Eurovision 1996 featured a pre-qualifying round in which audio tapes of each nation's Eurovision 1996 entrant were sent to juries in each of the twenty-nine nations who had submitted Eurovision 1996 entrants: from these tapes, each jury deemed ten songs worthy of competing in Eurovision 1996 and the resultant tally allowed only twenty-two of the prospective entrants to advance to the Eurovision 1996 final to compete with the Norwegian entrant for Eurovision 1996: "I evighet" by Elisabeth Andreassen (fast-tracked to the Eurovision 1996 final by virtue of Norway having won Eurovision 1995 with "Nocturne" by Secret Garden.) "The Voice" was the second highest vote getter in this pre-qualifying round its 198-point tally being bested only by Sweden's "Den vilda" by One More Time whose point tally was 227. The specific placings in the pre-qualifying round were confidential and only leaked some time after the Eurovision 1996 final: however "The Voice" was viewed as a strong contender going into the final for Eurovision 1996 with a Top 5 placing predicted.