Country Norway Language English Lyricist(s) Philip A. Kruse | Artist(s) Anne Karine Strøm Composer(s) Frode Thingnæs Conductor Frode Thingnæs | |
"The First Day of Love" (Norwegian: "Den første dagen av kjærlighet") was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, performed in English by Anne-Karine Strøm. This was the first occasion on which the Norwegian entry had not featured any lyrics in Norwegian.
The song is an inspirational number, with Anne Karine singing about the regenerative power of love. She sings that everyone in the world wants the same thing, love, and that by moving towards that goal the human race is becoming closer.
The song was performed fourth on the night, following Spain's Peret with "Canta y sé feliz" and preceding Greece's Marinella with "Krasi, Thalasa Ke T' Agori Mu". At the close of voting, it had received just 3 points and perhaps unjustly, the song came last, placing joint 14th in a field of 17.
In the 1976 contest, Anne Karine Strøm would represent Norway for the third and final time with the disco oriented song "Mata Hari", she would finish with 7 points, and 18th out of 18 entrants, thus awarding Strøm the unique accolade of being the only performer in history of the Eurovision Song Contest, to have finished in last place more than once, a record she still holds as of 2012.
Anne was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1975 contest by fellow Bendik Singer Ellen Nikolaysen with "Touch My Life (With Summer)".