Birthe Wilke (born 19 March 1936) is a popular

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

singer. She grew up in a musical family in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

's Vesterbro area.

Career

When Wilke was in her teens, she won a talent competition at the National Scala Theatre in Copenhagen, sang as soloist with Bruno Henriksen's Orchestra at

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampe ...

in Copenhagen, made her first recording, and was named "Denmark's

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

" and recorded "Que sera sera" in 1956. After qualifying in the

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fe ...

to represent Denmark at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, she participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (HR) on behalf of ARD, the contest, originally known as the (English: Euro ...

, where she san
"Skibet Skal Sejle I Nat"
("The Ship Is Leaving Tonight") with

Gustav Winckler Gustav Frands Wilzeck Winckler (13 October 1925 – 20 January 1979) was a popular Danish singer, composer and music publisher. He grew up in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen and started his career as a decorator. In 1948 as a young man ...

. They ranked 3rd of out 10 at the end of the voting, and stunned television audiences with a 13-second long kiss at the end of their performance. She also participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1959 The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European B ...

where she sang sol
"Uh-Jeg Ville Ønske Jeg Var Dig"
("Oh - I wish I were you"). She was ranked 5th place at the end of voting. In the late 1950s she toured Poland,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and United States. In 1961 she played a

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

in the Danish film ''

Reptilicus ''Reptilicus'' is a 1961 Danish-American Monster film, giant monster film about a prehistoric reptile. The film was produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio and separate versions were released in Denmark and in the United States, with American Inter ...

''. She sang "Tivoli Nights". In the same year, she won the award for best singer at the first international song festival in the Gdansk shipyard hall, the forerunner of the Sopot festival and Intervision Song Contest. In 1966 she retired from public life, but made a short-lived return in 1973. In addition to her recording successes, she participated in radio, television, advertising and commercial film.

References

* Laursen, Carsten Michael (1999). 'Top-Pop: Navne i dansk pop 1950–2000''"' ("Top-Pop: Names in Danish Pop 1950–2000"). L&R Fakta. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilke, Birthe 1936 births Living people Danish women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Denmark Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1957 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1959 Danish pop singers