Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971

Last updated

Eurovision Song Contest 1971
CountryFlag of Norway.svg  Norway
National selection
Selection processMelodi Grand Prix 1971
Selection date(s)20 February 1971
Selected entrant Hanne Krogh
Selected song"Lykken er"
Selected songwriter(s) Arne Bendiksen
Finals performance
Final result17th, 65 points
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄196919711972►

Norway was represented by 15-year-old Hanne Krogh, with the song "Lykken er", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. "Lykken er" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 20 February.

Contents

"Lykken er" marked Norway's return to Eurovision after their first of only two absences to date since their debut, when they were one of five nations to boycott the 1970 contest in protest at the four-way tie in 1969 and the fact that they (along with Finland and Sweden) considered that the voting system of the late 1960s tended to place the Nordic countries at a disadvantage.

Before Eurovision

Melodi Grand Prix 1971

The Melodi Grand Prix 1971 was held at the studios of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in Oslo, hosted by Jan Voigt. Twelve songs took part in the final, with the winner chosen by a 14-member public jury who each awarded between 1 and 5 points per song. Other participants included past and future Norwegian representatives Inger Jacobsen, Odd Børre and Anne-Karine Strøm. [1]

MGP - 20 February 1971
DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1 Odd Børre and Jan-Erik Berntsen"Ironside"482
2 Jan Høiland "Fjell-låt"386
3 Anita Hegerland "Gi meg en sebra"444
4 Anne Lise Gjøstøl "Riv deg løs"378
5 Dag Spantell "Gi verden et smil"444
6 Inger Jacobsen "India"3012
7Webe Karlsen, Dag Spantell and Geir Wenzel"Vi vil tro det vi synger"453
8 Anne-Karine Strøm "Hør litt på meg"3210
9Jan-Erik Berntsen"Enkel ord"3111
10 Gro Anita Schønn "Maxi-midi-mini"378
11 Odd Børre "Optimisten"386
12 Hanne Krogh "Lykken er"521

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Krogh performed last in the running order, following Finland. Lyrically, "Lykken er" (translated as "Happiness Is") was little more than a list of pleasant things and experiences which Krogh enjoyed, leading to much comment that it was an overly-obvious attempt to replicate the previous year's winner "All Kinds of Everything", with a good dash of "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music thrown in for good measure. At MGP Krogh had performed in normal teenage attire, but in Dublin she sang dressed in a Victorian gown, complete with a parasol which she opened, closed and twirled throughout the song. At the close of voting "Lykken er" had picked up 65 points, placing Norway 17th of the 18 entries, ahead only of Malta. [2] The poor result was largely attributed to the fact that the whole package of song, performance and presentation was much too cute, precious and twee for its own good, and was likely to have left a negative impression with the voters. [3]

Voting

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La det swinge</span>

"La det swinge" is a Norwegian-language song by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 and Norway's first victory in the contest. The song is a tribute to dancing to old rock 'n' roll heard on the radio. Befitting the subject matter, the song itself is written in an old-fashioned style, with a memorable saxophone melody starting the song. The melody arrangement is in retro style, containing elements of contemporary 1980s music and throwbacks to the 1950s. Following their win, the single peaked at number one in the Norwegian and Belgian singles chart, and entered the charts in various countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, began in 1960, the year of Norway's debut in the contest. It has been held almost every year since.

Denmark was represented by Ulla Pia, with the song "Stop – mens legen er go'", at the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City. "Stop – mens legen er go'" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 6 February.

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Heart Goes Boom" written by Tore Madsen and Morten Henriksen. The song was performed by the group Charmed. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2000 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2000 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Ten entries competed in a show that took place on 4 March 2000 and the winner was determined over two rounds of voting from a five-member jury panel and a regional televote. The top four entries in the first round of voting advanced to the competition's second round—the superfinal. In the second round of voting, "My Heart Goes Boom" performed by Charmed was selected as the winner.

Norway was represented by Elisabeth Andreassen and Jan Werner Danielsen, with the song "Duett", at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin. "Duett" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 26 March, making it the third of four Eurovision appearances by Andreasson.

Norway was represented by Elisabeth Andreassen, with the song '"I evighet", at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 18 May at the Oslo Spektrum, following Secret Garden's victory for Norway in Dublin the previous year. "I evighet" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 30 March. This was the last of four Eurovision appearances as a main performer by Andreassen, a record shared with Lys Assia, Fud Leclerc, Valentina Monetta and Peter, Sue and Marc.

Norway was represented by Tor Endresen, with the song "San Francisco", at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 May in Dublin. "San Francisco" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 8 March, and is mainly remembered for bringing Norway's recent run of Eurovision success – they had finished 5th, 6th, 1st and 2nd in the previous four contests – to a spectacular end.

Norway was represented by Ketil Stokkan, with the song "Brandenburger Tor", at the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 May in Zagreb. "Brandenburger Tor" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 24 March. Stokkan had previously represented Norway in 1986.

Norway was represented by Bobbysocks!, with the song "La det swinge", at the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 May in Gothenburg, Sweden. "La det swinge" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 30 March, and went on to bring Norway a famous first Eurovision victory after decades of being the butt of jokes about their status as Eurovision's perennial also-rans. It was admitted that the lyrics of "La det swinge" had been written with the specific intention of avoiding those Norwegian consonant combinations which had been said to sound harsh in song to non-Scandinavian ears.

Norway was represented by Åse Kleveland, with the song "Intet er nytt under solen", at the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City. "Intet er nytt under solen" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 5 February.

Norway was represented by Jahn Teigen, with the song "Mil etter mil", at the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 April in Paris. "Mil etter mil" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 18 March.

Norway was represented by Anita Skorgan, with the song "Oliver", at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem, Israel. "Oliver" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 10 February. This was the second of three Eurovision appearances for Skorgan.

Norway was represented by Finn Kalvik, with the song "Aldri i livet", at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. "Aldri i livet" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 7 March.

Norway was represented by Jahn Teigen and Anita Skorgan, with the song "Adieu", at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 24 April in Harrogate, England. "Adieu" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 20 March. This was a second Eurovision appearance for Teigen and a third for Skorgan.

Norway was represented by Anne-Karine Strøm, with the song "Mata Hari", at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in The Hague. "Mata Hari" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 7 February. This was a third Eurovision appearance in four contests for Strøm.

Norway was represented by Jahn Teigen, with the song "Do Re Mi", at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 April in Munich. "Do Re Mi" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 25 February. This was the third and final Eurovision appearance by Teigen. Although uncredited on this occasion, one of his backing singers was Anita Skorgan, making her fourth appearance in seven years.

Norway was represented by Anne-Karine Strøm, with the song "The First Day of Love", at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 April in Brighton, England. "The First Day of Love" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 16 February. Strøm had sung for Norway the previous year as a member of the Bendik Singers, whose other three members provided backing vocals in Brighton.

Norway was represented by Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Hætta, with the song "Sámiid ædnan", at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 April in The Hague. "Sámiid ædnan" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 22 March and remains one of the best-remembered Norwegian entries, particularly in Norway itself.

Norway was represented by Grethe Kausland and Benny Borg, with the song "Småting", at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 25 March in Edinburgh. "Småting" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 19 February.

Norway was represented by the Bendik Singers, with the song "It's Just a Game", at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 April in Luxembourg City. "It's Just a Game" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 17 February.

References

  1. ESC National Finals database 1971
  2. "Final of Dublin 1971". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. ESC History - Norway 1971
  4. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1971". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.