The Norwegian participating broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), selected its entry through the Melodi Grand Prix 2010.

In addition, NRK was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Telenor Arena in Oslo, after winning the previous edition with the song "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak.

In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final.

NRK has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected its entry for the contest in all but one of its participation.

All shows were hosted by Per Sundnes and Marte Stokstad and televised on NRK1 as well as streamed online at NRK's official website nrk.no.

Performers of the selected songs would be chosen by NRK in consultation with the songwriters, and the broadcaster reserved the right to directly invite certain artists and composers to compete in addition to the public call for submissions.

[7][8] 21 songs were selected for the competition by a jury panel headed by Melodi Grand Prix project manager Per Sundnes, and their titles were revealed on 27 November 2009.

[9][10] The seven acts competing in each semi-final were revealed on 4, 11 and 17 December 2009, respectively, and among the artists was past Norwegian Eurovision entrant Maria Haukaas Storeng who represented the country in 2008.

The results of the public televote were then revealed by Norway's five regions and added to the jury scores, leading to the victory of "My Heart Is Yours" performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen with 466,675 votes.

[27] While their position had already been drawn, it was determined following the second semi-final winners' press conference that Norway would perform following Spain and before Moldova.

The performance began with Solli-Tangen alone on stage in a single spotlight; the backing vocalists later appeared on his left and ultimately outside of the frame to a spread-out position behind.

The stage also featured a large half-circle of curtains that began to whirl when the backing vocalists moved behind Solli-Tangen.

[29][30] The five backing vocalists on stage with Didrik Solli-Tangen were: Håkon Sigernes, Jorunn Hauge, Karianne Kjærnes, May Kristin Kaspersen and Øyvind Boye.

This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.

The following members comprised the Norwegian jury: Elisabet Davidsen, Vivi Stenberg, Arne Martin Vistnes, Svein Helge Høgberg and Anne-Karine Strøm.