An Xtra Happy Birthday; November 13th

Yesterday we celebrated a Danish birthday boy, and today we’re also mainly staying in Scandinavia. We do, however, indulge in a little hop over to Ireland at the end. Today’s birthday boy is a man who represented Norway at Eurovision a mere three years after moving to the country. Our birthday girl, on the other hand, was born in Norway. She represented her country at Eurovision a total of 6 times, in varying capacities. We give you Anita Skorgan!  

Benny Borg, 72

Benny Borg represented Norway at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest in Edinburgh. He did so together with Grethe Kausland. With their song, “Småting”, they finished 14th out of 18 participating countries.

Anita Skorgan, 59

Anita Skorgan has, as we mentioned earlier, represented Norway at Eurovision no less than SIX times. Twice, in 1981 and 1983, she was part of the backing singers and once she performed a duet with her then husband, Jahn Teigen. More importantly, she performed as a soloist on two occasions; in 1977 with “Casanova” and in 1979 with “Oliver“. Her best result as a singer was a ninth place. Her best result at Eurovision, however, came as a composer. She is the woman behind the beautiful ballad “For vår jord“, performed by Karilone Krüger, that finished 5th in Dublin in 1988.
And I’m breaking all the rules here, as, for the first time, the video below is not from Eurovision. Instead, this is a clip from when Anita Skorgan and Karoline Krüger performed the song together 20 years later.

Dustin the Turkey, 29

Dustin the Turkey represented Ireland at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade. Despite singing the song “Irlande Douze Pointe”, he didn’t receive a single 12 pointer during the first semi. Instead, he finished 15th out of the 19 semifinalists in his semi, thus failing to qualify for the grand final.

All of us here at escXtra wish Benny, Anita and Dustin the best of birthdays!