"Venners nærhet" was the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989

Eurovision Song Contest 1989

The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 6 May 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Switzerland gained the hosting rights after Celine Dion's victory in Dublin the previous year. The presenters were Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux. Riva was the winner of...

, performed in Norwegian

Norwegian language

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

 by Britt Synnøve.

The song is a ballad, with Synnøve singing about the power that friendship can have, even when the rest of the world is against the friends in question.

The song was performed eighth on the night, following the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Live Report

Live Report

Live Report, originally called Midnight Blue, composed of Ray Caruana, John Beeby, Brian Hodgson, Maggie Jay and Peter May. They were finalists in the BBC Television's A Song for Europe contest in 1989 with the song, "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong". It scored 111,996 votes, compared to runner-up...

 with "Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?

Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?

"Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?", written by Brian Hodgson and composed by John Beeby, was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed by the sextet Live Report, led by Ray Caruana....

" and preceding Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

's Da Vinci

Da Vinci (band)

Da Vinci is a Portuguese band created by Iei-Or and Pedro Luís Neves, whose members included Ricardo, Joaquim Andrade, Dora and Sandra Fidalgo, among others throughout the years...

 with "Conquistador

Conquistador (Da Vinci song)

"Conquistador" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed in Portuguese by Da Vinci.The song reminisces about the former Portuguese colonial possessions worldwide...

". At the close of voting, it had received 30 points, placing 17th in a field of 22.

It was succeeded as Norwegian representative

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Norway has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1960 and only been absent twice: in 1970, when they boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in 2002, when they did not qualify....

 at the 1990 Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1990

The Eurovision Song Contest 1990, the 35th in the series, was held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia on 5 May 1990. The presenters were Helga Vlahović Brnobić and Oliver Mlakar. Toto Cutugno was the winner of this contest with the song "Insieme: 1992"...

 by "Ketil Stokkan

Ketil Stokkan

Ketil Stokkan is a Norwegian pop artist who has performed as solo artist as well as the singer in the Norwegian band Zoo. 1983 saw him participate in the Norwegian qualifying heat for Eurovision with the song "Samme charmeur" which was placed second...

" with Brandenburger Tor

Brandenburger Tor (song)

"Brandenburger Tor" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, performed in Norwegian by Ketil Stokkan....

.