Birgit Brüel (6 October 1927 – 23 February 1996) was a Danish singer and actress who participated in the 1965

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. Brüel's professional career began in 1950 when she joined the Max Brüel Quartet as a jazz singer, and began training at the Danish Royal drama school. She married Brüel in 1951 and gave birth to twin daughters the following year (she also had one daughter from her first marriage, which had ended in divorce in 1949). During the 1950s she became well known as a theatre and screen actress, and between 1961 and 1966 she sang with the Danish Radio Jazz Group. In 1965, Brüel entered the Danish Eurovision selection,

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 DR since 1957, which determines for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced ...

, which she won with the song "

For din skyld Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the song "", composed by Jørgen Jersild, with lyrics by Poul Henningsen, and performed by Birgit Brüel. The Danish participating broadcaster, (DR), internally selected its ent ...

" ("For Your Sake"). She represented Denmark at the tenth

, held on 20 March in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where "For din skyld" finished in seventh place of the 18 entries. Oddly, the song was voted for by only two other countries, Sweden and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, but both had awarded the maximum five points, giving it a relatively high placing. Brüel combined singing and acting and made numerous television and film appearances up to the early 1990s. From the 1970s she became involved with Amazonegruppen, a feminist theatrical and musical group. Her last musical recording was ''Den hemmelige rude'', a 1985 album consisting of poems by

Tove Ditlevsen Tove Irma Margit Ditlevsen (; 14 December 1917 – 7 March 1976) was a Danish poet and author. With published works in a variety of genres, she was one of Denmark's best-known authors by the time of her death. Early life and career Tove ...

set to music. Brüel died of undisclosed causes on 23 February 1996 at the age of 68.Biography at Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon
(Danish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruel, Birgit 1927 births 1996 deaths Danish stage actresses Danish television actresses Dansk Melodi Grand Prix winners 20th-century Danish women singers Danish feminists Actresses from Copenhagen Musicians from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish actresses Eurovision Song Contest entrants