Finn Bjørn Kalvik (born 30 April 1947) is aNorwegian singer and composer. He representedNorway in theEurovision Song Contest 1981.
He was born inFåvang, but his family moved to the working class district ofGrorud,Oslo in 1952. Early in his career Kalvik found success putting music to the poetry of popular Norwegian writersAndré Bjerke andInger Hagerup. He made his breakthrough in 1969 with the songFinne meg sjæl, and he also had major hits in 1971 withEn tur rundt i byen (based onRalph McTell'sStreets Of London) and in 1975 withRide ranke (based onHarry Chapin'sCat's in the Cradle).[1]
His first four albums reached top 15 on the Norwegian record charts:Tusenfryd og grå hverdag (1971),Finn (1972),Nøkkelen ligger under matta (1974) andFyll mine seil (1976). The 1979 albumKom ut kom fram (1979) was produced byABBA member/composerBenny Andersson; so was the 1981 albumNatt og dag. The 1982 albumTenn dine vakre øyne reached top 20 on the charts.[1]
One of the songs onNatt og dag was "Aldri i livet" (Never in my life), with which Kalvik won the NorwegianMelodi Grand Prix in1981.[1] However his performance in theEuropean finals ended with an infamous zero points. The song was still a big success in Norway, and was even recorded in English as "Here in My Heart" with lyrics by Ralph McTell and backing vocals byABBA'sAgnetha Fältskog andAnnifrid Lyngstad.[2] He returned to Melodi Grand Prix once more in1987 when he sang his song "Malene" to a fourth place in the Norwegian selection. The song was dedicated to his daughter.
Later albums includeDet søte liv (1984),Livets lyse side (1988),Innsida ut (1991),I egne hender (1995),Imellom to evigheter (2000),Klassisk Kalvik (2002),Dagdrivernotater (2004) andKlassisk Kalvik II (2005).[3] The two "Klassisk Kalvik" albums were re-recordings of old songs with asymphony orchestra.[1] In 2000 Kalvik also scored a hit with a version of Andersson's songTröstevisa, performed as a duet with Swedish singer CajsaStina Åkerström.
Kalvik is also an avid painter.
In 1998 the comedy programÅpen post featured a segment called "Finn Kalvik-nyhetene", Finn Kalvik news, where jokes were made about Kalvik. The segment caused mental distress for Kalvik, and the jokesters Harald Eia and Bård Tufte Johansen had to apologize publicly (via the show's producer,Lars Hognestad).[4][5]
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| Preceded by | Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | Succeeded by |
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