| Year: | 1989 |
| Country: | Norway |
| Preselection: | Melodi Grand Prix 1989 |
| Preselection Date: | 11 March 1989 |
| Entrant: | Britt Synnøve Johansen |
| Song: | Venners nærhet |
| Final Result: | 17th, 30 points |
Norway was represented by Britt Synnøve, with the song "Venners nærhet", at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 May in Lausanne, Switzerland. "Venners nærhet" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 11 March.
The final was held at the Forum in Stavanger, hosted by Øystein Bache. Nine songs took part in the televised final, of which three songs were selected for a "super final". The winner was decided by a five-way jury; an expert jury made up of professional musicians, a press jury, and three public juries split by age group. Other participants included 1987's Kate Gulbrandsen, three-time Norwegian representative and MGP regular Jahn Teigen and Tor Endresen, who would represent Norway in 1997.[1] The evening had its controversies, as fan favorite Jahn Teigen failed to reach the super final, which was met by booing from the audience.[2]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heidi Halvorsen | "Beat for Beat" | Harald Græsdahl, Tore Holm | Eliminated | |
| 2 | Tor Endresen | "Til det gryr av dag" | Oddvar Ruud, Marit Vollen | Superfinalist | |
| 3 | Britt Synnøve Johansen | "Venners nærhet" | Inge Enoksen, Leiv Grøtte | Superfinalist | |
| 4 | Rune Rudberg | "Vinger over Europa" | Nick Borgen, Arve Sigvaldsen | Eliminated | |
| 5 | Ingeborg Hungnes | "En lite lys" | Svein Gundersen, Stig Nilsson | Superfinalist | |
| 6 | Ola Fjellvikås | "Min Mona Lisa" | Rolf Graf | Eliminated | |
| 7 | Kari Gjærum and Jannecke Øinæs | "Barneøyne" | Robert Morley, Eva Jansen | Eliminated | |
| 8 | Jahn Teigen | "Optimist" | Jahn Teigen, Knut Meiner, Ove Borøchstein | Eliminated | |
| 9 | Kate Gulbrandsen | "Nærhet" | Kate Gulbrandsen, Rolf Løvland | Eliminated |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Public Jury | Press Jury | Expert Jury | Total | Place | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-30 | 30-45 | 45-60 | ||||||||
| 1 | Tor Endresen | "Til det gryr av dag" | 11 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 57 | 2 | |
| 2 | Britt Synnøve Johansen | "Venners nærhet" | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 18 | 62 | 1 | |
| 3 | Ingeborg Hungnes | "En lite lys" | 12 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 56 | 3 | |
On the night of the final Synnøve performed 8th in the running order, following the United Kingdom and preceding Portugal. Although "Venners nærhet" had been tipped as a likely top 10 contender, at the close of voting it had picked up only 30 points, placing Norway a disappointing 17th of the 22 entries.[3] The Norwegian jury awarded its 12 points to the United Kingdom.[4]