"Dansevise" (; ) was the winning song of the

Eurovision Song Contest 1963 The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporat ...

, which took place on 23 March in London. It was performed in

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

by husband and wife duo

Grethe Grethe is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singers and musicians *Grethe Fossli (born 1954), Norwegian politician for the Labour Party * Grethe Grünberg (born 1988), Estonian ice dancer *Gre ...

and

Jørgen Ingmann Jørgen Ingmann (born Jørgen Ingmann Pedersen; 26 April 1925 – 21 March 2015) was a Danish jazz and pop guitarist from Copenhagen. He was popular in Europe and had a wider international hit in 1961 with his version of "Apache". He and his wi ...

, representing . This was the first entry performed by a duo to win the contest and also the first Scandinavian win. "Dansevise" was chosen as the Danish entry at the

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fes ...

on 24 February, and went on to win the contest for Denmark in the most controversial of circumstances, when it was alleged that the jury had altered their votes in order to hand victory to Denmark at the expense of . The song was performed eighth on the night, following 's Laila Halme with "

Muistojeni laulu Finland was represented by Laila Halme, with the song "Muistojeni laulu", at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 March in London. "Muistojeni laulu" was chosen as the Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcast ...

" and preceding 's

Vice Vukov Vinko "Vice" Vukov (3 August 1936 – 24 September 2008) was a Croatian singer and politician. Biography Vukov was born in Šibenik. In 1959, he achieved instant fame by winning the Opatija Music Festival in his singing debut, with the song "Mir ...

with " Brodovi". At the close of voting, it had received 42 points, thus winning from a field of 16.

Composition

The song is a sophisticated ballad in which the singer sings the praises of dancing, specifically with her "beloved friend".

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix

The Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was held at the

Tivoli Concert Hall Tivoli Concert Hall ( da, Tivolis Koncertsal) is a 1,660-capacity concert hall at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. The building, which was designed by Frits Schlegel and Hans Hansen, was built between 1954 and 1956. The concert hall is use ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, hosted by Marianne Birkelund. Eight songs took part with the winner being chosen by a 10-member jury. Other past and future Eurovision entrants competing were

Birthe Wilke Birthe Wilke (born 19 March 1936) is a popular Danish singer. She grew up in a musical family in Copenhagen's Vesterbro area. Career When Wilke was in her teens, she won a talent competition at the National Scala Theatre in Copenhagen, san ...

( & ), Dario Campeotto (),

Bjørn Tidmand Bjørn Tidmand (born 24 January 1940 in Copenhagen) is a Danish singer, best known for his participation in the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest. After being a member of the Copenhagen Boys Choir as a child, Tidmand began performing in local nightc ...

() and

Gitte Hænning Gitte Hænning (born 29 June 1946) is a Danish singer and film actress, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1950s. She was known primarily monomously (without a surname) in Europe. She moved to Sweden in 1958. Her first hit in Swedish was ...

(, for ).

Eurovision Song Contest

Performance

On the night of the final the Ingmanns performed 8th in the running order, following and preceding . It was sung by Grethe Ingmann and accompanied by Jørgen Ingmann on guitar. John Kennedy O'Connor writes "the hypnotic tune was helped by the visual effects in the studio as a spinning vortex of whirling shapes spun around the screen, adding to the dream-like effect of the music. It was the only song that relied entirely on visual rather than physical props and this helped it stand out".

Controversy

The pre-contest betting had suggested a two-horse race between Denmark and Switzerland, and the two songs quickly separated themselves from the pack in the early rounds of voting, which was done by each national jury awarding 5-4-3-2-1 to their top 5 songs. Host

Katie Boyle Caterina Irene Elena Maria Boyle, Lady Saunders (née Imperiali dei Principi di Francavilla; 29 May 1926 – 20 March 2018), usually known as Katie Boyle, was an Italian-born British actress, writer, radio announcer, television personality, gam ...

then contacted Norway, the fifth jury due to vote, and the Norwegian spokesman clearly and confidently announced their votes as 5 to the , 4 to , 3 to Switzerland, 2 to Denmark and 1 to . However, as the spokesman had not given the results in the required format (by firstly giving the performance number of the song), Boyle asked him to repeat the votes. This appeared to confuse him, and Boyle agreed that to avoid any delay, they would come back to the Norwegian jury after all the other countries had voted. After the last scheduled jury in had given their votes, Switzerland was ahead of Denmark by 39 points to 38. Had the votes originally announced by Norway been allowed to stand, Switzerland would have won by 42 points to 40. Boyle then went back to the spokesman in Oslo who now announced 5 to the United Kingdom, 4 to Denmark, 3 to Italy, 2 to Germany and 1 to Switzerland, giving the victory to Denmark by 2 points. In response to the controversy which followed the show, the European Broadcasting Union investigated the role of the Norwegian jury and concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing, with the confusion arising from misunderstandings. Notwithstanding, an element of suspicion has hung over the 1963 result ever since and it remains, along with 1968, the most contentious contest outcome in Eurovision history.ESC History - Denmark 1963
/ref> "Dansevise" has a very high reputation in Eurovision circles. The song often features prominently in polls to determine the best Eurovision winners, and is cited as one of the best examples of a Eurovision winner which does not date and still holds wide appeal.

Points awarded to Denmark

Charts

English version and covers

Following the Contest, Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann also recorded and released "Dansevise" in English with the title "I Loved You". The song is also published in Swedish by Anne-Lie Rydé and in Finnish by Laila Kinnunen. Danish hip-hop band

Outlandish Outlandish is a hip-hop music group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, it consisted of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Berber background), (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and (born in Honduras and of Cuban and Honduran de ...

sampled the song in their track "Kom igen" which is featured in the game

FIFA 07 ''FIFA 07'' (also known as ''FIFA Football 07'' and ''FIFA 07 Soccer'') is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was the last game in the ''FIFA'' series to be relea ...

. DR decided to include "Dansevise" in the opening sequence of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

Grand Final.

Grethe Sønck Grethe Sønck (16 July 1929 – 12 February 2010)Grethe Sønck er død
was a

inherited the rights to the song after Sejr Volmer-Sørensen's death. Grethe Sønck took great care of the song and very few were allowed to record it or use it. After her death, it has become easier to get the rights to use it. Among other things, it has been used as background music in a bank advertisement.

References

{{Authority control Songs about dancing Eurovision songs of Denmark Danish-language songs Eurovision songs of 1963 Eurovision Song Contest winning songs Metronome Records singles 1963 songs