Throwback Thursday: An understated and underrated Danish gem

Casting back twenty-three years takes us to Aud Wilken’s performance of ‘Fra Mols stil Skagen’. Ending up in 5th place, the Danes may have had more successful entries, but to my ears it was Denmark’s finest day in Eurovision.

A winter wonder

Though presented to the world in May, ‘Fra Mols til Skagen’ is a wintry tale of love, longing and separation; the first writing by Lisa Cabble to take the Eurovision stage.

“Send your thoughts to me
‘Cause my heart is pounding”

“There will be no wild swans
As long as this snow keeps falling”

It is musically sparse and draws you in, the simplicity really works. You feel obliged to listen carefully to it and your reward is clear; it is rare to have such soul in a Eurovision song – thanks Aud!

Over to the ESCXTRA team…

Now, let’s see what my colleagues think of this entry!

Sean

It’s pretty safe to say that Denmark was not that great in the 1990s. However, “Fra Mols Til Skagen” is by far the best Danish entry in the 1990s and one of the best overall. Its beauty is in its simplicity, and I can really appreciate the banjo used throughout. Aud Wilken is also an amazing vocalist, her voice smooth as silk. In short, the song is absolutely amazing.

Nathan

This entry is one of the least ‘Danish’ (run-of-the-mill) Eurovision entries you can find and yet it represented Denmark. The mind boggles. That being said, this was ahead of its time. The melody keeps you hooked and the instrumentation is continuously intriguing. In a year of entries that I would describe as poor, this is one of the best.

Nick

The concept is so deceivingly simple. You put a singer on stage with a dress like an old green curtain and let her sing about going from one Danish city no one’s ever heard of to another. And yet, the result is so magical you can hardly even imagine how genius the masterminds behind this entry must’ve been. Aud Wilken performs this with a lot of class and dignity and I’m surprised the European juries picked up on the subtle brilliance of this Danish entries. Not often does Denmark surprise me in a positive way at Eurovision, but they sure did in 1995.

Tim

When I started to look through the Danish entries, I didn’t really like Aud Wilken’s entry. But as with Cheese and Wine, the song aged really well for me, and I really like the simplicity in her voice and the simplicity of the performance itself.  I didn’t think that simple things such as the chorus, the melody can get you hooked to a song.