page_title: Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
section_title: Semi-final
hierarchical_section_title: Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 / At Eurovision / Semi-final
caption_attribution_description: Maria Haukaas Storeng in the first semi-final at the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia, May 20, 2008.
context_page_description: Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 by Maria Haukaas Storeng, performing the song "Hold On Be Strong". Storeng was chosen through the Norwegian national final, Melodi Grand Prix, organised by the Norsk rikskringkasting.
  18 artists in total competed in the semi-finals of Melodi Grand Prix 2008, with only eight acts progressing to the final, held on 9 February at the Oslo Spektrum. After the votes of both the juries and televoting, Storeng was announced the winner of the contest, and represented Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia.
  Storeng's song, composed by Mira Craig, competed in the first semi-final of Eurovision 2008 on 20 May 2008. She qualified to the final, coming 4th of 19 with 106 points. At the final, closing the contest of 25 competing entries, she placing 5th, receiving a total of 182 points. This was Norway's best placing at the contest since 2003, and their best placing since semi-finals were introduced to the contest in 2004.
context_section_description: Storeng competed in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008, performing 9th in the running order, following Slovenia and preceding Poland. For her performance she wore a mid-length blue dress, and was accompanied on stage by three female backing singers and two male backing singers, dressed in black and blue. The stage was filled with blue light, and a starry background was shown on the LED screens surrounding the stage. At the close of the voting Storeng received 106 points, placing fourth in a field of 19. Norway received points from all voting countries in the semi-final except for Greece. As such, Storeng qualified to the final of the contest, after being the last name to be pulled out of envelopes revealing the 10 qualifying entries.
  925,000 viewers watched the first semi-final on NRK TV, gaining more than 200,000 viewers over the 2007 semi-final when Norway failed to qualify.
caption: Maria Haukaas Storeng performing "Hold On Be Strong" at the first semi-final.
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