A warm welcome to the 141st edition of the Forum Song Contest in November 2020 goes out to all participants and guests.
The theme for this edition is Norway: A Land of Winter Magic
We have come to Norway due to the Norwegian victory in FSC #140 in October by Alan Walker feat. Ava Max with Alone, Pt II.
Let's all enjoy a reprise of this winning performance:
Our Host City for this FSC-edition is Kristiansand, Norway.
Kristiansand is a city in Agder County, in southern Norway. Located on the Skagerrak coast, it is the southernmost large city in Norway, and also the fifth largest, with a population of 93 000 in the city and 112 000 in the metro. Kristiansand is the cultural capital and main business center of Southern Norway.
Due to its southern location, Kristiansand has more summer sunshine and a more temperate climate than the rest of Norway. The city has long been a favourite summer holiday spot among Norwegians, the sea and surrounding fjords are great for recreational activities like fishing and sailing. Called “the Coolest Riviera” by the media, it is a modern city with a cosmopolitan history.
Christian IV (renowned for having founded many towns) visited the location in 1630 and 1635, and on 5 July 1641 formally founded the town of Christianssand on a flat sandy moor west of the river mouth of river Otra. The town was laid out in Renaissance style on a grid plan (the central section now known as Kvadraturen = The Quarters), and merchants throughout Agder were commanded to move to the new town.
In 1666, Christianssand became a garrison[ town and was heavily fortified. In 1682, King Christian V decided to relocate the bishopric there from Stavanger. Hence, the young city became the main city of the Christiansand Stift. The city has had a cathedral since 1885. The Kristiansand domkirke is built in Neo-Geothic style, and is one of the largest cathedrals in Norway.
Later in the 18th century, after the American Revolutionary War, the town's shipbuilders experienced a boom that lasted until the Napoleonic Wars, when the continental blockade and naval warfare struck a severe blow to trade. Only in the 1830s did the economy begin to recover, and the growth in the Norwegian shipping industry was important for Kristianssand.
With the development of hydropower in southern Norway, the city gradually developed an industrial base, particularly with the establishment in 1910 of the nickel refinery Kristiansands Nikkelraffineringsverk AS. From an economic perspective, the First World War was a good time for Kristiansand, as a neutral shipping city.
In the interwar period Kristiansand was a centre for intellectuals, especially after the architect Thilo Schoder settled there in 1932. Today, Kristiansand has an expanding export industry that spans a wide range, from process industry, oil and gas technology, renewable energy and ICT, to fisheries and other food, bedding - and tourism.
Kristiansand is a summer tourist destination, attracting many visitors in particular to its zoo, Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park, just east of the city. Sørlandsparken (The Southern Norway Park) is an industrial shopping park outside of Kristiansand city in the municipality.
Fiskebrygga is a former fish landing on either side of the Gravane Canal, which separates the city centre from Odderøya; it was refurbished in the 1990s and now has wood-fronted buildings housing restaurants and shops including a fish market. It is very popular in summer, when the canal is also heavily used by boats.
Kristiansand has a flourishing cultural life. The city is known especially for music (for example, the symphony orchestra and several festivals) and Kilden Performing Arts Centre, but there is also an art museum for the visual arts and several art galleries, cinema and theater. Several of the cultural activities Kristiansand offers are located to Odderøya close to the city center.
Bystranda is a beach located at the city centrum. Nearby the beach is the swimming complex Aquarama with outdoor and indoors pools. Aquarama is next door to the hotel "Scandic Hotel Bystranda", which is Southern Norway's largest hotel. Some of Kristiansand's most expensive apartments is located east for the beach and the high school Tangen is nearby. Some of Bystranda's facilities is beach volleyball, playgrounds, skatepark, stairs to the water at deeper ground and it is easy design for handicaps and children. In the middle of the water in the bay, there is a sculpture. Palmesus is a yearly beach festival held on Bystranda, it is Scandinavia's largest beach festival.
Posebyen is what's left of Kristiansand's old town. It still occupies several blocks on the eastern part of the town centre. Here you can still see small, white, single-storey, wooden houses occupy a whole block. Other notable sights include Christiansholm Fortress, The Boardwalk or Strandpromenaden, Myren Mansion, Kristiansand City Hall and the Oksoy Lighthouse.
Kristiansand and the surrounding area offers many opportunities for the active visitor, like swimming, birdwatching, hiking, forests, sea-rafting, windsurfing, fishing, golf and skiing in winter. Few other cities have such a large and varied offer of accommodation as Kristiansand. It is truly a visitor's paradise, offering something to appease every interest, and now it can also proudly add the title of FSC host city to its many acclaims.
Our host venue for FSC #141 November 2020 is the Kilden Teater og Konserthus.
Kilden Performing Arts Centre (in Norwegian: Kilden teater og konserthus) is a theater and concert hall on Odderøya in Kristiansand, Norway. It houses Kilden Teater, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (KSO) and Opera Sør in a joint project never previously embarked upon. There is room for a variety of concerts and other forms of cultural expression. Work on the building began in 2007, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway laid the foundation stone in 2009, and the official opening was on 6 January 2012. The Building boasts a modernist style, with a defining feature being characteristic oak waves at the seafront. The building has four stages: a Cocert Hall with 1185 seats, a thater and opera hall with 708 seats, a Multi Room with 234 seats or space for 400 standing, and an Intimate Hall with 150 seats. Kilden is Southern Norway’s cultural powerhouse, moving and enthusing audiences.
Our hosts to guide and entertain us through the proceedings tonight are Rolf Løvland and Helene Bøksle, both from the Kristiansand region.
Rolf Undsæt Løvland (born 19 April 1955) is a Norwegian composer, lyricist, arranger, and pianist. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the Celtic-Nordic group Secret Garden, in which he was the composer, producer, and keyboardist. He began composing at an early age (he formed a band at the age of nine) and grew up studying at the Kristiansand Music Conservatory, later receiving his master's degree from the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo. Løvland has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice, composing the songs "La det swinge" in 1985 and "Nocturne" in 1995 alongside Secret Garden, resulting in Norway's first two titles.
He also composed the song "You Raise Me Up", which, according to Rolf Løvland in an interview with Radio Norge in February 2010, has been covered more than 500 times thus far.
Helene Margrete Bøksle (born April 1, 1981, Mandal, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress. She performs a mixture of traditional Norwegian folk music and popular music. Bøksle has performed with singers such as Bjørn Eidsvåg, David Urwitz and Eurovision 1995 winners Secret Garden. Bøksle entered the Melodi Grand Prix 2011 with the song "Vardlokk". Bøksle is married to Espen Tjersland and they have a son who was born in 2013.
Both of our hosts are proud to receive the honour of being FSC hosts and wish all our guests a very enjoyable FSC edition.
Last edited:
