Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Norwegian entry was selected through Melodi Grand Prix 2012, a national selection consisting of three semi-finals and a final, organised by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Tooji represented Norway with the song "Stay", which qualified from the second semi-final and went on to place 26th in the final, scoring 7 points.
A submission period was opened by NRK until 2 September 2011. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while NRK reserved the right to directly select a performer for the submitted songs. At the close of the deadline, a record-breaking number of 800 submissions were received. Twenty-four songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel consisting of representatives of NRK, record companies and production companies. The competing acts and songs were revealed between 27 October 2011 and 16 January 2012.
Schedule
Semi-final 1
Eight songs competed during the first semi-final on 21 January 2012. The top three entries were selected by public televoting 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.
Semi-final 2
Eight songs competed during the second semi-final on 28 January 2012. The top three entries were selected by public televoting to proceed to the final: "Make It Better" performed by Tommy Fredvang, "Crush" performed by Malin Reitan and "Ola Nordmann" performed by Plumbo.
Semi-final 3
Eight songs competed during the third semi-final on 4 February 2012. The top three entries were selected by public televoting to proceed to the final: "Stay" performed by Tooji, "Things Change" performed by Petter Øien & Bobby Bare and "Sammen" performed by Yaseen & Julie Maria. Lise Karlsnes was awarded the wildcard to proceed to the final among the non-qualifying entries.
Final
Ten songs consisting of the nine semi-final qualifiers and the wildcard qualifier 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 juries from the hosts of the three semi-final cities awarded 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 8,000 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. This led to the victory of "Stay" performed by Tooji with 155,480 votes.
At Eurovision
Norway competed in the second half of the second semi-final, on 24 May 2012, following Slovakia and preceding Bosnia and Herzegovina. Norway received 45 points and placed 10th, thus qualifying for the final on 26 May. Norway tied for 10th place with Bulgaria, however, under tiebreak rules, the number of countries that voted for Norway was higher than the number for Bulgaria. This resulted in Norway qualifying to the final over Bulgaria. In the final, Norway was drawn to perform 12th, following Estonia and preceding Azerbaijan. The Norwegian entry scored a total of 7 points and placed 26th in the final. This was the eleventh last place finish for Norway in an international final.
Split results
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 with 25 points.
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.
