Beat for Beat is a 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...

 musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 that airs every Friday on NRK1

NRK1

NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...

. It has been on the air since 1999, and consistently ranks in the top of Norwegian viewing figures. It is hosted by Ivar Dyrhaug, who has been the host since the start.

Concept

The show is based upon Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 The Lyrics Board

The Lyrics Board

The Lyrics Board is an Irish game show. Originally hosted by Aonghus McAnally, the show is currently hosted by Eurovision winner, Linda Martin. In each episode there are two teams. Each team consists of a piano player/team captain who is joined by two celebrities/singers, at either side. A team...

.

The show consists of two teams of two members (occasionally three or four), each with their own piano and pianist. The teams are then given clues and have to figure out what song the host is alluding to, in order to score points. The team with the most points in the end are the winners. The pianists, Trond Nagell Dahl and Gisle Børge Styve, have also been with the show since the start.

Competitors

While the competitors are usually singers or musical artists, there have been several instances where the teams are made up of other Norwegian celebrities, such as comedians or TV personalities. In 2004, in one of the most seen programs of the show, there was a double-length episode where Norway battled Sweden.

Famous competitors include Bjarne Brøndbo, comedy troup Raske Menn

Raske Menn

Raske Menn is a trio of Norwegian comedians who have gained fame in Norway for their sketches and shows. The trio consists of Anders Hoff, Øyvind Rafto and Calle Hellevang-Larsen....

 and veteran singers Inger Lise Rypdal

Inger Lise Rypdal

Inger Lise Rypdal is a Norwegian singer and actress in many different genres: pop, rock, theater, film, and musical.-History:Inger Lise Rypdal has been an artist since 1968...

 and Maj-Britt Andersen.