Jahn Teigen

Anita Skorgan back on top after primetime tribute

Posted 6 January, 2013 - 22:52 by Kristján Sveinsson

Former Norwegian entrant Anita Skorgan was in her heyday the hottest property along with ex husband Jahn Teigen on the Norwegian music scene. With the heady 80's a distant memory, Skorgan's music has reached new heights of popularity following a primetime show featuring her music.

Jahn Teigen gets own exhibition in rock and roll hall of fame

Posted 24 June, 2012 - 19:07 by Kristján Sveinsson

Jahn Teigen exhibition {copyright : Dagbladet.no}

Veteran rocker Jahn Teigen is one of the most prolific norwegian Eurovision entrants with three entries to his name and a career spanning over thirty years. His contribution to the domestic music scene was celebrated with the opening of an exhitbition at Rockheim (the Norwegian rock and roll hall of fame) on Wednesday evening.

Review: Anita Skorgan - På Gyllen Grunn

Posted 23 October, 2011 - 17:11 by Kristján Sveinsson

Rating: 2

Anita Skorgan has given us everything from light hearted disco tunes in the late 70's, to some of the 80's most popular songs with ex Jahn Teigen. Then a turn in her career saw Ms Skorgan distance herself in many ways from her musical past as she set out to reinvent herself and explore new avenues, musically speaking.

Anita Skorgan with first album release in 10 years

Posted 8 September, 2011 - 12:39 by Kristján Sveinsson

Anita Skorgan and ex husband Jahn Teigen were for many years the darlings of the Norwegian music scene. They divorced but each managed to continue with their own successful careers. Things went wrong for Skorgan upon the release of her album Basic in 1990 leaving her pop career floundering.

Anita Skorgan - På Gyllen Grunn

Buy through a CDON store

Jahn Teigen's Greatest Hits

Buy through a CDON store

Jahn and Anita say adieu to fans

Posted 30 June, 2011 - 08:42 by Kristján Sveinsson

Jahn Teigen and ex-wife Anita Skorgan performed together for the last time at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 singing Do-Re-Mi, but continued their succesfull partnership back home in Norway. The duo have however finally decided to quit while ahead.

Jahn Teigen receives knighthood

Posted 20 June, 2010 - 16:25 by Kristján Sveinsson

A clearly moved and extremely humbled Jahn Teigen was the subject of much attention, after being presented with a knightood and the title of First Class Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav yesterday. He was awarded the order by HM King Harald V for his services to the public as a musician and artist, but also for his humanitarian work.

Add new comment

1983

Basic information

Date:

23 April 1983

Contest type:

Grand Final

Venue:

Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, Munchen, Germany

Broadcaster:

ARD

Presenter(s):

Marlene Charell

About the contest:

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time! The script required host Marlene Charell to say everything three times; in German, English and French. The result was that the show was longer than it needed to be and seemed to go on even longer. The set designer must have got his inspiration from an electric fireplace. Squares of alternate horizontal and vertical lights dominated the large back wall of the stage, overwhelming the whole set.

It came down to the last jury, but the first contest held in Germany saw Luxembourg pip Israel for a fifth victory. Corinne Hermes looked extremely nervous during the whole, tense, voting procedure and had to fight back the tears for her reprise.

For the first of only three occasions under the current voting system, two countries scored no points. Spain deserved a few for being brave and entering something very ethnic, but Turkey should have no complaints.

There were first appearances by Gary Lux (as part of Westend), Carole and Mariella Farré. You could say that Anita Skorgen was making her fourth appearance as she was part of Jahn Teigens backing group. Twenty countries travelled to Munich. Greece, Italy and France all returned after differing periods of absence while Ireland withdrew for just this year.

About the songs:

Guy Bonnet	France - Guy Bonnet - Vivre (French) Music/Lyrics: Guy Bonnet/Fubert Cant Conductor: Francois Raubèrt Guy first appeared in the contest in 1970. As then, his self-penned song this time is a ballad whose arrangement is very minimal, leaving the strength of the melody to impress.
Jahn Teigen	Norway - Jahn Teigen - Do Re Me (Norwegian) Music/Lyrics: Jahn Teigen, Anita Skorgen/Jahn Teigen, Herodes Falsk Conductor: Sigurd Jansen Jahn sang with his wife, Anita Skorgen, the year before in Harrogate. She was part of his backing group this time, as were several children! Quite suitable really as this, his third entry, is a sing-along nursery rhyme.
Sweet Dreams	United Kingdom - Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up (English) Music/Lyrics: Ron Roker, Jan Pulsford, Phil Wigger/ Ron Roker, Jan Pulsford, Phil Wigger Conductor: John Coleman Dressed as if they had just arrived from an Aerobics class, the three members of Sweet Dreams (including Carrie Grant, the vocal coach much used by the BBC) were very energetic as they danced their way through this lively piece of 80’s pop.
Carola Häggkvist	Sweden - Carola Häggkvist - Främling (Swedish) Music/Lyrics: Lasse Holm/Monica Forsberg Conductor: Anders Ekdahl One of the most iconic of Eurovision singers started at an early age with this likeable, mid tempo ditty.
Riccardo Folgli	Italy - Riccardo Fogli - Per Lucia (Italian) Music/Lyrics: Maurizio Fabrizio/Riccardo Fogli, Vincenzo Spambinato Conductor: Maurizio Fabrizio Riccardo won the Sanremo festival in 1982, when Italy didn’t enter the Eurovision Song Contest. This may or may not have influenced RAI when they chose him, but his song is a steady plodder that won’t invoke strong feelings either way.
Cetin Alp	Turkey - Çetin Alp and the Short Wave - Opera (Turkish) Music/Lyrics: Bugra Ugur/Aysel Gŭrel Conductor: Bugra Ugur The first of two songs that didn’t score starts off normally enough, but tumbles into complete nonsense with a totally unsuitable melody and arrangement. The costumes of the backing singers couldn’t have helped either.
Remedios Amaya	Spain - Remedios Amaya - Quién Maneja Mi Barca? (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: Jose Miguél/Isidro Munoz Conductor: Jose Miguél Immediately following one song that scored no points at all was the other song that didn’t score. However, Spain should be congratulated for entering such an ethnically Spanish song. It could have come straight from a Spanish gipsy camp.
Mariella Farré	Switzerland - Mariella Farré - Io Cosi non Ci Sto (Italian) Music/Lyrics: Thomas Gonzenbach, Remo Kessler/Nella Martinetti Conductor: Robert Weber Mariella made the first of her two appearances with this mid-tempo song which tries to be anthemic, but doesn’t quite manage it.
Ami Aspelund	Finland - Ami Aspelund - Fantasiaa (Finnish) Music/Lyrics: Kari Kuusamo/Kaisu Liuhala Conductor: Ossi Runne Ami, the sister of 1977 Finnish singer Monica, gave a very confident performance. She had good reason to be confident. Fantasiaa is a very strong and dramatic song which has plenty of strings and builds well for the big ending.
Christie	Greece - Christie - Mou Les (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Antonis Plessas, Mimis Plessas/Sophia Fildissi Conductor: Mimis Plessas All was going well with the song on the night until the part of the song which has been the downfall of many over the years, the saxophone solo. Some bodged notes ruined any chances Greece’s gentle ballad had.
Bernadette	The Netherlands - Bernadette - Sing Me a Song (Dutch) Music/Lyrics: Piet Souer/Martin Duiser Conductor: Piet Souer This is one of those songs that starts slowly and builds bit by bit as it continues. It reaches its peak just before the end before slowing down again for the last few bars
Danijel	Yugoslavia - Danijel - Dzuli (Serbo-Croat) Music/Lyrics: Daniel Popovic/Mario Mihaljevic Conductor: Radovan Popovic The vocals of Dzuli required Danijel to almost yodel, which he coped with quite well. The whole package was quite entertaining.
Stavros and Constantina	Cyprus - Stavros and Constantina - I Agapi Akoma Zi (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Stavros Sideras/Stavros Sideras Conductor: Michalis Rozakis A simple song and an equally simple presentation. Stavros and Constantina sat on stools strumming guitars while harmonising their way through a fairly unmemorable ballad.
Hoffmann und Hoffmann	Germany - Hoffmann und Hoffmann - Rücksicht (German) Music/Lyrics: Michael Reinecke/Volker Lechtenbrink Conductor: Dietre Reith The Hoffman brothers had more than a slight chance of giving Germany another win. Rücksicht is a sad and emotional ballad whose beauty lies in its simplicity. The English version, Love Gives, has one of the best lyrics of any English version of any Eurovision song.
Gry Johansen	Denmark - Gry Johansen - Kloden Drejer (Danish) Music/Lyrics: Flemming Gernyx, Christian Jacobsen/ Flemming Gernyx, Christian Jacobsen Conductor: Allan Botschinsky During her performance, Gry managed to have a dance routine while remaining virtually rooted to the spot. While it tries hard, the song doesn’t really go anywhere.
Ofra Haza	Israel - Ofra Haza - Hi (Hebrew) Music/Lyrics: Avi Toledano/Ehud Manor Conductor: Nanssi Silviu Brandes After the contest, Ofra went on to have a successful international career before her untimely death. It’s easy to see how she achieved that success, Hi is an easy to remember foot tapper.
Armando Gama	Portugal - Armando Gama - Esta Balada Que Te Dou (Portuguese) Music/Lyrics: Armando Gama/Armando Gama Conductor: Mike Sergeant Esta Balada Que Te Dou is a standard ballad with a Portuguese flavour. Armando looked the part as he played the piano in a smart suit.
Westend	Austria - Westend - Hurricane (German) Music/Lyrics: Peter Vieweger/Heli Deinboek, Heinz Nessizius Conductor: Richard Österreicher Featuring Gary Lux (who would sing twice more as a soloist), Westend looked resplendent in mostly yellow outfits. Hurricane took its cue from synth-pop, which was popular at the time.
Pas de Deux	Belgium - Pas de Deux - Rendez-vous (Flemish) Music/Lyrics: Walter Verdin/Paul Peskens Conductor: Freddy Sunder Undaunted by being unceremoniously booed by the audience when they won the Belgian final, the two ladies of Pas de Deux gave us choreography that made their arms swing more than a pendulum and a song which, although consisting of one line which is repeated a lot, is strangely hypnotic.
Corinne Hermès	Luxembourg - Corinne Hermès - Si La Vie Est Cadeau (French) Music/Lyrics: Jean-Pierre Millers/Alain Garcia Conductor: Michel Bernholc With her female backing singers dressed in black and her males in pink (whose idea was that?), Corinne belted out this big power ballad. It gave Luxembourg its fifth victory, and richly deserved it was too. It is a class above the competition and is arguably one of the best winners in the history of the contest.

Add new comment

1982

Basic information

Date:

24 April 1982

Venue:

Harrogate Conference Centre, Harrogate, United Kingdom

Broadcaster:

BBC

Presenter(s):

Jan Leeming

About the contest:

Germany had been in the contest since its inception and finally got its first win. Clearly ready for victory, Nicole had already recorded Ein Bißchen Frieden in four languages before the contest took place; German, English, French and Dutch. She took the opportunity to promote record sales by including a bit of each in her winning reprise.

Having employed the services of Angela Rippon in 1977, the BBC turned to another newsreader, Jan Leeming, to keep the nights events under control. Harrogate was a slightly controversial choice of venue. The Conference Centre had not even been built when the contracts were signed, and not many people outside Britain had heard of the Yorkshire town. This was acknowledged in the opening sequence when the caption, “Where is Harrogate?” appeared in several languages, a question which was answered a few seconds later. Despite all the concerns, everything was ready in time and all ran smoothly. There was a slight hitch contacting one of the juries, but this were 'nowt to do with the choice of venue.

Familiar faces included Stella (Netherlands 1970 and Belgium 1977), Anna Vishy and Sally Ann Triplett, who had been part of Prima Donna two years earlier and as now one half of Bardo. The by now infamous Jahn Teigen and his wife, Anita Skorgan sang together for Norway. Jahn had scored the most famous ‘nul points’ in history five years earlier, while Anita had already notched up two appearances. No-one could deny that Jahn wasn’t taking the contest seriously, an accusation which could have been thrown at him in 1978.

France withdrew when the French Culture Minister was quoted as saying that the contest had become a monument to mediocrity. Greece also withdrew, meaning that 18 countries looked up Harrogate on the map and boarded a plane.

The voting system remained as it had been for a few years, national juries awarded points from 1 - 8, and then 10 and 12.

Trivia:

Greece originally entered the contest with a song called Sarantapente Kopelie, to be performed by Themis Adamantidis. However, the Greek minister of culture (yes, another one!), Melina Mercouri, decided to withdraw the song only two weeks before the contest was due to take place as (apparently) she didn’t feel it was good enough.

About the songs:

Doce	Portugal - Doce - Bem-Bom (Portuguese) Music/Lyrics: Anthony Pinho, Tóze Brito, Pedro Brito/Anthony Pinho, Tóze Brito, Pedro Brito Conductor: Luis Duarte Dressed like a female version of the three Musketeers, the four ladies of Doce gave proceedings a memorable start singing about what happens at various times of the day.
Svetlana	Luxembourg - Svetlana - Cour Après le Temps (French) Music/Lyrics: Caril Assous/Michel Jouveaux Conductor: Jean Claudric There are almost two songs in one as the backing singers not only contribute to most of the song; they are often doing their own thing. Surprisingly, this gentle ballad works well.
Jahn Teigen and Anita Skorgan	Norway - Jahn Teigen and Anita Skorgan - Adieu (Norwegian) Music/Lyrics: Jahn Teigen/Kim Hansen Conductor: Sigurd Jansen Husband and wife Jahn and Anita were contest veterans by now, having a total of three appearances between them by the time they arrived in Harrogate. Jahn had famously scored ‘nul points’ when he gave an over the top performance in 1978. He took it seriously this time, sitting next to Anita (who played piano) and giving a sincere performance of the most peaceful song of the night.
Bardo	United Kingdom - Bardo - One Step Further (English) Music/Lyrics: Simon Jeffries/Simon Jeffries Conductor: Ronnie Hazlehurst Sometimes, the wrong outfits and choreography contribute to a downfall. Former Prima Donna member Sally Ann Triplett and Stephen Fischer deserved higher than 7th but were let down by what they were asked to wear and do. One Step Further is a great pop song which has stood the test of time and should have been higher up the scoreboard.
Neço	Turkey - Neço - Hani (Turkish) Music/Lyrics: Olcayto Ahmet Tugsuz /Olcayto Ahmet Tugsuz, Fait Tugsuz Conductor: Garo Mafyan Neco had to do something to keep the attention of the jurors as the song didn’t give him much to work with, so he did a bit of swaying from side to side while his backing group did the same, but with a bit more vigour.
Kojo	Finland - Kojo - Nuku Pommiin (Finnish) Music/Lyrics: Jim Penbroke, Otto Donner/Juice Leskinen Conductor: Ossi Runne If Kojo intended this to be a protest song about nuclear weapons, then he should have told his backing band. They chose to dress up like the Blues Brothers which, combined with the messiness of the song, means the point is lost.
Arlette Zola	Switzerland - Arlette Zola - Amour On T'aime (French) Music/Lyrics: Alain Morisod/Pierre Alain Conductor: Alain Morisod Starting like a circus tune, Amour On T'aime quickly moves into an anthem which, whether you like or hate, you will remember when it’s finished.
Anna Vishy 1982	Cyprus - Anna Vishy - Mono I Agapi (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Anna Vishy/Anna Vishy Conductor: Martin Ford Cyprus made the top ten on their debut the year before, and this deservedly made the top five. It’s a lovely ballad which is hard to tire of hearing. One if the best songs the small island has sent to the contest!
Chips	Sweden - Chips - Dag Efter Dag (Swedish) Music/Lyrics: Lasse Holm/Monica Forsberg Conductor: Anders Berglund This is what the Swedes to best! Kikki Danielsson and Elisabeth Andreasen both of whom would appear again in later years, eased their way through this Swedish schlager song. Typically, it’s great to listen to and doesn’t take life too seriously.
Mess	Austria - Mess - Sonntag (German) Music/Lyrics: Michael Mell/Rudolph Leve Conductor: Richard Österreicher Twee would be the best way to describe the Austrian effort. From the simple song to the smiley performance, it’s all slightly childish but quite memorable.
Stella	Belgium - Stella - Si Tu Aimes Ma Musique (French) Music/Lyrics: Fred Bekky, Rony Brack, Bobott/Jo May Conductor: Jack Say Belgium came to Harrogate with a contemporary slice of 80’s pop. While the song was contemporary, the look of the presentation was a bit old fashioned.
Lucía	Spain - Lucía - Él (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: Francisco Cepero/Ignacio Román Conductor: Miguel Angel Varona Doing well to avoid a very serious Flamenco dancer, Lucia performed confidently for one so young. El is Spanish in tune and presentation.
Brixx	Denmark - Brixx - Video, Video (Danish) Music/Lyrics: Jens Brixtofte/ Jens Brixtofte Conductor: Allan Botschinsky Lead singer Jens was inspired to write this song about the wonders of his video recorder. The rock style stops the song seeming completely daft.
Aska	Yugoslavia - Aska - Halo Halo (Serbo-Croat) Music/Lyrics: Aleksandar Ilic/Miro Zec Conductor: Zvonimir Skerl The three ladies of Aska harmonised well and danced in unison which this adds to the song. It’s nice to listen to but is fairly unmemorable.
Avi Toledano	Israel - Avi Toledano - Hora (Hebrew) Music/Lyrics: Avi Toledano/Avi Toledano Conductor: Yoram Tahar-Lev Israel had already built up a strong catalogue of Eurovision entries, and Avi added to this when his lively, very Israeli pop tune was the best of rest behind a runaway winner.
Bill van Dijk	The Netherlands - Bill van Dijk - Jij En Ik (Dutch) Music/Lyrics: Dick Bakker/Liselore Gerritsen Conductor: Rogier van Otterloo Boasting possibly Europe’s tallest woman among his backing band, Bill walks among each of them in turn as they ‘play’ their instruments unconvincingly. As for the song, it’s pleasant enough but doesn’t stand out.
The Duskeys	Ireland - The Duskeys - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (English) Music/Lyrics: Sally Keating/Sally Keating Conductor: Noel Kelehan The Duskeys were three sisters and their brother who stood neatly in line while singing and dancing their way through their mid tempo pop song.
Nicole	Germany - Nicole - Ein Bißchen Frieden (German) Music/Lyics: Ralph Siegel/Bernd Meinunger Conductor: Norbert Daum Last in the running order, sung by a young girl on her own and the ‘let’s all love each other’ theme; how could it fail? It’s the sort of song that Scouts and Brownies sing around the camp fire