Brandenburger Tor - Ketil Stokkans Pop Band

The Eurovision Song Contest suffered a bit after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Suddenly songs about freedom and happiness ran rampant, and every country wanted to profit from the glee that suddenly engulfed Europe. This is how we got 'Keine Mauern mehr', 'Frei zu leben' and the terrible winner of 1990, 'Insieme'.

Even Norway went along: they sent in Ketil Stokkan with the shameless song, dedicated to that famous Norwegian landmark 'Brandenburger Tor'. But at least, this was a rather funny song. At least, it sounded funny because Norwegian is hard to understand, so the only surviving lyric for foreign ears was that very title. It didn't help matters much: at the close of voting, Ketil ended up in a shared last place in a field of 22 competitors. The single, meanwhile, is incredibly rare, so I was glad to get my hands on a copy.

My collection: 7" single no. 6278
Found: Discogs.com, received April 23, 2020
Tracks: 'Brandenburger Tor (Norsk version)' / 'Brandenburger Tor (English version)'

Romeo - Ketil Stokkan

Ketil Stokkan was born on April 29, 1956 in Harstad, Norway. As well as being a singer in the Norwegian band Zoo, Ketil performed as a solo singer, most notably in the Eurovision Song Contest - twice.

His first appearance was in 1986 with his self-penned song 'Romeo'. The Contest was held in Bergen, Norway that year, after the previous year saw the Bobbysocks win with the rather retro La det swinge. The song became more significant for the appearance onstage of a drag queen, a member of the Norwegian drag troupe "Great Garlic Girls", dressed in stylised clothing reminiscent of the 18th century, thus representing the first occasion on which a sexual minority was visible onstage. At the close of voting, 'Romeo' had received 44 points, placing 12th in a field of 20. Stokkan returned on the Eurovision stage in 1990 with the unsuccessful 'Brandenburger Tor'. But I am still looking for a (cheap) copy of that single...

My collection: 7" single no. 5612
Found: eBay.com, received February 12, 2015
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Romeo' / 'Vi overlever regnet'