week-long process that commenced on 13 January 2006 and concluded with the final on 4 February 2006. All shows were hosted by Synnøve Svabø and Stian Barsnes Simonsen and televised on NRK1 with commentary by Jostein Pedersen as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.
Format
The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 13, 20 and 27 January 2006, a Last Chance round (Sistesjansen) on 3 February 2006 and a final on 4 February 2006. Seven songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries directly qualified to the final. The entries that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Last Chance round, and the bottom two were eliminated from the competition. An additional two entries qualified to the final from the Last Chance round. The results of the all shows were determined exclusively by public televoting. Viewers could vote through telephone and SMS.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by NRK between 4 July 2005 and 1 October 2005. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, however NRK reserved the right to choose the performers for the selected songs written by foreign songwriters. Songs longer than three minutes were also eligible to compete, however they could only last up to 3:20. At the close of the deadline, 586 submissions were received. 18 songs were selected for the competition and the six acts and songs competing in each of the three semi-finals were revealed on 20 December 2005, 27 December 2005 and 2 January 2006, respectively. Among the artists were past Eurovision entrants Tor Endresen who represented Norway in 1997, Hanne Haugsand who represented Norway in 2000 as part of the group Charmed, and Geir Rönning who represented Finland in 2005.