Copenhagen 2001 - The interval act and other performances
Only two musical extras this year - first last year's winners, The Olsen Brothers kick things off with a reprise of 2000's winning song Fly on the Wings of Love, segueing neatly into their new song Walk Right Back accompanied by four be-tartaned female pipers.
The opening song by last year's winner has been done before, but in 2001 it feels as if this performance establishes it firmly in the schedule. It gets the crowd on their feet and cheering right from the off. The Danes' warmth and genuine enthusiasm for their winners is palpable, and the Olsen's seem to be one the only bands of the evening who actually enjoyed the experience of standing in front of all those people. They may not have had the nervousness of competing for their country this year, but it is a homecoming to celebrate.
Befitting a stadium, the interval has a big name. Possibly Denmark's hottest pop export up to 2001, Aqua. They perform a medley of their biggest hits in hyperactive, irreverent style and do truly light up those moments while the EBU get to work verifying the votes. They have all the pyro, all the effects and their stage gear does actually fill the stage.
Far from static, singers Lene Nystrøm and René Dif are everywhere around the stage, bouncing upstage, downstage, left and right. Lene does kick off Barbie Girl with a heartfelt 'fuck off Ken' and finishes by telling him he's a 'dirty bastard', and she's not wrong. The band and record label were still in legal dispute with Mattel over the song at the time.
That's not only the swearing of the evening as in one of the short ad breaks during the main competition sequence, the hosts perform a short skit (with rhyming of course) in which Søren fumbles the 'trophy' dropping it and smashing it into pieces. 'Shit' he says, understandably. Luckily it's only a prop and Natasja is keeping the real one safe.
All this swearing led to the BBC in the UK having to make two apologies. One to the public for swearing going out on live TV and one to host broadcaster DR for Terry Wogan repeatedly insulting the hosts for their looks and rhyming. Not an enlightening evening.














