Trailblazers come in many different forms. They could be the début entry for a country. They could be a country’s first winner. They could be the first to perform in a certain language.
Today’s birthday girl Anita Thallaug is a trailblazer, but maybe not for a reason she’d prefer to remember. Jahn Teigen, Finn Kalvik and Tor Endresen have all followed in her wake, in being Norwegian and coming away from a contest with no points. We should remember that Dag Kristofferson wrote the song she sang, so the fault doesn’t lie entirely with Anita. And she was thrown into the deep end when the intended performer pulled out. Her country caused a kerfuffle with the votes it gave out, so Norway definitely made a mark in 1963.
Anita is 83 today.
Gratulerer med dagen, Anita!