#OBITUARY: Jahn Teigen has died aged 70

Eurovision Ireland is sorry to hear of the passing of Jahn Teigen, who has died after a short illness at the age of 70. He was a contender for Norway’s Mr Eurovision, having been involved in it for many years.

For many, his finest hour was in the 1978 contest in Paris, where he famously failed to score a single point from what was then a record field of 20 songs. He capitalised on this, becoming a celebrity and even owning a brewery.

One of Jahn’s early forays into a national final was in 1976 when he sang the duet Voodoo with Inger Lyse Rydal. His costume became legendary.

He also competed in and won Norwegian MGP in 1978 with Mil etter mil. Here’s his ESC performance.

He came back again to represent his country in 1982 and 1983, the former duetting with his then partner Anita Skorgan. She was also there with him in 1983 when he performed in front of the world’s biggest gas fire in Munich.

After Munich, he tried a further seven times, with his final attempt in 2005 with My heart is my home.

Jahn married Anita in 1984, before separating in 1987. Their daughter Sara was born in 1984.

Since 2006 he had been living in Ystad, in Sweden, to get away from the celebrity life. In recent years he had been suffering with arthritis

Eurovision Ireland’s thoughts are with Jahn’s family and friends at this sad time.

Author: John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland