Country Norway Language Norwegian Lyricist(s) Arne Bendiksen | Artist(s) Kirsti Sparboe Composer(s) Arne Bendiksen Conductor Øivind Bergh | |
"Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli" ("Wow, wow, wow, how happy I'll be") was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, performed in Norwegian by Kirsti Sparboe.
The song is a moderately up-tempo number, with Sparboe singing about how happy she will be when her lover is only interested in her. From the lyrics, it seems that he frequently "has someone on the side" and chases after many girls at once, however Sparboe appears optimistic that he will give up his philandering ways at some point in the future - at which point she sings that "I'll have a party/And I will be the only guest".
From the lyrics, it is far from clear when or why the boyfriend should lose interest in other women, and the song was attacked in a live TV broadcast by a professor of literature, Erling Nilsen, who felt "Oj, oj, oj" was the only good thing in the lyrics. The song's failure in the contest, coupled with Norwegian sales of 50,000 copies, gave some vindication to both sides in the ensuing debate, which filled Norwegian newspapers for much of the summer of 1969.
The song was performed twelfth on the night, following Switzerland's Paola Del Medico with "Bonjour, Bonjour" and preceding Germany's Siw Malmkvist with "Primaballerina". At the close of voting, it had received 1 point, placing 16th (last) in a field of 16.
Due to the chaotic finish to the 1969 Contest, which featured four songs being declared "joint winners" as there was no provision for a tied result, Norway opted out of the 1970 contest. The country did, however, return the next year. Thus, the song was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1971 contest by Hanne Krogh with "Lykken er".