Wednesday 6 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1969


Melodifestivalen 1969 was the selection for the 11th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. 2402 songs were submitted to SVT for the competition. This was the first time a tie occurred for first place in the competition.

The Swedish Final was held on March 1st in Stockholm, hosted by Pekka Langer. The winner was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries. After the voting there was a tie for first place, so the jurors had to revote and Tommy Körberg won by 54 votes to 45. The other song, Hej clown was written by Lasse Berghagen and later ABBA member Benny Andersson and was sung by Jan Malmsjö.

Results:

01. Judy min vän - Tommy Körberg, 31 points (54)
02. Hej clown - Jan Malmsjö, 31 points (45)
03. Gång på gång – Sten Nilsson, 13 points
04. Härlig är vår jord - Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 8 points
05. Svensk flicka – Ann-Louise Hanson, 8 points
06. Sommarflicka – Svante Thuresson, 4 points
07. Du ger mig lust att leva – Lena Hansson, 3 points
08. Du ser mig inte - Inger Öst, 1 point
09. L, som i älskar dej - Britt Bergström, 0 points
10. Du skänker mening åt mitt liv - Ola Håkansson, 0 points

At the ESC, held in Madrid, Tommy finished 9th out of 16. Most points came from Sweden's neighbours, Norway and Finland.

***

Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg (4 July 1948, Norsjö) is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician.

In 1969, he won the Swedish Recording Industry Award in the category Best Debut Performance.

He is best known for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess. For his part in Chess he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier  Award in the category Outstanding Performance by an actor in a Musical. He has also appeared in the Swedish productions of other musicals, including The Sound of Music and Les Misérables.

Tommy Körberg voiced the Beast in the Swedish version of Beauty and the Beast, and also sang the Swedish version of the title song on the soundtrack.
For years, he collaborated with Monica and Carl-Axel Dominique in the experimental group Solar Plexus. In his own performances, he has worked extensively with Stefan Nilsson, and including songs by Jacques Brel.
Körberg is also a frequent performer with Benny Andersson's band, Benny Anderssons Orkester (BAO), singing mostly dance music and music by Andersson.

In 2008 he starred in the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Cirkus in Stockholm, and in 2009 he played Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady in Stockholm acting opposite Helen Sjöholm, who portrayed the role of Eliza Doolittle.
In the autumn of 2010 Körberg and his long-time friend Claes Malmberg gave a show in Gothenburg called The Big Bang Show. He also plans to launch a new CD.

Tommy Körberg represented Sweden in the 1969 and 1988 Eurovision Song Contests. In 1969 he came 9th with Judy, min vän and in 1988 he came 12th with Stad i ljus.

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