Rypdal came to fame in 1968, with Norwegian-language versions of hits by artists as disparate as Peggy March and Jeannie C. Riley, scoring two #1s on the country's singles chart. The following year she took part in Melodi Grand Prix for the first time.
Wikipedia describes Rypdal as the 'dominant female artist on the Norwegian popular music scene' in the 1970s, so it's perhaps a surprise that she never won Melodi Grand Prix. She took part almost every year, including in duets with Stein Ingebrigtsen (Christian's dad) and Jahn Teigen, even 'winning' in 1973 singing 'Å for et spill'. Unfortunately, it was as part of the group accompanied by the small band and, as was traditional, the singers of the orchestral arrangement from the national final - the Bendik Singers - represented the country in Luxembourg.
In total, Rypdal participated 13 times in Melodi Grand Prix:
- 1969: "Eventyr" – 9th place
- 1972: "Lillebror" – 2nd place
- 1973: "Å for et spill" (with Stein Ingebrigtsen, Gro Anita Schønn and Ola Neegaard) – 1st place
- 1973: "Alternativ" – 4th place
- 1974: "Yo-Yo" (duet with Stein Ingebrigtsen) – 4th place
- 1976: "Voodoo" (duet with Jahn Teigen) – 2nd place
- 1979: "Så lenge du er hos meg" – 3rd place
- 1980: "Svart fortid" – 5th place
- 1981: "Tanker" – 3rd place
- 1981: "Født på ny" (as part of The Darlings) – 8th place
- 1982: "Lady Di" – 2nd place
- 1983: "Elegi" (duet with Freddy Dahl) – 9th place
- 1984: "Vindar" – 3rd place
Perhaps the best remembered of these is 'Voodoo', the bonkers duet with Jahn Teigen in 1976, which features Jahn exchanging his braces for a skeleton outfit. It could have been the infamous 'nul points' two years earlier for Norway, but either way, this would have been somewhat amazing at Eurovision.
Her later entries are a closer reflection of the electro sound that her career took on in later years, including this personal favourite.
And, as a little bonus, here's Rypdal receiving the Spellemann prize in 1974 and performing one of her biggest hits.
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