Fly On The Wings Of Love
Encyclopedia
"Fly on the Wings of Love" is a song by the Olsen Brothers
, which was the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2000
, performed for Denmark
, singing in English
.
The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Spain
's Serafín Zubiri
with "Colgado de un sueño
" and preceding Germany
's Stefan Raab
with "Wadde hadde dudde da?
". At the close of voting, it had received 195 points, placing first in a field of 24.
The song is a love ballad, with the singers describing the beauty of a woman. Unusually for any pop song (let alone one in the Contest), the lyrics strongly imply that this is a beauty which has improved with age - a theme made more explicit in the Danish
original "Smuk som et stjerneskud" ("Beautiful as a shooting star").
The song was not expected to score highly, as it was an old-fashioned ballad and performed by two of the oldest performers to enter the Contest. In spite of this, it led the voting from start to finish (a feat not achieved since ABBA
won in 1974) and became a great favourite among fans of the Contest, being named one of the best entries at the Congratulations
special in late 2005. The brothers in fact performed part of the song onstage and were greeted with rapturous applause (perhaps due to the special's location in Copenhagen
). Renars Kaupers
, hosting the show, made several references to "being beaten by a pair of Danish brothers" (which his band Brainstorm
was).
The song is also memorable for the vocoding
effects given to the voice during the final chorus, which allow it to sound something like a robot. These effects were the subject of a protest by the Russian delegation, however they were not found to be against the rules and the result stood.
The song was succeeded in 2001 as winner by Tanel Padar
and Dave Benton
representing Estonia
with "Everybody".
It was succeeded as Danish representative
at the 2001 contest
by Rollo & King
with "Never Ever Let You Go
".
The Olsen Brothers have most recently performed "Fly On The Wings Of Love" at the Romanian national Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
, on March 6.
acts.
Olsen Brothers
Olsen Brothers are a Danish rock/pop music duo, and are brothers Jørgen and "Noller" Olsen. They formed their first band, The Kids, in 1965. The Kids warmed up for The Kinks in the K.B...
, which was the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Eurovision Song Contest 2000
The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 was the 45th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 2000 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, following Charlotte Nilsson's victory in Jerusalem the previous year. It was the first time since 1996 that the contest was held on mainland Europe. The...
, performed for Denmark
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...
, singing in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Serafín Zubiri
Serafín Zubiri
Serafín Zubiri is a singer, composer and piano player.-Biography:...
with "Colgado de un sueño
Colgado de un sueño
"Colgado de un sueño" was the Spanish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in the year 2000. It was performed by the blind singer and pianist Serafín Zubiri, who had finished fourteenth for Spain in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest with "Todo esto es la música".The song, which had a gentle verse...
" and preceding Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Stefan Raab
Stefan Raab
Stefan Konrad Raab is a German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician. Raab began his television career hosting the comedy show Vivasion in 1993 and has been hosting the late-night comedy show TV total since 1999. He became well-known in 1994 after composing a hit single spoofing...
with "Wadde hadde dudde da?
Wadde Hadde Dudde Da?
"Wadde hadde dudde da?" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, performed in an invented dialect of German by comedian Stefan Raab...
". At the close of voting, it had received 195 points, placing first in a field of 24.
The song is a love ballad, with the singers describing the beauty of a woman. Unusually for any pop song (let alone one in the Contest), the lyrics strongly imply that this is a beauty which has improved with age - a theme made more explicit in the Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
original "Smuk som et stjerneskud" ("Beautiful as a shooting star").
The song was not expected to score highly, as it was an old-fashioned ballad and performed by two of the oldest performers to enter the Contest. In spite of this, it led the voting from start to finish (a feat not achieved since ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
won in 1974) and became a great favourite among fans of the Contest, being named one of the best entries at the Congratulations
Congratulations (Eurovision)
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the Contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. It took place at Forum,...
special in late 2005. The brothers in fact performed part of the song onstage and were greeted with rapturous applause (perhaps due to the special's location in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
). Renars Kaupers
Renars Kaupers
Renārs Kaupers, artistic name Reynard Cowper is a Latvian pop singer and songwriter.He is the lead singer of the Latvian pop/rock band Brainstorm, which came third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with their song "My Star"...
, hosting the show, made several references to "being beaten by a pair of Danish brothers" (which his band Brainstorm
Brainstorm (Latvian band)
Brainstorm is a Latvian pop/rock band. The band became popular internationally in 2000, when they finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star"....
was).
The song is also memorable for the vocoding
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
effects given to the voice during the final chorus, which allow it to sound something like a robot. These effects were the subject of a protest by the Russian delegation, however they were not found to be against the rules and the result stood.
The song was succeeded in 2001 as winner by Tanel Padar
Tanel Padar
Tanel Padar is an Estonian singer. He is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. Padar became famous by winning the Kaks takti ette, a biennial televised competition for young Estonian singers, in 1999...
and Dave Benton
Dave Benton
Dave Benton is a pop musician and 2001 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.Benton was born on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 1951 and in his 20s moved to the United States...
representing Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
with "Everybody".
It was succeeded as Danish representative
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
Denmark has competed in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1957 to 1966 and from 1978 to the present day and has a good record, finishing in the top three six times and winning twice. From 1967 until 1977, Denmark didn't participate in the contest....
at the 2001 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 12 May 2001 in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first time in 36 years that Denmark hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to the Olsen Brothers' win the previous year in Stockholm...
by Rollo & King
Rollo & King
Rollo & King is a Danish group, formed by Søren Poppe and Stefan Nielsen. The two men named themselves after two dog names. They topped the charts with their very first album "Midt i en løbetid" which stayed in the charts for 13 weeks in 2000-2001....
with "Never Ever Let You Go
Never Ever Let You Go
"Never Ever Let You Go" was the Danish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, performed in English by Rollo & King.The song was performed in Danish at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 2001, titled "Der står et billede af dig på mit bord" .The song was performed twenty-third on the night,...
".
The Olsen Brothers have most recently performed "Fly On The Wings Of Love" at the Romanian national Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th annual Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast from the Telenor Arena in Bærum, Greater Oslo, Norway. It was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. The 2010 winner was Germany with Lena singing "Satellite",...
, on March 6.
Cover versions
"Fly on the Wings of Love" has been covered by several eurodanceEurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
acts.
- In 2000 Danish producer Holger Lagerfeldt released a cover version under the name DJ Cookie with vocals by Linda AndrewsLinda AndrewsLinda Andrews , is a Faroese singer who won the second season of the Danish version of The X Factor, and became the first Faroese winner of it.-Early life:...
. - In 2002 German tranceTrance musicTrance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
group Topmodelz consisting of PulsedriverPulsedriverSlobodan Petrovic Jr. is a Yugoslavian-German electronic dance music DJ, producer and is the founder of Aqualoop Records in 2000. He is best known by his alias, Pulsedriver.-Early life & career:...
and SveN-R-G vs. Bass-T released a cover version on Aqualoop Records. - In 2003 a cover version was released by Spanish dance group XTM & DJ Chucky featuring vocals by Annia (real name Eva Martí). It was very popular at nightclubs in Europe, and the single peaked at number one in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The song charted well in the UK, where it reached #8 on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, spending eight weeks in the top 10 and nineteen in the top 75. It also reached #31 on the DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Mega Single Top 100Mega Single Top 100The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is...
.
Charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|