Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Fairytale", written and performed by Alexander Rybak. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2009 in order to select its entry for the contest. 21 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals, a Last Chance round and a final. Eight entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 21 February 2009 where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from four regional jury groups and a public televote.

Norway was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 6, "Fairytale" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 16 May. It was later revealed that Norway placed first out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 201 points. In the final, Norway performed in position 20 and placed first out of the 25 participating countries, winning the contest with 387 points. This was Norway's third win in the Eurovision Song Contest and the first since 1995.

Prior to the 2009 contest, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Norway 47 times since its first entry in 1960. It had won the contest on two occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks!, and in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden. It also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last 10 times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has, to this point, finished in the top 10 twice: in 2005 when "In My Dreams" performed by Wig Wam finished ninth, and in 2008 when "Hold On Be Strong" by Maria Haukaas Storeng finished fifth.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, NRK organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2009 contest on 9 June 2008. NRK has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix to select its entry for the contest in all but one of its participation. Along with its participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding its selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2009 in order to select its 2009 entry.

Melodi Grand Prix 2009 was the 47th edition of the national final Melodi Grand Prix, organised by NRK to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. 21 songs were selected to compete in a five-week-long process that commenced on 24 January 2009 and concluded with the final on 21 February 2009. All shows were hosted by Per Sundnes and Maria Haukaas Storeng, who represented Norway in 2008, and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no. The final was also broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.

The competition consisted of five shows: three semi-finals on 24 January 2009, 31 January 2009 and 7 February 2009, a Last Chance round (Sistesjansen) on 14 February 2009 and a final on 21 February 2009. Seven songs competed in each semi-final and the top two entries directly qualified to the final, while the entries that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Last Chance round. Two wildcards were also awarded to proceed to the Last Chance round, one being the act that received the most votes out of the bottom three songs in the semi-finals and one selected by online voting held on the website of VG between 7 and 9 February 2009. An additional two entries qualified to the final from the Last Chance round. The results of the semi-finals and Last Chance round were determined exclusively by public televoting, while the results in the final were determined by jury voting and public televoting. Viewers could vote through telephone and SMS, and for the semi-finals, the public was able to cast their votes on the day before each show was broadcast.

A submission period was opened by NRK between 9 June 2008 and 1 September 2008. A new rule required songwriters to hold Norwegian citizenship or have permanent residency in Norway in order to be eligible to compete. Collaborations with foreign songwriters were permitted, however their percentage of contribution must not exceed 50%. Performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters, and the broadcaster reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete in addition to the public call for submissions. At the close of the deadline, over 350 submissions were received. 21 songs were selected for the competition and their titles were revealed on 10 and 17 December 2008. The seven acts competing in each semi-final were revealed on 22 December 2008, 29 December 2008 and 5 January 2009, respectively, and among the artists was past Eurovision entrant Wenche Myhre who represented Germany in 1968.

Seven songs competed in each of the three semi-finals that took place on 24 January, 31 January and 7 February 2009. The first semi-final took place at the Kongsvinger Hall in Kongsvinger, the second semi-final took place at the Bodø Spektrum in Bodø, and the third semi-final took place at the Skien Fritidspark in Skien, Grenland. In each semi-final the top two directly qualified to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs proceeded to the Last Chance round. "Party" performed by KeSera featuring Anita Hegerland received the most votes out of the bottom three songs in the semi-finals and proceeded to the Last Chance round as a wildcard. Voting for the VG online wildcard ran between 7 and 9 February 2009, and 6,467 votes were registered. Wenche Myhre withdrew from the voting as she was unable to compete in the Last Chance round due to a concert in Portugal. KeSera featuring Hegerland won the voting with 24.58% of the votes, but since they have already been awarded one of the wildcards, "Do It Again" performed by Foxy, which came second with 23.58% of the votes, was awarded the VG wildcard and proceeded to the Last Chance round.