The MGP was held at the Château Neuf in Oslo, hosted by Dan Børge Akerø. Sixteen songs had taken part in a series of semi-finals in which songs were paired and the winner from each pair, as chosen by a panel of 1,000 viewers, qualified for the final, along with two losing songs which were given wildcards. Ten songs took part in the final, with the winner chosen by voting from seven regional juries. Other participants included three-time Norwegian representative and MGP regular Jahn Teigen and Tor Endresen, who would represent Norway in 1997.
The Semifinals
In each semi-final the songs competed in pairs. 1000 people were invited to televote for their favourite song from each pair. After the semi-finals were held, two of the losing songs were awarded ‚wildcards‘ to the final by an „expert“ jury.
Semi-Final 1 – January 30th
| 1 | Nå | Now | Siri Beathe Gellein |
26.6% |
– |
| 2 | Hvor er du | Where are you | Trond Armand Larsen & Krist Juuhl |
73.4% |
F |
| 1 | Je ne sais pas | I don’t know | Anita Kanstad |
26.4% |
W |
| 2 | Glasnost | Glasnost | Jahn Teigen |
73.6% |
F |
Semi-Final 2 – February 13th
| 1 | Mitt land òg | My country too | David Chocron & Band |
71% |
F |
| 2 | Deilige drøm | Sweet dream | Jan Eggum |
29% |
W |
| 1 | Jeg vil elske deg | I want to love you | Lise Haavik |
44% |
– |
| 2 | Sove i natt | Sleep tonight | Tore Hansen |
56% |
F |
Semi-Final 3 – February 27th
| 1 | Åpne døre | Open doors | Odd Arvid Eilertsen, Tor & Sverre Kjelsberg |
12% |
– |
| 2 | Hei go go | Hey go go | Ola Fjellvikås |
88% |
F |
| 1 | Du skal leve | You shall live | Karina Hjelen & Lars Jones |
47% |
– |
| 2 | Lengt | Long | Iselin Alme & Tor Endresen |
53% |
F |
Semi-Final 4 – March 12th
| 1 | Din tur | Your turn | Stig Gjendem | 23% |
– |
| 2 | For vår jord | For our earth | Karoline Krüger | 77% |
F |
| 1 | Natten er din og min | The night is yours and mine | Elisabeth Moberg & Terry Heart | 69% |
F |
| 2 | Jeg lever i en boks | I live in a box | Mannen i Boksen | 31% |
– |
Lise Haavik represented Denmark in ESC 1986 as lead singer of the group Trax, while Sverre Kjelsberg represented Norway in ESC 1980.
The Grand Final
| 1 | Mitt land, og | My country too | David Chocron | 42 |
5th |
| 2 | Hei go go | Hey go go | Ola Fjellvikås | 54 |
3rd |
| 3 | Natten er din og min | The night is yours and mine | Terry Heart & Elisabeth Moberg | 38 |
7th |
| 4 | Glasnost | Glasnost | Jahn Teigen | 55 |
2nd |
| 5 | Deilige drøm | Sweet dream | Jan Eggum | 16 |
10th |
| 6 | Sove i natt? | Sleep tonight? | Tore Hansen | 41 |
6th |
| 7 | Hvor er du? | Where are you? | Trond Armand Larsen & Krist Juuhl | 18 |
9th |
| 8 | For vår jord | For our earth | Karoline Krüger | 65 |
1st |
| 9 | Je ne sais pas | I don’t know | Anita Kanstad | 25 |
8th |
| 10 | Lengt | Long | Tor Endresen & Iselin Alme | 52 |
4th |
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Karoline Krüger came 5th at the ESC, where Tor Endresen & Elisabeth Moberg were amongst her backing singers. Jahn Teigen represented Norway in ESC 1978, 1982 & 1983. Iselin Alme was a backing singer for Norway in ESC 1981.