Birgit Brüel was a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 singer and actress, known internationally for her participation in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

.

Brüel's professional career began in 1950 when she joined the Max Brüel Quartet as a jazz singer, and began training at the Danish Royal drama school. She married Brüel in 1951 and gave birth to twin daughters the following year (she also had one daughter from her first marriage, which had ended in divorce in 1949). During the 1950s she became well-known as a theatre and screen actress, and between 1961 and 1966 she sung with the Danish Radio Jazz Group.

In 1965, Brüel entered the Danish Eurovision selection, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, which she won with the song "For din skyld

For Din Skyld

"For din skyld" was the Danish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, performed in Danish by Birgit Brüel.The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Italy's Bobby Solo with "Se piangi, se ridi" and preceding Luxembourg's France Gall with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son"...

" ("For Your Sake"). She went forward to represent Denmark at the tenth Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1965

The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the 10th in the series. Luxembourg's win was their second. Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain each scored "null points" for the second time. The 1965 contest marked the debut of Ireland, a country which later went on to dominate the competition. This was also...

, held on 20 March in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, where "For dyn skyld" finished in seventh place of the 18 entries. Oddly, the song was voted for by only two other countries, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, but both had awarded the maximum five points, giving it a relatively high placing.

Brüel combined singing and acting and made numerous television and film appearances up to the early 1990s. From the 1970s she became involved with Amazonegruppen, a feminist theatrical and musical group. Her last musical recording was Den hemmelige rude, a 1985 album consisting of poems by Tove Ditlevsen

Tove Ditlevsen

Tove Ditlevsen was a female Danish poet and author.She was born in Copenhagen and grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Vesterbro. Her childhood experiences were the focal points of her work. Ditlevsen was married four times.She published 29 books including short stories, poetry and...

set to music.

Brüel died of undisclosed causes on 23 February 1996, aged 68.