The venue

The 2010 Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Telenor Arena, which is located just 15 minutes outside of Oslo, in the municipality of Bærum. The construction of the arena was completed in early 2009.

The Telenor Arena is Northern Europe's largest indoor stadium, with a capacity of 15,000 spectators for football matches, and 23,000 for concerts. The arena opened in February 2009, and has since welcomed more than 70,000 visitors for concerts by the likes of AC/DC and Tina Turner.

"An arena for great occasions"

"We believe this is a good solution. The Telenor Arena is constructed to host major events -- and this is definitely a spectacular event. This choice secures superb conditions for the production," says Hasse Lindmo, TV-producer of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest at NRK. "Factors such as size, outdoor space and other production facilities have been important in the decision. It feels great to start summer vacation knowing we have the best possible starting point for the huge job ahead of us."

The 55th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Oslo, Norway, on 25, 27 and 29 May, 2010.

Note that there will be no parking space in the area around the Telenor Arena and that public transport is the only way to get to the venue.

Who would host the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, and welcome over 125 million viewers from across Europe and around the world? Did we see the traditional couple to host the spectacle, or will one, or even three hosts welcome you to Europe's favorite TV-shows?

Three hosts are chosen to lead Europe's favourite TV-show from the Telenor Arena in Oslo in May: Nadia Hasnaoui will present the voting and the scoreboard, and make sure the spokespersons from all over Europe can cast their votes in a timely manner. Erik Solbakken and Haddy N'jie will open the show, and cheer with the artists.

Shortly before they were introduced at a press conference, they recorded this video exclusively for the visitors of Eurovision.tv!

Nadia Hasnaoui

Nadia Hasnaoui (born on the 10th of June, 1963) is one of Norway's most acclaimed and experienced television hosts. Nadia has broad experience from nearly twenty years in television, working for both of the two largest Norwegian stations, NRK and TV2. Nadia grew up in Morocco with a Norwegian mother and a Moroccan father. In 1967, Nadia moved back to Norway, where she went to a French-speaking kindergarten.

Nadia Hasnaoui began her television career at NRK in 1991, hosting the pan-Nordic children's show Myggen. In 1993, she moved to TV2, and throughout the 1990s, Nadia led many of TV 2's most popular shows. Many Norwegians remember her portraits of Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja. She also became known through the shows God morgen, Norge! (Good morning, Norway!) and Jakten på det gode liv (Chasing the good life) as well as her own talkshow, Hasnaoui.

Nadia came back to NRK in 2004, and hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest that year. For the past four years, she has presented the popular weekly quiz show Kvitt eller Dobbelt, airing prime-time on NRK. Nadia is married with three children. She has published several books.

Haddy Jatou N'jie

Haddy Jatou N'jie (born on the 25th of June, 1979) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, author and journalist. She holds a degree in journalism from the Oslo University College. Haddy began her television career as a news journalist for NRK. She has since expanded to work on a broader field, and is today recognized as an author, journalist, playwright, musician and a singer. Last year, Haddy hosted one of Norway's largest TV shows, the yearly TV-Aksjonen, collecting money to charity through an 8 hour live broadcast on NRK.

As a solo artist, she has released three albums: White Lies, Welcome Home and World of The Free. She has toured the country several times, together with Concerts Norway, and produced several full-night performances with her comedy group Queendom.

Haddy N'jies father is from the Gambia, her mother is Norwegian. She grew up in Kolbotn, southeast of the capital Oslo. She fondly remembers Norway's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1985 with Bobbysocks. Haddys mother had to draw a large cross in the roof of their living room as she had lost the bet with daughter Haddy, certain of Norwegian victory. In the Norwegian edition of Who's Who?, Haddy N'jie is considered one of Norway's ten most influential professionals with a multicultural background.

Erik Solbakken

Erik Solbakken (born on the 17th of November, 1984) is a Norwegian TV host and writer. He has been with NRK since 2005, and has studied journalism at the Volda University College.

Erik is presently one of the most popular television personalities amongst the young Norwegian audience, and is a familiar face for kids and teens alike. He has hosted the popular children shows Barne-tv, Julemorgen and Superkviss, in addition to Barnetimen for de minste on NRK Radio 2. Erik hosted the launch of NRKs new TV-channel for children and young adults, NRK Super, as it went on air in 2007.

Since 2009, Erik has delivered humor to the whole family, hosting the show Krem Nasjonal, along with twelve year old Magnus and Signe. During the Nordic Children-TV festival in 2009, Erik won the prize for the best host for his show Utfordringen.

Erik is a declared fan of Sandefjord Football, he has represented Norway in the junior World Cup in fly fishing, and in his little spare time he enjoys both cross country and telemark skiing, as well as playing football and volleyball. Erik is married, and lives in Oslo.

The golden rules

The criteria the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest are not only experience with presenting of both television and stage productions, but also situation sensitivity, personal aura, suitability to the Eurovision Song Contest ambience and of course language abilities – especially English and French

Who did the job before?

Several former Eurovision Song Contest participants have hosted the show, such as Corry Brokken (1976), Marie N and Renārs Kaupers (2003) and Sakis Rouvas (2006). The 1997 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Carrie Crowley and the world famous Irish singer Ronan Keating. In 1998, legendary Eurovision Song Contest commentator and showbizz personality Terry Wogan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest on the side of the charming Ulrika Jonsson.

Last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow was hosted by the London-based model Natalia Vodyanova and Russian TV-presenter Andrey Malakhov who took care of the two Semi-Finals. The Final on the 16th of May was hosted by Russia's 2000 Eurovision Song Contest contestant Alsou and media personality Ivan Urgant.