The Bendik Singers were a four-member Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 vocal group, brought together by singer and composer Arne Bendiksen

Arne Bendiksen

Arne Joachim Bendiksen, born 19 October 1926 in Bergen, Norway, died 26 March 2009, was a Norwegian singer, composer and producer, described as "the father of pop music" in Norway....

 to participate in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection, Melodi Grand Prix

Melodi Grand Prix

Melodi Grand Prix is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960.The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and...

, in 1973.

The group consisted of Anne-Karine Strøm

Anne-Karine Strøm

Anne-Karine Strøm is a Norwegian singer, best known for having taken part in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection, Melodi Grand Prix, in six consecutive years between 1971 and 1976, winning on three occasions and representing Norway in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1973, 1974 and...

, Ellen Nikolaysen

Ellen Nikolaysen

Ellen Helen Nikolaysen is a Norwegian singer/actress. She participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 as part of the Bendik Singers group with the song It's Just A Game and again as backing vocalist for fellow Bendik Singer Anne-Karine Strøm in 1974 before competing in her third...

 and brothers Bjørn and Benny Kruse. They performed Bendiksen's song "Å for et spill" at the Melodi Grand Prix in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 on 17 February 1973, and were voted the winners, earning the Norwegian ticket to the 18th Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1973

The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the eighteenth Eurovision Song Contest and was held in Luxembourg. The language rule forcing countries to enter songs sung in any of their national languages was dropped, so performers from some countries sang in English....

, held in Luxembourg City on 7 April. Before the contest the song was translated into English, with words and phrases also included from other European languages, and retitled "It's Just a Game

It's Just A Game

"It's Just a Game" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, performed in English and French - with some lyrics in Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Irish, Serbo-Croatian, Hebrew, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian - by the Bendik Singers. This makes it the only entry, besides the...

". On the night of the contest, the song finished seventh of the 17 participating entries, Norway's first top 10 placing since 1966.

The following year, Strøm won Melodi Grand Prix as a solo artist with "The First Day of Love

The First Day Of Love

"The First Day of Love" 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....

"; at the 1974 Eurovision she was provided with backing vocals by Nikolaysen and the Kruses, and the performance is sometimes credited to 'Anne-Karine Strøm featuring the Bendik Singers'. Nikolaysen represented Norway in the 1975 Eurovision, and Strøm made her third appearance in 1976, meaning that for four consecutive years at least one member of the 1973 group appeared at Eurovision.