Finn Bjørn Kalvik (born 30 April 1947) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

singer and composer.

Early career

He was born in

Fåvang Fåvang is a village in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer. The European route E6 highway runs through ...

, but his family moved to the working class district of

Grorud Grorud is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The borough contains the Ammerud, Grorud, Kalbakken, Rødtvet, Nordtvet and Romsås areas. To the north of the borough is the forest of Lillomarka. The borough is the smallest in Oslo, with fewer ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1952. Early in his career Kalvik found success putting music to the poetry of popular Norwegian writers

André Bjerke Jarl André Bjerke (30 January 1918 – 10 January 1985) was a Norwegian writer and poet. He wrote a wide range of material: poems (both for children and adults), mystery novels (four of them under the pseudonym Bernhard Borge), essays, and arti ...

and

Inger Hagerup Inger Hagerup (née Halsør; 12 April 1905, in Bergen – 6 February 1985, in Fredrikstad) was a Norwegian writer, playwright and poet. She is considered one of the greatest Norwegian poets of the 20th century. Life and career Inger Johanne Ha ...

. He made his breakthrough in 1969 with the song ''Finne meg sjæl'', and he also had major hits in 1971 with ''En tur rundt i byen'' (based on

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

's '' Streets Of London'') and in 1975 with ''Ride ranke'' (based on

Harry Chapin Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...

's ''

Cat's in the Cradle "Cat's in the Cradle" is a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin from the album ''Verities & Balderdash''. The single topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1974. As Chapin's only number-one song, it became the best known of his work an ...

''). His first four albums reached top 15 on the Norwegian record charts: ''Tusenfryd og grå hverdag'' (1971), ''Finn'' (1972), ''Nøkkelen ligger under matta'' (1974) and ''Fyll mine seil'' (1976). The 1979 album ''Kom ut kom fram'' (1979) was produced by

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

member/composer

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

; so was the 1981 album ''Natt og dag''. The 1982 album ''Tenn dine vakre øyne'' reached top 20 on the charts.

Eurovision and later years

One of the songs on ''Natt og dag'' was "

Aldri i livet Norway was represented by Finn Kalvik, with the song "Aldri i livet", at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. "Aldri i livet" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 7 March. Before Eur ...

" (Never in my life), with which Kalvik won the Norwegian

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It dete ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. However his performance in the European 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 by

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

and Annifrid Lyngstad. He returned to Melodi Grand Prix once more in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

when he sang his song "Malene" to a fourth place in the Norwegian selection. The song was dedicated to his daughter. Later albums include ''Det søte liv'' (1984), ''Livets lyse side'' (1988), ''Innsida ut'' (1991), ''I egne hender'' (1995), ''Imellom to evigheter'' (2000), ''Klassisk Kalvik'' (2002), ''Dagdrivernotater'' (2004) and ''Klassisk Kalvik II'' (2005). The two "Klassisk Kalvik" albums were re-recordings of old songs with a

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

. In 2000 Kalvik also scored a hit with a version of Andersson's song ''Tröstevisa'', performed as a duet with Swedish singer CajsaStina Åkerström. Kalvik is also an avid painter. In 1998 the comedy program '' Åpen 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).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalvik, Finn 1947 births Living people Musicians from Oslo Norwegian guitarists Norwegian male guitarists Norwegian male singers Norwegian songwriters Melodi Grand Prix contestants Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1981 Melodi Grand Prix winners Grappa Music artists Polydor Records artists Universal Music Group artists