Most times finishing last in the Eurovision Song Contest final

Norway finished at the bottom of the scoreboard 12 times in 59 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) finals between 1960 and 2024. In addition to scoring “nul points” in 1963, 1978, 1981 and 1997, the Scandinavians propped up the table (sometimes in a tie) in 1969, 1974, 1976, 1990, 2001, 2004, 2012 and 2024. At the 68th edition in Malmö, Sweden, on 11 May 2024, Norwegian “progressive folk-rockers” Gåte bagged just 16 points with “Ulveham”, placing them 25th and last to extend their nation’s Eurovision misery.

Finalists for Finland and Germany have finished last nine times apiece; Austria come next, with seven last-place results.

Norway’s 62 ESC entries in total include three semi-final eliminations, in 2007, 2011 and 2016. Conversely, they have also won the competition three times, in 1985 (Bobbysocks!), 1995 (Secret Garden) and 2009 (Alexander Rybak).

Matthew White, music consultant for Guinness World Records, said: “Norway have long been considered – somewhat unfairly – as the whipping boys of Eurovision. For every “What were they thinking?” moment (Subwoolfer’s 2022 horror “Give That Wolf a Banana”), the country that introduced us to A-ha, Kygo and Röyksopp have produced some absolute bangers (Margaret Berger’s “I Feed You My Love”, 2013; Mørland and Debrah Scarlett’s “A Monster Like Me”, 2015), and Gåte’s criminally overlooked “Ulveham” was an electrifying mash-up of folk, metal and electronica that deserved a much kinder fate than last.”