1959 - Denmark
Performed by: Birthe Wilke
Music by: Otto Lington
Lyrics by: Carl Andersen
Conductor: Kai Mortensen
Language: Danish
Placing: 5th (12 points)
When Birthe Wilke was in her teens, she won a talent competition at the National Scala Theatre in Copenhagen, sang as soloist with Bruno Henriksen's Orchestra at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, made her first recording, and was named "Denmark's Doris Day" and recorded "Que sera sera" in 1956.
After qualifying in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest, she participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, where she sang "Skibet Skal Sejle I Nat" ("The Ship Is Leaving Tonight") with Gustav Winckler. They ranked 3rd of out 10 at the end of the voting, and stunned television audiences with an 11-second long kiss at the end of their performance.
She also participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 where she sang solo "Uh-Jeg Ville Ønske Jeg Var Dig" ("Oh - I wish I were you"). She was ranked 5th place at the end of voting.
In the late 1950s she toured Poland, West Germany and United States. In 1961 she played a nightclub singer in the Danish film Reptilicus. She sang "Tivoli Nights".
In the same year, she won the award for best singer at the first international song festival in the Gdansk shipyard hall, the forerunner of the Sopot festival and Intervision Song Contest.
In 1966 she retired from public life, but made a short-lived return in 1973. In addition to her recording successes, she participated in radio, television, advertising and commercial film.
She trained as a stenographer and legal secretary, and worked for a number of years in the banking world. In recent years, Birthe Wilke has become a recognized lecturer. Her lecture began in Melodi Grand Prix Fanklubben. In 2007, she made her debut as a writer with the collection of poems "Fluen og othere stretanker". In 2010, a double CD was issued with Birthe Wilke's favorite songs from the 1950s. In 2012, a CD followed with Danish shows, originally released in 1976 on "Hør selv records".
Wilke was temporarily married to cyclist Otto Olsen . In 2024 she turned 88.
Lyrics:
Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig
Elsker man fuldt, elsker man helt
Er ingen delt natur
Og man er tro, tro mod amour
Så vil jeg elskes igen
Lyt derfor til mig, min ven
For uh... jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig
Uh... hvor skulle jeg dog elske mig
Klappe min kind og stryge mit hår
Og skænke mig sol og vår
Tusinde kys og tusinde kæl
Det undte jeg tit mig selv
Så uh... jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig
Uh... hvor skulle jeg knuselske mig
Sikke et sus og sikke et liv
Og sikke et perspektiv
Ja, uh... jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig
Derfor spør' jeg dig: Gik du samme vej
Og mødte du dig i kyssenes leg
Hvis omvendt du var mig
Når vi bli'r halvfems, si'r vi: Hvem er hvem's?
Fortryllende du, jeg synger som nu:
Da du da da dej da du
Så uh... jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig
Uh... men hvis en dag du fri'r til mig
Så si'r jeg: Du, det gik som det sku'
Så gifter du dig med mig
Så uh... det var da godt at du var dig
Derfor spør' jeg dig: Gik du samme vej
Og mødte du dig i kyssenes leg
Hvis omvendt du var mig
Når vi bli'r halvfems si'r vi: Hvem er hvem's?
Fortryllende du, jeg synger som nu:
Da du da da dig da du
Så uh... jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig
Uh... men hvis en dag du fri'r til mig
Så si'r jeg: Du det gik som det sku'
Så gifter du dig med mig
Så uh... det var da godt, at du var dig
ENGLISH:
Ooh, I'd wish I were you
If you love fully, you love entirely
You're no divided nature
And you're faithful, faithful to amour
Then I want to be loved back
Therefore listen to me, my friend
For ooh, I'd wish I were you
Ooh, how I'd love me
Pat my cheek and stroke my hair
And give me sun and spring
A thousand kisses and a thousand caresses
I'd often grant myself
So ooh, I'd wish I were you
Ooh, how I'd hug me
What a whirl and what a life
And what a perspective
Yes, ooh, I'd wish I were you
That's why I ask you: If you walked the same path
And if you met you in the play of the kisses
If, on the other hand, you were me
When we are ninety, we'll say: Who's who's?
Enchanting you, I sing like now:
Da doo da da dey da doo
So ooh, I'd wish I were you
Ooh, but if one day, you ask me to marry you
Then I'll say: You know, it went as it should
Then you'll marry me
So ooh, it was good that you were you
That's why I ask you: If you walked the same path
And if you met you in the play of the kisses
If, on the other hand, you were me
When we are ninety, we'll say: Who's who's?
Enchanting you, I sing like now:
Da doo da da dey da doo
So ooh, I'd wish I were you
Ooh, but if one day, you ask me to marry you
Then I'll say: You know, it went as it should
Then you'll marry me
So ooh, it was good that you were you