Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 with the song "Skibet skal sejle i nat", composed by Erik Fiehn, with lyrics by Poul Sørensen, and performed by Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler. The Danish participating broadcaster, Statsradiofonien, organised the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1957 in order to select its entry for the contest. This was the first-ever entry from Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry performed in Danish in the contest.
Statsradiofonien had wanted to take part in the first contest in 1956 but withdrew because no entry was submitted before the deadline.
Statsradiofonien held the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1957 on 17 February at Radiohuset in Copenhagen, hosted by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen. 117 songs had been submitted to the broadcaster and six of them were chosen for the national final. Two singers were competing in the selection – Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler. Both performed two songs as soloists and they also performed two songs as a duo. A jury of ten people selected the winner and only the top two were announced, which turned out to be the two duets. "Skibet skal sejle i nat" was the overall winner and would become The Danish first entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
"Skibet skal sejle i nat" was recorded and released on an EP of the same title. The runner-up entry "Kærlighedens cocktail" was included on this record too.[1] After the contest, Gustav Winkler has recorded a German version of the song ("Das Schiff Geht in See Heute Nacht") with Bibi Johns.[2] Winkler himself appeared as Gunnar Winkler on this record, the name under which he was popular in Germany in these days.
At Eurovision
Denmark was the first Scandinavian country in the competition. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt, the Danish entry was visually one of the most impressive ones that year: to illustrate the content of the song, which is about a sailor who has to say goodbye to a woman he met and fell in love with during a shore leave,[3] Winkler was dressed up as a sailor and Wilke as a woman standing at the harbour wearing a coat with a purse in her hand. Furthermore, a tar vat was brought on stage to create a harbour atmosphere. Additionally, the song is famous for the kiss the duo exchanged at the end of the performance – the longest stage kiss in contest history, made so by a stagehand omitting to signal for it to end.
The Danish entry was performed ninth (2nd last) on the night following France and preceding Switzerland. At the close of voting, Denmark had received ten points in total placing the country third among the ten participants. Denmark would remain the most successful debuting country in the Eurovision Song Contest until Poland finished second on its debut in 1994. However, Denmark has only received points from three of the other nine countries, most notably five points from the Netherlands.
