Whatever happened to....."Norway nul points?"*

After Saturday night's clear win in the Eurovision Song contest for the Norwegian entry "Fairytale" - written and performed by Alexander Rybak - it surely leaves many a fan wondering what ever happened to the country's appalling track record in the competition.

Actually come to think of it, nobody would actually have said, "Norway, nul points" when announcing the results for the Eurovision Song contest would they?

But down the years it has become something of a catchphrase - especially when it has come to the country's less-than memorable entries.

The first time it happened (to the Norwegians) was back in 1963, when their entry, "Solhverv", was happily sung into last place by Anita Thallaug with "nul points".

Actually the whole of the 60s was a pretty lean time for the country in terms of points at Eurovision.

A year before in 1962, it had managed two points and in 1965 just one. After briefly hitting the "big time" in 1966 with the huge total of 15 points for third place overall with "Intet Er Nytt Under Solen" sung by Åse Kleveland, it was back to business as usual with two points in 1967 and 1968 and just one miserable vote in 1969.

Admittedly there were fewer countries involved than today and therefore a limited number of votes actually available, and when more countries climbed on to the Eurovision bandwagon in the 1970s, Norway seemed to be doing a little better.

Apart that is from 1978 when Jahn Teigen sang "Mil Etter Mil" and managed to remind the rest of us how much Norway seemed to crave that last-placed finish by totting up...you've guessed it..."nul points".

Remember this was post Abba's "Waterloo" days, and the contest was probably at the height of its popularity in terms of ensuring that the winner received international exposure.

Norway, it seemed, carried on obliviously and in 1981 there was a repeat performance of that by now all-too familiar occurrence, this time from Finn Kalvik singing "Aldri I Livet". Last place and no points.

But then in 1985 something happened...something nobody expected as Norway came up with a classic Abba-inspired number in the shape of the Bobbysocks "La det swinge".

YouTube Video

It was bubble-gum pop, Eurovision flavour, at its very best, and things have never quite been the same since.

A decade later in 1995 and Norway was once again, to quote Ol' Blue Eyes, "'A' number one, top of the list, king of the hill," when Secret Garden won with "Nocturne".

And Norway threatened to do the double-whammy the following year when Elisabeth Andreasson (who had been one half of the Bobbysocks back in '85) notched up enough points (114) with "I Evighet" to finish second.

Those good old/bad old days of "nuls points" seemed a far and distant memory. The country was on a roll.

But as if to prove that old habits really do die hard, Norway was well and truly back on the right track just a year later when its 1997 entry, "San Francisco", sung by Tor Endresen finished plum last with the magical "nul points".

Perhaps it was the thought of having to stage the contest again, that encouraged Norway to enter a song that would ensure it had no chance of winning.

After all, down the years, those costs have become almost prohibitive.

Indeed without the Big Four contributors (Germany, United Kingdom, France and Spain) to the European Broadcasting Union under whose auspices the whole thing take place, Eurovision probably wouldn't happen.

Russia alone reportedly splashed out more than €30 million for the week-long extravaganza in Moscow which ended up with Rybak's win.

Somehow though it's hard to imagine little Norway - total population, less than five million - putting on a show quite so lavish when it plays host in 2010 (the tradition is that the winner welcomes the rest of Eurovision to a knees up back home the following year).

So although there were plenty of smiles and cheers after Rybak's victory on Saturday, surely there must still be a sneaking suspicion lurking at the back of many minds that it won't be too many years before we're once again hearing (or not, because it will of course never be "announced") that Norway has secured last place with "nul points".

Just a thought.


*"Nul points" is a British phrase coined back in the 1970s to describe the lowest possible score for a performer at the Eurovision Song contest. In other words, none of the juries from the other participating countries would have awarded any points to the entry.