Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig", composed by Otto Lington, with lyrics by Carl Andersen, and performed by Birthe Wilke. The Danish participating broadcaster, Danmarks Radio (DR), organised the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1959 in order to select its entry for the contest. Wilke had previously come third for Denmark in 1957 in a duet with Gustav Winckler, who was one of her competitors in the 1959 national final.
Before Eurovision
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1959
Danmarks Radio (DR) held the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1959 on 12 February at the Radiohuset in Copenhagen, hosted by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen. Two male and two female singers took part, each performing one solo song and one duet. The winning song was chosen by a 4-member jury, and only the top three songs were announced.[1]
The winning title "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" was written by Carl Andersen and composed by Otto Lington.[2]
On the contest, "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" was conducted by Kai Mortensen, and Birthe Wilke performed second in the running order, following France and preceding Italy. Like most of the other songs in the contest it was somewhat old-fashioned in style with no hint of contemporary chart music, but Birthe Wilke gave an energetic and engaging performance[citation needed]. At the close of voting the song had received 12 points, placing Denmark 5th of the 11 entries. The Danish jury awarded its highest mark of 4 to France.[3] It was succeeded as Danish entry at the 1960 contest with "Det var en yndig tid" performed by Katy Bødtger.
