Denmark was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (HR) on behalf of ARD (broadcaster), ARD, the contest, originally known as the () ...

with the song "", composed by Erik Fiehn, with lyrics by Poul Sørensen, and performed by

Birthe Wilke Birthe Wilke (born 19 March 1936) is a 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, sang as sol ...

and

Gustav Winckler Gustav Frands Wilzeck Winckler (13 October 1925 – 20 January 1979) was a popular Danish singer, composer and music publisher. He grew up in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen and started his career as a decorator. In 1948 as a young man he ...

. The Danish participating broadcaster, , organised the in order to select its entry for the contest. This was the first-ever entry from Denmark in the

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 ...

, and the first-ever entry performed in Danish in the contest. Statsradiofonien had wanted to take part in the in 1956 but withdrew because no entry was submitted before the deadline.

Before Eurovision

held the 1957 on 17 February at Radiohuset in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, hosted by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen. 117 songs had been submitted to the broadcaster and six of them were chosen for the national final. Two singers were competing in the selection –

and

. Both performed two songs as soloists and they also performed two songs as a duo. A jury of ten people selected the winner and only the top two were announced, which turned out to be the two duets. "" was the overall winner and would become The Danish first entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Releases

"" was recorded and released on an EP of the same title. The runner-up entry "" was included on this record too. After the contest, Gustav Winkler has recorded a German version of the song ("") with Bibi Johns. Winkler himself appeared as Gunnar Winkler on this record, the name under which he was popular in Germany in these days.

At Eurovision

Denmark was the first Scandinavian country in the competition. At the Eurovision Song Contest in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, the Danish entry was visually one of the most impressive ones that year: to illustrate the content of the song Winkler was dressed up as a sailor and Wilke as a woman standing at the harbour wearing a coat with a purse in her hand. Furthermore, a tar vat was brought on stage to create a harbour atmosphere. Additionally, the song is famous for the kiss the duo exchanged at the end of the performance – the longest stage kiss in contest history, made so by a stagehand omitting to signal for it to end. The Danish entry was performed ninth (2nd last) on the night following and preceding . At the close of voting, Denmark had received ten votes in total placing the country third among the ten participants. Denmark would remain the most successful debuting country in the Eurovision Song Contest until Poland finished second on its debut . However, Denmark has only received votes from three of the other nine countries, most notably five votes from the Netherlands. The contest was televised on and on radio station Program 2, both with commentary by Svend Pedersen.

Voting

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one vote to his or her favourite song.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1957

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 Eurovision