Melodi Grand Prix 2008 was the 46th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix and selected Norway’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The competition consisted of three semi-finals, a Second Chance round and a final in different cities across Norway, hosted by Per Sundnes. The shows were televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK’s official website nrk.no.
Format
The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 12, 19 and 26 January 2008, the Second Chance (Siste Sjansen) round on 6 February 2008 and a final on 9 February 2008. Six songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries proceeded directly to the final, while the songs that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Second Chance round. An additional two entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final. The results in the semi-finals and Second Chance round were determined exclusively by public televoting. The results in the final were determined by public televoting and four regional juries.
Competing entries
A submission period was opened by NRK between 9 July 2007 and 1 September 2007. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, while performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters. In addition to the public call for submissions, NRK reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete. At the close of the deadline, 600 submissions were received – 118 more than the previous year. Eighteen songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel. The competing songs were revealed on 13 December 2007, while the competing artists in each semi-final were revealed on 18 December 2007, 28 December 2007 and 4 January 2008, respectively.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Ann-Mari Andersen | „Ándagassii“ | Stein Austrud, Ann-Mari Andersen |
| Anne Hvidsten | „A Little More“ | Anne Hvidsten |
| Avalanche | „Two Monkeys (On the Roof)“ | Kjetil Røsnes, Kirsti Johansen |
| Crash! | „Get Up“ | Trond „Teeny“ Holter |
| Cube | „Would You Spend the Night With Me?“ | Åge Sten „Glam“ Nilsen |
| King of Trolls | „Far Away“ | Frode Anderssen |
| Lene Alexandra | „Sillycone Valley“ | Ivar Winther, Kam An Leung |
| Maria Haukaas Storeng | „Hold On Be Strong“ | Mira Craig |
| Maria Trøen | „Hear When I’m Calling“ | Jarl Aanestad |
| Michelle | „Don’t Stop the Music“ | Fred Ball, Hannah Robinson |
| Nicholas Carlie | „Colliding“ | Nate Campany, PK Ottestad |
| Ole Ivars | „Som i himmelen“ | William Kristoffersen |
| Podium | „Lystgass“ | Tørje Lennavik, Håkan Fjerdingen |
| Sven Garås | „I’m in Love“ | Robin Nordahl, Ingrid Nørsett |
| Tinkerbells | „Hold On“ | Aina Beate Gundersen, Svein Gundersen, Jan Groth |
| Torstein Sødal | „Eastern Wind“ | Christian Ingebrigtsen, Eivind Rølles |
| Veronica Akselsen | „Am I Supposed to Love Again?“ | Anne Takle, Lalia Samuelsen |
| Zuma | „Always, Always“ | Alexander Stenerud |
Semi-finals
Three semi-finals took place on 12, 18 and 26 January 2008, held at the Sandvigå in Stavanger, the Kongsvinger Hall in Kongsvinger, and the Bodø Spektrum in Bodø. Six songs competed in each semi-final, the top two acts as determined by public televoting progressed to the final, which the third- and fourth-placed acts progressed to the Last Chance round.
| Semi-final 1 – 12 January 2008 | |||
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Podium | „Lystgass“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 2 | Ann-Mari Andersen | „Ándagassii“ | Final |
| 3 | Nicholas Carlie | „Colliding“ | Out |
| 4 | Michelle | „Don’t Stop the Music“ | Out |
| 5 | Tinkerbells | „Hold On“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 6 | Veronica Akselsen | „Am I Supposed to Love Again?“ | Final |
| Semi-final 2 – 18 January 2008 | |||
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Zuma | „Always, Always“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 2 | Cube | „Would You Spend the Night With Me?“ | Out |
| 3 | Anne Hvidsten | „A Little More“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 4 | Crash! | „Get Up“ | Final |
| 5 | Sven Garås | „I’m in Love“ | Out |
| 6 | Maria Haukaas Storeng | „Hold On Be Strong“ | Final |
| Semi-final 3 – 26 January 2008 | |||
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Avalanche | „Two Monkeys (On the Roof)“ | Out |
| 2 | Maria Trøen | „Hear When I’m Calling“ | Out |
| 3 | Ole Ivars | „Som i himmelen“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 4 | Lene Alexandra | „Sillycone Valley“ | Siste Sjansen |
| 5 | Torstein Sødal | „Eastern Wind“ | Final |
| 6 | King of Trolls | „Far Away“ | Final |
Last Chance round
The six entries that placed third and fourth in the preceding three semi-finals competing during the Last Chance (Siste sjansen) round on 6 February 2008 at the Oslo Stratos in Oslo. „Hold On“ performed by Tinkerbells and „Som i himmelen“ performed by Ole Ivars proceeded to the final.
Last Chance – 6 February 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Podium | „Lystgass“ | Out |
| 2 | Tinkerbells | „Hold On“ | Final |
| 3 | Zuma | „Always, Always“ | Out |
| 4 | Anne Hvidsten | „A Little More“ | Out |
| 5 | Ole Ivars | „Som i himmelen“ | Final |
| 6 | Lene Alexandra | „Sillycone Valley“ | Out |
Final
Eight songs consisting of the six semi-final qualifiers alongside two qualifiers from the Second Chance round competed during the final on 9 February 2008 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo. 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: „Am I Supposed to Love Again?“ performed by Veronica Akselsen, „Far Away“ performed by King of Trolls, „Eastern Wind“ performed by Torstein Sødal and „Hold On Be Strong“ performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng. In the Gold Final, three regional juries from the three semi-final host cities awarded 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 and 10,000 points to their top four songs. The results of the public televote were revealed by Norway’s five regions and added to the jury scores, leading to the victory of „Hold On Be Strong“ performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng with 195,661 votes. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured performances by 1978, 1982 and 1983 Norwegian Eurovision entrant Jahn Teigen, who performed several of his past Melodi Grand Prix entries: „Optimist“, „Mil etter mil“, „Do Re Mi“ and „Glasnost“.
Final – 9 February 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Crash! | „Get Up“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Ann-Mari Andersen | „Ándagassii“ | Eliminated |
| 3 | Tinkerbells | „Hold On“ | Eliminated |
| 4 | Veronica Akselsen | „Am I Supposed to Love Again?“ | Gold Final |
| 5 | King of Trolls | „Far Away“ | Gold Final |
| 6 | Ole Ivars | „Som i himmelen“ | Eliminated |
| 7 | Torstein Sødal | „Eastern Wind“ | Gold Final |
| 8 | Maria Haukaas Storeng | „Hold On Be Strong“ | Gold Final |
Gold Final – 9 February 2008
| Regional | Juries | Televoting | Regions | |||||||||
| Draw | Artist | Song | Stavanger | Kongsvinger | Bodø | Northern Norway | Central Norway | Western Norway | Eastern Norway | Southern Norway | Total | Place |
| 1 | Veronica Akselsen | „Am I Supposed to Love Again?“ | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4,713 | 10,878 | 11,505 | 55,751 | 11,11 | 109,957 | 4 |
| 2 | King of Trolls | „Far Away“ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7,52 | 14,627 | 15,043 | 58,797 | 13,824 | 115,811 | 3 |
| 3 | Torstein Sødal | „Eastern Wind“ | 10 | 4 | 4 | 5,391 | 10,423 | 15,308 | 46,226 | 22,747 | 118,095 | 2 |
| 4 | Maria Haukaas Storeng | „Hold On Be Strong“ | 6 | 10 | 10 | 22,056 | 23,396 | 21,169 | 83,342 | 19,698 | 195,661 | 1 |
Spokespersons
Stavanger: Kirsti Sparboe
Kongsvinger: Anne-Karine Strøm
Bodø: Ketil Stokkan
Northern Norway: Jenny Jenssen
Central Norway: Mona Grudt
Western Norway: Synnøve Skarbø
Eastern Norway: Linn Skåber
Southern Norway: Jorun Stiansen
Maria Haukaas Storeng came 5th at the ESC.
