An Xtra Happy Birthday; December 7th

Today we have a total of four Eurostars’ birthdays to celebrate; double the number from yesterday! Two of them are Scandinavian ladies who between them have no less than five Eurovision participations. The other two are gentlemen from a bit further west, and believe it or not; they have both won the contest. They didn’t do it together, though. We give you Charlie McGettigan and Mike Nolan!

Kirsti Sparboe, 71

Kirsti Sparboe has represented Norway in no less than three Eurovisions! The first time was in 1965, with “Karusell“. With just one point she finished in 13th place, a position she shared with Portugal. Two years later she was back with “Dukkemann” (Puppet Man/Our Own Little Dummy). She doubled her number of points, to two, but finished in 14th place alongside Austria and the Netherlands. In 1969 she returned for the last time, with “Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli” (Wow, wow, wow, how happy I’ll be). Like in her first attempt she only received 1 point, this time landing her in 16th and last place. Kirsti thereby holds the record for receiving the fewest points in three participations; 4. She has an even longer list of Melodi Grand Prix participations, however. Between 1965 and 1977 she had no less than 14 songs in the Norwegian pre-selection.

Marion Rung, 72

Marion represented Finland at both the 1962 and 1973 Eurovision Song Contests. Her first attempt, in Luxembourg, gave her a 7th place with “Tipi-tii“. This was Finland’s best result until Marion returned for the second time. Her song in 1973, “Tom Tom Tom”, however, gave her a 6th place. Finland had to wait until their victory in 2006 before achieving a better result.

Mike Nolan, 63

Mike represented the United Kingdom at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. He did so as part of the group Bucks Fizz, winning the contest with the song “Making Your Mind Up”.

Charlie McGettigan, 67

Charlie McGettigan represented Ireland at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest on home soil in Dublin. He did so alongside Paul Harrington, winning the contest with their song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”. In 2015, Charlie returned to the Euroverse, when he wrote the song “Anybody Got a Shoulder?” for Kat Mahon. This was one of the finalists in the Irish pre-selection, finishing 2nd.

All of us here at escXtra send our best wishes to Kirsti, Marion, Mike and Charlie McGettigan on their big day!