Norwegian broadcaster NRK has admitted that during the first two shows of Melodi Grand Prix 2021 technical difficulties occurred during the voting.
The issue is said to result in some votes not being counted. NRK stated that, because the issue only affected users of older Android and IOS operating systems, the impact was very small, and did not affect the results of the shows, which Blåsemafian feat. Hazel and Raylee won respectively. The issue has now been fixed and will no longer be a problem for the voting.
Voting problems are not new to MGP. Lst year the voting system experienced severe difficulties which resulted in a back-up jury having to be used to select the gold finalists. A further investigation by NRK showed that the huge engagement given to the Emoji reactions caused the problem. For 2021, the systems have been adapted, and this will not be a problem in 2021.
Norway in The Eurovision Song Contest
Norway joined the Eurovision family in 1960, and has appeared in 58 contests ever since, only missing the 1970 and 2002 contests. Norway has won the contest three times, in 1985 with La Det Swinge, 10 years later, in 1995, Secret Garden took the trophy home with Nocturne. Norway’s most recent winner is Alexander Rybak, who won the contest in 2009 with his song Fairytale. Norway has, finished in the top 5 on 11 occasions, but they also finished last on 11 occasions, with the latest being in 2012 with Tooji’s Stay. Some of Norway’s most memorable entries include I Evihget (1986), Alvedansen (2006), I Feed You My Love (2013) and A Monster Like Me (2015). Ulrikke was selected to represent Norway in 2020, before the contest got cancelled.
photo credit: Julia Marie Naglestad/NRK
