23/917 Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler: Skibet skal sejle i nat (Denmark 1957)

Choreography and other stage gimmicks started to steal the show in the Eurovision song contest since late 1970's. Before that it was the song that mattered the most. There were of course exceptions. Already the 23rd Eurosong is best remembered for the longest kiss ever on the Eurovision stage. So far, 56 years later it hasn't been equalled. This gimmick was, however, more a mistake than a deliberate attempt to catch the attention. And the song, the first one to represent Denmark, was very good even without the last 11 seconds.

Skibet skal sejle i nat was a first duet ever in the Eurovision and a very romantic one. Even though very few in the audience understood danish, the message of the song was easily understandable: A ship is going to sail soon and tear the sailor boy and his lover apart from each other for a very long time. Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler used their acting skills (in addition to their musical ones) to the full and gave a very convincing performance as a couple regretting the separation but bravely looking forward to the day when they shall be united again.

The great performance together with a lovely melody and arrangement enchanted the juries who gave the song third place among only ten participants. To me it is one of the best Danish entries ever and one of the best songs from the first years in the contest.

The kiss then? Wilke and Winckler were instructed to kiss until when the floor manager would show them to stop. Unfortunately (or not) the signal never came and the song would write Eurovision history already at the second contest ever arranged.

My points 4/5.

720/917 Aud Wilken: Fra Mols til Skagen (Denmark 1995)

The voyage between the Mols peninsula and the town of Skagen of Denmark is over 200 km long and it takes about 2 and half hours to drive by car, but only three minutes to sing a love song about. The Eurosong 720, suggested by my friend Asko Murtomäki, is a seductive ballad about a woman longing to be with her lover at the other end of the country. According to many a Eurovision masterpiece. I agree.

Denmark, who during the 1980's and early 1990's was known for bouncy pop songs, changed the pace dramatically in 1995. The song written by Lise Cabble is different from both the previous danish representatives and the other 22 songs that took part in the 1995 contest. The Danish themselves were rather hesitant, as the song was chosen as their entry with a very low margin.

However in Dublin the song stood up from the rest with its laid back atmosphere and sparse instrumentation. The interesting melody and the soulful voice of Aud Wilken was a perfect match and for once the Danish language sounds beautiful like italian to an enchanted ear. Her husky performance is at the same time thoughtful, passionate and seductive (without taking any of her clothes off).

If in the home front the expectations were not that high, the international audience took the song directly to their hearts. The song was among the favourites from the beginning and finally reached the fifth position only eight points short of the bronze medal. After the good result even the danes themselves realized the potential of the song and Fra Mols til Skagen became a big hit in the homeground.

For Denmark, who usually plays it safe in the Eurovision, to do something different really paid off. Fra Mols til Skagen is definately one of the most memorable songs of the Danish Eurovision history and the 1995 contest.

Lisa Cabble would return as a composer to Eurovision in 2011 and 2013, when her song Teardrops would win the whole contest. Aud Wilken took part in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix again in 2007 without success. She has only one solo album in her catalogue. Cannot understand why.

My points 4/5

595/917 Lonnie Devantier: Hallo hallo (Denmark 1990)

Telephone in its differents incarnations has inspired Eurovision song writers during the decades. Already in 1957 Margot Hilscher demonstrated with a phone in her hand how this apparatus is used. 40 years later Kølig Kaj had a long distance romance with a switchboard operator. The 595th Eurosong reminds us of two things that today's generation have never used or even hear of.

If you want to find a happy, jolly, uptempo Eurosong and want to avoid gloom and doom, Denmark is always a safe bet. Especially during the 15 years after their long absence in the Eurovision (during 1967-1977) it was very difficult find a non smiling face when Denmark's team was on stage. Coincidence or not, eight of those 15 songs (from 1978 to 1993) had lyrics by Keld Heick.

That was also the case in 1990, when 17 year old Lonnie Devantier was sent to represent Denmark with a song about telephone booth, answering machine and a boyfriend reluctant to answer the damn thing (To my younger readers check Wikipedia for Answering machine and Telephone booth to know what this song is about.)

The song is very much a prototype of all the Danish Eurovision entries from the 1980's with catchy refrain, overtly smiling singer (although her boyfriend stubbornly refuses to return her phone messages) and hysterically whirling backing dancers. And of course, the song being Danish, there is a happy ending as after throwing her last coins into the public telephone the boyfriend finally lifts the receiver.

I was a friend of the jolly Danish tunes in the mid 1980's but by the the change of decade even I thought that enough was enough. Hallo hallo was not one of the better songs from our Scandinavian neighbours and instead of being genuinly happy the smiles and the movements looked to me very forced even then.

Lonnie Devantier made couple of records after her Eurovision debut, but she is mostly known in Denmark as a songwriter using the name Lonnie Kjer. If you want to know what she sounds like today, check her 2008 single Dina/Det bli'r ikke bedre at Spotify. She has really gone far from the telephone booth in 18 years.

My points 2/5.

881/917 Malene Mortensen: Tell me who you are (Denmark 2003)

In my book it is seldom a good idea to change the language of the song before the grand final. It is ok to present the song from the beginning in English, but if you first choose a song in your own language and then change it, you usually lose more than you gain. That happened to among others to the eurosong 881, which represented Denmark in 2002.

When I first heard the song Denmark had chosen as their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, I liked it a lot. Vis mig hvem du er was a mystical ballad with good performance by Malene Mortensen. The danish lyrics made the song even more enchanting. The song was a favourite for many Eurovision fans like me.

But Denmark had the song re-written in English for the final in Tallinn as Tell me who you are. Gone was the mystique of the song, which turned out to be your usual love song with nothing to make it stand out from the others. To make matters worse, Malene Mortensen seemed not at ease on stage and her performance was far from perfect.

I was not the only one to spot the difference. Against all predictions Denmark finished last among 24 countries. The song was not that bad to have such a faith. But still, there is a lesson to learn here.

My points 3/5.