three contests
Kirsti Sparboe
Kirsti Sparboe sang at three Eurovision Song Contests, in 1965, 1967 and 1969, for Norway. The best result was 13th place in 1965, with “Karusell”.
- who
- Norwegian singer and actor
- born
- 7 December 1946, Tromsø Municipality, Norway
- died
- 19 June 2026 (aged 79)
- contests
- 1965, 1967, 1969
- best result
- 13th, 1965
- music
- pop
- active
- 1963 to 2026
- sang for
- Norway
Biography
Kirsti Sparboe, who died in 2026, was a Norwegian singer and actor whose career in music was built largely on the contest, where Sparboe sang for Norway three times. “Karusell” finished joint 13th in Naples in 1965, “Dukkemann” joint 14th in Vienna in 1967, and “Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli” last of 16 in Madrid in 1969, with one point.
Written by ESC Predictions, 8 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, “Kirsti Sparboe”.
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Look up
The act’s own accounts, as listed on Wikidata. If one is wrong or out of date, tell us and we’ll take it down.
At Eurovision
Three songs, oldest first, and what became of each.
-
1965 Naples
“Karusell”
13th of 18 Finished 13th of 18, with 1 point.
- Sung in
- Norwegian
- Written by
- Jolly Kramer-Johansen
- Conductor
- Øivind Bergh
- Running order
- 7th of 18
- Age on the night
- 18
- Won that year
- Luxembourg: France Gall, “Poupée de cire, poupée de son”
-
1967 Vienna
“Dukkemann”
14th of 17 Finished 14th of 17, with 2 points.
- Sung in
- Norwegian
- Written by
- Tor Hultin, Ola B. Johannessen
- Conductor
- Øivind Bergh
- Running order
- 13th of 17
- Age on the night
- 20
- Won that year
- United Kingdom: Sandie Shaw, “Puppet on a String”
The story of Eurovision 1967: Mirrors, a muddled scoreboard and Britain's first win
-
1969 Madrid
“Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli”
16th of 16 Finished 16th of 16, with 1 point.
- Sung in
- Norwegian
- Written by
- Arne Bendiksen
- Conductor
- Øivind Bergh
- Running order
- 12th of 16
- Age on the night
- 22
- Won that year
- France, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom
The story of Eurovision 1969: Four winners and not enough medals
Away from Eurovision
Awards
- Spellemann Award for female artist of the year 1972
As recorded on Wikidata, which is rarely the whole list.
In the drama file
The two scenes from our index of scandals, mishaps and lore that Kirsti Sparboe is part of.
- 1968 Norway changes its song Thrown out, pulled out, stayed away
- 1969 One empty place Thrown out, pulled out, stayed away
In our contest stories
What we wrote about Kirsti Sparboe, year by year. Follow a link for the rest of that night.
- 1967 Seventeen
Three singers had been here before: Italy's Claudio Villa, Norway's Kirsti Sparboe and Spain's Raphael, who had sung in Luxembourg the year before.
- 1968 Norway changes its song
Norway's national final had been won by "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg", performed by both Kirsti Sparboe and Odd Børre. Then came the accusations, several of them, that it sounded too much like "Summer Holiday" — a Cliff Richard hit. Its composer, Kari Diesen, withdrew it.
- 1969 One empty place
Five of the singers had been here before. Simone de Oliveira was back for Portugal, Louis Neefs for Belgium and Kirsti Sparboe, for the third time, for Norway. Two had changed flags: Siw Malmkvist, Sweden's singer in 1960, now sang for Germany, and Romuald, Monaco's in 1964, sang for Luxembourg.
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Biographical details from Wikidata. The photo is from Wikimedia Commons and is credited beside it. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.