Ulla Pia
Encyclopedia
Ulla Pia is a Danish
singer, best known internationally for her participation in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest
.
Ulla Pia started her career as a vocalist with bands and orchestras in Copenhagen. In the mid 1960s she was singing with jazz musician Finn Ziegler, and it was suggested in 1966 that she enter a song in the Danish Eurovision selection, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. She performed the song "Stop - mens legen er go'
" ("Stop, While the Going's Good"), and to her surprise, emerged the clear winner. Ulla Pia stated in a recent interview that she had assumed that one of her better-known competitors (such as Dario Campeotto
or Gustav Winckler
) would win, and her victory came as a shock to her. Ulla Pia went forward to the eleventh Eurovision Song Contest
, held on 5 March in Luxembourg City, where "Stop - mens legen er go'" could manage only 14th place of the 18 entries, despite an engaging performance in which Ulla Pia was joined on stage, unusually for the time, by two dancers. It would prove to be Denmark's last Eurovision appearance for over a decade, as broadcaster DR withdrew from the competition in 1967, and would not return until 1978.
In the years following her Eurovision appearance, Ulla Pia went on to release several popular singles in Denmark, notably "Karina" and the topical "Flower Power Tøj". She toured regularly into the 1970s, but towards the end of the decade increasing family commitments, combined with a period of ill-health, caused her to retire from showbusiness.
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, best known internationally for her participation in the 1966 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...
.
Ulla Pia started her career as a vocalist with bands and orchestras in Copenhagen. In the mid 1960s she was singing with jazz musician Finn Ziegler, and it was suggested in 1966 that she enter a song in the Danish Eurovision selection, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. She performed the song "Stop - mens legen er go'
Stop - Mens Legen Er Go'
Stop - mens legen er go', or Stop, ja stop - Ja stop mens legen er go in full as it stands the official Eurovision web site, was the Danish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed in Danish by Ulla Pia.The song was performed second on the night, following Germany's Margot...
" ("Stop, While the Going's Good"), and to her surprise, emerged the clear winner. Ulla Pia stated in a recent interview that she had assumed that one of her better-known competitors (such as Dario Campeotto
Dario Campeotto
Dario Campeotto is a Danish singer, actor, and entertainer. He was born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen to Italian parents, Emma and Ernesto Campeotto....
or Gustav Winckler
Gustav Winckler
Gustav Frands Wilzeck Winckler was a popular Danish singer, composer and music publisher. He grew up in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen and started his career as a decorator....
) would win, and her victory came as a shock to her. Ulla Pia went forward to the eleventh Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1966
The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition and was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created in this year. This was possibly created due to the 1965 Swedish entry, "Absent...
, held on 5 March in Luxembourg City, where "Stop - mens legen er go'" could manage only 14th place of the 18 entries, despite an engaging performance in which Ulla Pia was joined on stage, unusually for the time, by two dancers. It would prove to be Denmark's last Eurovision appearance for over a decade, as broadcaster DR withdrew from the competition in 1967, and would not return until 1978.
In the years following her Eurovision appearance, Ulla Pia went on to release several popular singles in Denmark, notably "Karina" and the topical "Flower Power Tøj". She toured regularly into the 1970s, but towards the end of the decade increasing family commitments, combined with a period of ill-health, caused her to retire from showbusiness.