NORWAY 1985: Bobbysocks - La det swinge

Oslo 2010 FTW ... !! :-D

Because we are once again, for the third time, hosting the Eurovision Song Contest this year, I plan to focus on only Norwegian entries in my monthly ESC posts in 2010. We've sent some gems, a lot of mediocre songs, and quite a lot of crap. So prepare to be ... not sure of the verb, actually. Prepare to be entertained, I hope. :-)

Norway has competed in the ESC for a really long time. In fact, our national contest, Melodi Grand Prix, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. So yeah, it's perfect timing that we're hosting it now. :-) We've had our ups and downs ... perhaps more of the latter than of the former, if truth be told. No one has scored zero points more often than us, although to be fair the last time that happened was in 1997. We've also come last more than anyone else, ten whole times ... ! but on the other hand we have won three times, which is more than a lot of other countries can boast of. So it's kind of schizo. :-) And this last time we won, in Moscow last year, holy crap!! Highest score ever, first time anyone got more than 300 points (and, not to brag or anything, but 387 is quite a lot more than just 'more than 300' ;-) and more twelves than anyone's ever got too. Aw, our little hobbit, he just crushed the competition. But I digress.

For many years we wandered in the wilderness. But we didn't mind so much ... we just sent songs we liked and enjoyed the thrill of competing and of being out in the great wide world. It was hard to imagine we would ever win. So when two young ladies in pink sequins actually managed to not only win, but to win in Sweden ... ! Sheesh, we went wild. Seriously, we went off the rails. :-D Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen (who was called Andreasson then, I know :-) became incredibly popular for this astonishing feat that they'd somehow managed to pull off with their very energetic performance. The song became an instant classic and I'm pretty sure any Norwegian older than ... let's say 28? can sing the chorus of this song at the drop of a hat. If not the whole thing. :-) And of course we were all puffed up with pride and rather obnoxious when we could welcome Europe to the Grieg Hall in Bergen in 1986. :-)

This is Bobbysocks performing La det swinge, written and composed by Rolf Løvland. He's like our Johnny Logan ... except he's not a drunk (sorry, Paz! I'm not insinuating anything, I promise ;-) ... I'll get to that by and by. Løvland competed for Norway in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg on May 4th, 1985, and he won. :-)



Lyrics with translation here.