Born: October 19th, 1926, Bergen (Norway)
Died: March 26th, 2009, Bergen (Norway)
Nationality: Norwegian
In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview
BIOGRAPHY
Considered the ‘father of pop music in Norway’, Arne Bendiksen started his career in music as a member of the group The Monn Keys in the 1950s; later, he made his mark as a solo singer as well. From the 1960s onwards, he focused on song writing and producing, for example for his main protégés in the 1960s, Wenche Myhre and Kirsti Sparboe; he formed a record company of his own in 1964. Amongst the most famous songs he composed are ‘Jeg vil ha en blå ballong’ and ‘La meg være ung’; this last song was sung by Wenche Myhre in the 1964 Norwegian Eurovision pre-selection.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Ironically enough, this pre-selection was won by… Bendiksen himself; he performed a song written by Sigurd Jansen and Egil Hagen called ‘Spiral’. Bendiksen went on to represent his native country in the contest proper of 1964 in Copenhagen, where he came eight; his conductor that night was Karsten Andersen. In the 1960s and 1970s, Bendiksen participated in the Norwegian heats as a composer on countless occasions; his creations won in 1966 (‘Intet er nytt under solen’, sung in the Eurovision Song Contest by Åse Kleveland, third place), 1969 (‘Oj, oj, oj så glad, jeg skal bli’, sung in the contest by Kirsti Sparboe, sixteenth place), 1971 (‘Lykken er’, sung in the contest by Hanne Krogh, seventeenth place), and 1973 (‘It’s Just A Game’, sung in the contest by The Bendik Singers, seventh place).
In 1971, there was nobody available to conduct the Eurovision orchestra for Norway; that is why Arne Bendiksen, although he had not written the orchestration and did not feel confident at all about his conducting skills, had to do it himself - although Arne's son maintains his father just told the story in that way in interviews to entertain audiences; in fact, Bendiksen was very experienced as a record producer, having overseen dozens of studio recordings. Others involved in the record industry of those days, however, confirm that Bendiksen never conducted groups of classical musicians in studio sessions.
EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR
Country – Norway
Song title – "Spiral"
Rendition – Arne Bendiksen
Lyrics – Egil Hagen
Composition – Sigurd Jansen
Studio arrangement – Carsten Klouman
Live orchestration – Carsten Klouman
Conductor – Karsten Andersen
Score – 8th place (6 votes)
Country – Norway
Song title – "Intet er nytt under solen"
Rendition – Åse Kleveland
Lyrics – Arne Bendiksen
Composition – Arne Bendiksen
Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen
Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen
Conductor – Øivind Bergh
Score – 3rd place (15 votes)
Country – Norway
Song title – "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli"
Rendition – Kirsti Sparboe
Lyrics – Arne Bendiksen
Composition – Arne Bendiksen
Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen
(studio orchestra conducted by Kjell Karlsen)
Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen
Conductor – Øivind Bergh
Score – 16th place (1 vote)
Country – Norway
Song title – "Lykken er…"
Rendition – Hanne Krogh
Lyrics – Arne Bendiksen
Composition – Arne Bendiksen
Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen
Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen
Conductor – Arne Bendiksen
Score – 17th place (65 votes)
Country – Norway
Song title – "It’s Just A Game (Å for et spil)"
Rendition – Bendik Singers (= Bjørn Kruse / Philip A. Kruse / Ellen Nikolaysen / Anne-Karine Strøm)
Norwegian lyrics – Arne Bendiksen
English lyrics – Robert Williams
Composition – Arne Bendiksen
Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen
Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen
Conductor – Carsten Klouman
Score – 7th place (89 punten)
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