Arne Joachim Bendiksen (19 October 1926 – 26 March 2009) was a Norwegian singer, composer and producer, described as "the father of pop music" in Norway.

Career

Bendiksen was born in Bergen, Norway. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, he was a major figure in Norwegian popular music. First, as a member of the group The Monn Keys, later as soloist and composer for other artists. Besides writing his own songs, he also translated many foreign hits into Norwegian, making them Norwegian hits. Arne Bendiksen took part in the Norwegian

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 ...

selections several times, both as an artist and as a songwriter. Three times he represented Norway in Eurovision as singer; in 1964 ( Eurovision Song Contest 1964) with ''Spiral'' as soloist, in 1973 ( Eurovision Song Contest 1973) with ''Å, for et spill'' and in 1974 ( Eurovision Song Contest 1974) with ''Hvor er du?''. Four times he took part as composer, most memorable as songwriter for Åse Kleveland's ''

Intet er nytt under solen Norway was represented by Åse Kleveland, with the song "Intet er nytt under solen", at the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 5 March in Luxembourg City. "Intet er nytt under solen" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi G ...

'' in 1966 (

), finishing a strong third. Beginning in 1964 he was the boss of his own record company. Thanks to him, popular artists like Wenche Myhre and Kirsti Sparboe reached fame. However, in the Eurovision Song Contest finals of 1969, Norway received a mere 1 point for the song ''

Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli Norway was represented by Kirsti Sparboe, with the song "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli", at the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 29 March in Madrid. "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the ...

'', which was composed by Arne Bendiksen and performed by Kirsti Sparboe. Arne did not let this crush his spirits though, and he continued his dedicated work as a singer/songwriter throughout the 1970s. In the 1980s, he gave a shot at the popular children's cassette industry and released his major children's work ''Barnefest i Andeby'' – Children's party in Duckburg – a cassette filled with catchy songs about the various Disney characters inhabiting the fictional city of Duckburg. This popular cassette got a sequel, released especially for the Christmas season, called ''Jul i Andeby'' – Christmas in Duckburg''. In June 2006, his all-new self-composed children's musical stage debuted in the small elementary school

Fjellstrand Skole Fjellstrand is a village in Nesodden municipality, Akershus, Norway. The population was 832 as at 2005. A hairdresser and a grocery store can be found near the central bus stop of Fjellstrand. A relatively rocky beach at the ironically named Para ...

in Nesodden,

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. Arne Bendiksen died on 26 March 2009, after having been sick for a short period of time. The cause of death was

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

Famous songs

* "Jeg vil ha en blå ballong" * "

" * "

" * " Lykken er..." * "Og han kvakk-, kvakk-, kvakk-, kvakk-, kvakker når han ser, pengene blir fler' og fler'!" * "Knekke egg" * "Det blir ikke regn i dag"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendiksen, Arne 1926 births 2009 deaths Musicians from Bergen Melodi Grand Prix contestants Norwegian male composers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1964 Eurovision Song Contest conductors Norwegian pop singers Norwegian singer-songwriters Melodi Grand Prix winners Spellemannprisen winners 20th-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century conductors (music)