Kirsti Sparboe, who represented Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest three times, has died aged 79.
Kirsti Sparboe, who represented Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. 1967 and 1969, has died aged 79 after a short illness. The news was confirmed by her granddaughter, Caroline Sparboe, on behalf of the family:
“Grandma fell asleep quietly in the hospital last night. Mum and I sat with her until the very end. I think grandma appreciated us being there.
It’s very painful for us. We were very close to her. Grandma has always been a role model for me.
What’s extra sad is that I had a son seven weeks ago. She never got to meet him.”
Kirsti Sparboe was born in Tromsø in northern Norway on December 7, 1946. She began her career in 1964 after being discovered by a journalist during a carnival performance in Tromsø.
Sparboe won Melodi Grand Prix four times, a record she shares with Jahn Teigen. Her first victory came in 1965, which allowed her to represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. She finished in 13th place at the contest in Naples with “Karusell”.
In 1966, Sparboe participated in Melodi Grand Prix again and finished second with “Gi meg fri”. In 1967, she was selected to represent Norway for a second time with “Dukkemann”. She finished 14th in the contest in Vienna.
In 1968, Sparboe won Melodi Grand Prix for the third time in a duet with Odd Børre. However, the song they were supposed to perform at Eurovision “Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg”, was found to be a plagiarism of “Summer Holiday” by Cliff Richard, who represented the United Kingdom at that year’s contest. Odd Børre was internally to represent Norway at the contest with “Stress”, which finished second in Melodi Grand Prix that year.
In 1969, Sparboe represented Norway for the third and final time with “Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli”. She finished last in Madrid.
Sparboe continued her career as a recording artist after her Eurovision appearances. Her 1972 albums “Vinterland” and “Dager med deg” won awards at the Spellemanprisen, the Norwegian national music awards ceremony, where she also won Female Artist of the Year.
Sparboe also had a long acting career in theatre, film and television. Her first acting role was in the 1965 Stompa forelsker seg. She went on to appear in theatre productions such as Når den ny vin blomstrer, musicals such as Komedie i mørke and Brecht-kabaret and television shows such as Og takk for det. In 1998, she was the first recipient of the Tromsø Municipality Honorary Award, an award given to people from Tromsø who have had extraordinary success in their fields.
The Eurovoix team would like to express our condolences to Kirsti Sparboes family and friends at this difficult time.
Source: VG
Norway debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 and have won the contest three times – in 1985, 1995 and 2009. The country has the dubious record of finishing last the most times, twelve in total, and have received nul points four times. Norway last won the contest in 2009 when Alexander Rybak broke all records with his song “Fairytale”. He scored 387 points in the final, receiving 16 sets of 12 points and scoring points from every country.
