Melodi Grand Prix 1960 was the first edition of Melodi Grand Prix, Norway’s national entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. The final was broadcast on radio and television from Store Studio on 20 February 1960, six months before the official opening of television in Norway. The competition was organised by NRK, and the winner got to represent Norway in the international final in London. The winner of the competition was the song „Voi Voi“, the sung by Nora Brockstedt and the writing by Georg Elgaaen. In the international final, „Voi Voi“ came in joint 4th place with 11 mounds, Norway’s best finish until 1966.
Broadcast
In 1959, NRK announced a competition in which professional musicians and amateurs were encouraged to submit songar to the melody competition Melodi Grand Prix. 303 entries were received, and a jury composed of Øivind Bergh, Erik Diesen, Otto Nielsen and Leif Rustad, sifted the submission down to eleven.
The eleven songs were then performed by Jens Book-Jenssen and Inger Jacobsen in a radio broadcast semi-final on 4 February, where the top six finishers advanced to the final on February 20. The final was mainly made up as a radio broadcast, since very few Norwegians had television at this time. The final was nevertheless broadcast as a test broadcast on television, six months before the official opening of television in Norway.
Erik Diesen rented the final from Store Studio, while Odd Grythe reported directly from the neighbouring studio, where the jury sat. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra played six final melodies under the direction of Øivind Bergh.
[table id=20 /]A jury of twelve persons, among the two randomly selected audience members from Store Studio, judged each song from 1 to 10 points. During the mound thing, the jurors sat behind a wall and saw their mounds through holes in the wall. This was done to prevent the jurors from being influenced by the quarry. The result was as follows:
New round to clear the two songs who came in joint second place:
| R/O | Song | Kolbjørn Ofstad | Håkon Tveten | Jacob Dybwad | Thorleif Østereng | Jens Gunderssen | Bjørn Woll | Carl Solberg | Rolf Syversen | Otto Nes | Asbjørn G. Holmen | Helge Fikstad | Astrid Hanevold | Total |
| 1 | Ny smart hatt | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 99 |
| 3 | En drøm er alt | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 92 |
Jury members: 1. Kolbjørn Ofstad, 2. Håkon Tveten, 3. Jacob Dybwad, 4. Thorleif Østereng, 5. Jens Gunderssen, 6. Bjørn Woll, 7. Carl Solberg, 8. Rolf Syversen, 9. Otto Nes, 10. Asbjørn G. Holmen – and the audience members 11. Helge Fikstad and 12. Astrid Hanevold.
Semi-final results
The semi-final was broadcast on radio on 4 February with Erik Diesen as the host. An expert jury of ten people røysta, and each member gave from 1 to 5 points to each song. The top six finishers make it to the final.
[table id=19 /]NRK had made it clear that whoever sang the winning song in the Norwegian final would not necessarily represent Norway in London. In the end, NRK decided that Nora Brockstedt should still have the honor of becoming Norway’s first representative in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The composers and copywriters became haldne hemmelege until after the winner had been chosen, this in order to avoid the jury being influenced by the woman who had written songane. Hemmeleghaldet was a common practice in the competition in the 1960s, and it was not until 1971 that the composers became known before a Norwegian final.
The vinnarmelody was a big hit and was nine wicks on VG-lista with a 5. place as the highest listing. „Voi Voi“ can today be characterized as an evergreen in Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest history. The title of the song seiast to vere sami for hi hi, but it is also finnish for au da. [It would be another 20 years before a Sami language was used in a vinnar song, such as „Sámiid ædnan“ in the Norwegian final in 1980.