Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-four times since its first entry in . Norway had won the contest on three occasions: in 1985 with the song "La det swinge" performed by Bobbysocks!, in 1995 with the song "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden and in 2009 with the song "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak. Norway also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most "nul points" (zero points) in the contest, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country
Eurovision Song Contest 2009 interview when he called the Eurovision Song Contest itself the "biggest gay parade". The Dutch group De Toppers made news by member Gordon threatening to boycott the final of Eurovision 2009 if the gay parade was violently beaten down. However, the group's failure to qualify for the final left this threat redundant. Following the release of the final participants list by the EBU, 42 countries confirmed their participation in the 2009 contest, including Slovakia, which returned to the contest after 11 years. Georgia originally announced that it was to withdraw from the contest due to the 2008 South Ossetia war