The Queen of Eurovision

Sometimes once is not enough, when you enjoy doing something you want to do it all over again and again and again…Certain Eurovision singers think so, and one participation didn’t seem to be enough for them. Dima Bilan is the most recent example, he placed second in 2006, and this year he managed to win! Isn’t he a lucky guy?! Many other Eurovision singers tried a second time; Domenico Modugno, Vicky Leandros, Anna Vissi, Helena Paparizou, Charlotte Perrelli, our own Fabrizio and Chiara…among others.

Carola from Sweden thought twice wasn’t enough, in fact she took part for the third time two years ago and she even tried to represent her country once again this year.  So did Lys Assia who after winning the first contest in 1956, returned to the contest again for Switzerland in 1957 and 1958.

Undoubtedly the King of Eurovision is considered to be Johnny Logan from Ireland. He won the contest twice as a singer; in 1980 with “What’s Another Year?” and in 1987 with the smashing hit “Hold me Now”. He even composed the Irish 1984 entry “Terminal 3” placing second and the 1992 entry “Why Me?” placing first once again. Both of these songs were sung by Linda Martin.

Lys Assia - the first winner

But is there a Queen of Eurovision? Who might she be? Maybe Carola, or Anna Vissi? Or maybe Lys Assia, the first singer to win the contest? What about Mary Spiteri and Chiara? Or else we could proclaim Dana International (Eurovision 1998 Israel) or Drama Queen her/himself (Eurovision 2007 Denmark).
 

The possibilities are endless but I think I have a solution! An awesome singer from Norway took the Eurovision stage four times, and that is a record. Ladies and gentlemen…the one and only Ms. Elisabeth Andreassen.

Born fifty years ago in Norway, Bettan (as she is called) is active in many musical genres, as country music, schlager and even musicals. Her voice range is extraordinary and she happens to be a very versatile artist.

Elisabeth Andreassen

She was discovered by a Swedish producer in 1979 and she joined the group Chips. This group took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, representing Sweden with the song ‘Dag efter Dag’. Chips placed eighth, not a bad result.

Three years later, in 1985 Elizabeth Andreassen teamed up with Hanne Krogh as a group called Bobbysocks and represented Norway. They won Eurovision with the uptempo ‘La det Swinge’, the first victory for Norway! Elizabeth Andreassen and Hanne Krogh (Bobbysocks) were even invited to take part in the 50th Anniversary concert of Eurovision in 2005.
 

After her 1985 Eurovision triumph, Bettan/Andreassen wanted to give it another shot in 1994…and once again not alone. This time she coupled with Jan Werner, singing a lovely ballad called ‘Duett’. It was one of the favourites that year and in fact they did well placing sixth out of twenty five countries. Bettan and Werner continued to work together successfully for many years. In fact they toured Norway in 1997, 1999 and 2000 with their Christmas Concert. They were the most popular Christmas Concert tours ever in Norway. But sadly Werner died of heart failure in 2006, his latest album sold over 63,000 copies in the first week alone!
 

Two years later, Elizabeth Andreassen won the Norwegian Melodi Gran Prix once again and therefore she took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth time. This time she sang ‘I Evigeth’ (Eternity), in my opinion one of the most beautiful songs ever in the history of the contest. The crowd in the hall was silent throughout the performance but exploded into a delirium when the song came to an end…I thought she was going to win again. But she placed second after Eimear Quinn from Ireland. The Irish song ‘The Voice’ was lovely too but honestly everybody had had enough of Ireland during the 90s! They had already won the contest three times in a row (1992, 1993, 1994)…a fourth victory was simply too much!

It would be interesting to note that Bettan’s involvement with Eurovision wasn’t just in 1982, 1985, 1994 and 1996 when she actually took part, she has participated in the Swedish and Norwegian National Festivals ten times in all. Here is a full list of all her attempts (four of them successful of course):

Melodifestivalen (Swedish National Song Festival)
1981. Chips - God morgon (Good morning), 2nd place
1982. Chips - Dag efter dag (Day after day), 1st place and 8th in Eurovision
1984. Elisabeth Andreassen - Kärleksmagi, 6th place
1990. Elisabeth Andreassen - Jag ser en stjärna falla, 7th place
2002. Kikki, Bettan & Lotta - Vem é dé du vill ha, 3rd place

Melodi Grand Prix (Norwegian National Song Festival)
1985. Bobbysocks - La det swinge (Let it swing)1st place and winner of Eurovision !
1994. Bettan & Jan Werner - Duett (Duet), 1st place and 6th in Eurovision
1996. Elisabeth Andreassen - I evighet (Eternity), 1st place and 2nd in Eurovision
1998. Elisabeth Andreassen - Winds of the Northern Sea, 2nd place
2003. Kikki, Bettan & Lotta - Din hånd i min hånd, 4th place


After her fourth participation in Eurovision, Elizabeth Andreassen went on to become one of the highest paid Scandinavian artists. Norwegian sources say that ‘Elisabeth is, second to Wenche Myhre, Norway's highest paid artist’. Will we see her again in the Eurovision Song Contest? I definitely wouldn’t mind. So do you agree with me ? Isn’t she the Queen of Eurovision?!