Solhverv
"Solhverv" ("Solstice") was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, performed in Norwegian by Anita Thallaug.
 "Solhverv" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1963 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) | |
| Language | |
| Composer(s) | Dag Kristoffersen |
| Lyricist(s) | Dag Kristoffersen |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 13th |
| Final points | 0 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Kom sol, kom regn" (1962) | |
| "Spiral" (1964) ► | |
The song is in the chanson style, popular in the early years of the Contest. Thallaug describes her feelings when she is with her lover, comparing the happiness she knows she will have with him to the happy knowledge that Spring is soon to arrive when the Winter Solstice occurs.
The song was performed fifth on the night, following Austria's Carmela Corren with "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder" and preceding Italy's Emilio Pericoli with "Uno per tutte". At the close of voting, it had received the dreaded nul points, placing 13th (equal last) in a field of 16. This was the first occasion on which Norway had failed to score a point in Contest history, and the country would go on to claim the unwanted record of the most zeroes.
In the Norwegian final, it was sung by Nora Brockstedt (with the big orchestra) and Jan Høiland (with the small orchestra), but Brockstedt was fully booked and didn't have the time to go to London. Anita Thallaug was selected to go to London, but never recorded the song. It was issued in a version by Jan Høiland, using the big orchestra arrangement, but it was not a bestseller in Norway.
It was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1964 contest by Arne Bendiksen with "Spiral".