Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978
Norway was represented at the Eurovision [Song Contest 1978] with the song "Mil etter mil", written by Kai Eide, and performed by Jahn Teigen. The Norwegian participating broadcaster, NRK, selected its entry through the Melodi Grand Prix 1978. Teigen would also represent Norway in and.
"Mil etter mil" is famous both for Teigen's notoriously bizarre stage performance in Paris, and for being the first song ever to score nul-points under the 12 points voting system.
Before Eurovision
1978
NRK held the Melodi Grand Prix 1978 at its studios in Oslo, hosted by Egil Teige. The orchestra was conducted by Carsten Klouman. Eight songs took part in the final, with the winner chosen by a 9-member expert jury, which included Ellen Nikolaysen, who represented as part of the Bendik Singers and in as a solo artist; and Odd Børre, who represented. The rankings of the jury members were used to calculate the result so the song with the lowest aggregate score was the winner.| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Score | Place |
| 1 | New Jordal Swingers | "Spilleman" | Eigil Berg, Ivar Hovden | 50 | 6 |
| 2 | Stein Ingebrigtsen | "Fortsett sangen" | Petter Hurlen, Espen Dietrichs | 43 | 5 |
| 3 | Maj-Britt Andersen | "Hør hva andre har fått til" | Kristian Lindeman | 40 | 4 |
| 4 | Anne Lise Gjøstøl | "Min sang" | Halvdan Presthus | 20 | 2 |
| 5 | Septimus | "La meg bli med deg" | Torbjørn Daleng, Gunnar Jørstad | 37 | 3 |
| 6 | Ingrid Elisabeth Johansen | "Den danseglade fruen" | Dag Kolsrud | 52 | 7 |
| 7 | Anita Skorgan and Georg Keller | "Prima Donna" | Svein Strugstad, Dag Nordtømme | 67 | 8 |
| 8 | Jahn Teigen | "Mil etter mil" | Kai Eide | 15 | 1 |
At Eurovision
The contest was broadcast on NRK1 with commentary by Bjørn Scheele, and on NRK radio with commentary by.On the night of the final Teigen performed second in the running order, following and preceding. His stage performance appeared inexplicable at the time, involving braces-twanging and a huge split leap into the air which were completely at odds with the nature of the song. However it was later rumoured that Teigen was unhappy with the new arrangement the song had been given by NRK following the Melodi Grand Prix, and had performed in a deliberately inappropriate manner to vent his displeasure. Nevertheless the performance soon entered Eurovision legend, and is invariably included in montages put together to illustrate the contest's more absurd moments.
By the end of the night, no national jury had been persuaded to cast any votes in Norway's direction, and the country finished at the bottom of the scoreboard for a fifth time. The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to Ireland.
Voting
Norway did not receive any points at the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest.| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |