Ketil Stokkan is probably remembered among fans for his two appearances at the contest, but few are probably unaware of the fact that he has had a long music career in his native Norway. Things were quiet around Stokkan up until the release of his album Ta Mæ in 2011. Stokkan is to make a rare TV appearance on the new show Cover Me.
The concept of the new series Cover Me, to be shown on NRK’s rival channel TV2 is a simple enough recipe: take two artists, one from each musical generation and let them cover each other’s songs. The series will receive its premiere this evening, and will consist of a total of 20 diverse artists performing throughout the autumn. The concept has already been tried and tested in a number of European countries such as Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands with great success.
We all remember Ketil Stokkan for his performances of Romeo at the contest in 1986 complete with shocking pink suit and dancers dressed in French powdered wigs as well as Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), yet another of Norway’s last placed entries. But these two songs are all but a small footnote in Stokkan’s career, with a back catalogue of 5 solo albums as well as 9 singles, not to mention singles and abums he released together with his successful band Zoo. Sadly, viewers won’t be treated to a rendition of either of his Eurovision classics in this show, with the artist rap artist OnklP choosing to cover Stokkan’s song Evig Ung (Forever Young). Stokkan will in turn cover OnklP’s song Glir Forbi (Floats By).
Other artists with Eurovision connections will be appearing on the show too. Kari Bremnes, who attempted to represent Norway in 1982 but failed to win the national final with her song Romantikk. She too has gone on to become a very well repsected artist in Norway. Bremnes will be covering the Swedish group Timbuktu’s song Alla Vill Till Himmelen (Everybody Wants to Get to Heaven), while Timbuktu will be covering her song Københavnerkneipe (Copenhagen pub). Yet another name from the Norwegian national finals will also feature in the series, namely Sigvart Dagsland. He entered the national finals in 1987 with I Samme Båt (In the Same Boat), finishing seventh. Dagsland also performed as a backing singer for Karoline Krüger with For Vår Jord in 1988, coming 5th and he later went on to become her husband. The singer Philip will be covering Dagsland’s Alt Eg Såg (Everything I Saw) while Dagsland will be covering Philip’s Sommerflørt (Summer Flirt).
