Mercury Rises For Kyrkjebø After Olympics

OSLO-The face and voice of artist Sissel Kyrkjebø captivated millions of TV viewers worldwide during the Olympic Games in Lillehammer.

Already a star in her native Norway, Kyrkjebø sang the "Olympic Hymn" during the game's opening and closing ceremonies. At the opening ceremonies, she also performed a duet, "Fire In Your Heart," with opera virtuoso Placido Domingo, which was recorded and is slated for release on Mercury worldwide. The song, an English version of her Norwegian hit "Se Ilden Lyse," was the theme song for the Olympic games. The artist also has recorded a solo English-language version.

A No. 2 single in Norway, "Se Ilden Lyse" is showing signs of becoming a hit in other parts of northern Europe.

A worldwide licensing deal with PolyGram means that Sissel's crystal-clear voice and stunning looks could become familiar features on radio and TV around the world, though the singer's last name, Kyrkjebø, is considered unpronounceable in English-speaking countries. The phonetic equivalent would be "Shyrshieboe."

Not since the pop trio a-ha topped the international charts in 1985 with "Take On Me" has a Norwegian artist received such global attention.

Raised in the western port of Bergen, the 24 year-old Sissel has been in the limelight in Norway since she was 16.

Her first album, "Sissel," gave her national recognition in 1986. The follow-up, "Glade Jul" (Happy Christmas), a collection of Christmas songs performed in Norwegian, is Norway's best-selling album to date, selling 660,000 copies, according to her record label. In a country of some 4 million citizens, her five albums combined have sold approximately 2 million copies.

WORLDWIDE PUSH

"We feel that the time is right to sell Sissel to the rest of the world," says PolyGram Norway's head of A&R, Ole Evenrud. Her management company / domestic record company, Stageway, has faithfully worked to promote Kyrkjebø abroad for the last two years. The push started at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, when she performed a song at the closing ceremonies sitting atop a huge model of a polar bear.

Since then, Kyrkjebø has been part of a traveling exhibition showcasing Norwegian talent through LOOC (Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee), with such acts as Bel Canto and classical trumpet player Ole Edvard Antonsen.

While the LOOC link was important, the organization underwent a number of personnel changes which created some difficulties, according to Arne Svare, Kyrkjebø's personal manager and head of Stageway. "The people we worked with kept disappearing. We would lose grip completely, and the dialog would come to a halt. With no actual plan in a confusing situation, what we have accomplished is just short of a miracle."

The LOOC association culminated with the Domingo duet, says Svare. "CBS [TV] gave us a lot of attention, which was invaluable. The Norwegian national television station, NRK, has also given us much help, and just about every country present with television cameras at Lillehammer has aired Kyrkjebø during the Games."

In the U.S., Greg Gumbel, host of CBS Sports' prime-time Olympic coverage, exclaimed, "She's got a great voices" after the artist's performance during the Feb. 27 closing ceremonies.

There are signs that northern Europe is warming to Kyrkjebø's charms. The single "Se Ilden Lyse" on Stageway (distributed by BMG) reached No. 7 on the Danish singles chart for the week ending Mar. 4.

"Se Ilden Lyse" is receiving airplay on Sweden's Radio Stockholm, where it is on the B rotation list. Only one station outside Scandinavia, Radio Regenbogen in Mannheim, Germany, is playing the English-language duet of "Fire In Your Heart." The station, which often takes the lead in breaking singles, has it on the A rotation.

The English-language duet of "Fire In Your Heart" has been released by Mercury as a single in more than 10 countries. That song, as well as Kyrkjebø's solo English language version, will appear on a revamped version of the 1992 album "The Gift Of Love," set for release April 15 on Mercury in most European countries, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The distribution arrangement is part of a licensing deal Stageway struck with PolyGram, Mercury's parent company, Jan. 21.

The album, which Evenrud describes as "very middle-of-the-road, very Barbra Streisand," features songs such as "Here There And Everywhere," "Dream A Little Dream Of Me," Jevetta Steele's "Calling You," and a duet with Neil Sedaka on his "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."

The first release of "The Gift Of Love" has already sold about 50,000 copies in Japan and will be rereleased there. Negotiations with PolyGram in the U.K. and U.S. are in their final stages.

"We were looking for an international commitment when we negotiated the deal with PolyGram Norway," says Svare. "I invited three major labels to give me an offer, and so far I have been satisfied with PolyGram's work. They have been fast and efficient."

Jorn Johnsen, managing director of PolyGram Norway, is equally enthusiastic. "We believe that this is a great opportunity to break a Norwegian artist abroad," he says. "Sissel is a fabulous singer, and I am very much impressed with the manner she works in. She has the mind and the ability to go a long way. She charms ¢everybody with her ever-present smile. The cameras just love her."

PROBLEMS OF FAME

"I have no idea what this could actually mean," Kyrkjebø says modestly of the buzz around her. "I don't have any expectations, as I know that this business is very tough. I'm just taking one step at a time. This is all very new and a little strange to me, although I am famous in Norway."

The artist is aware of the problems surrounding fame. "I try to take my mind off work as much as possible, be with friends, and think of other things than music all the time. It helps me cope with the proportions of the focus on my personality."

This approach helped her through the "Glade Jul" success. "It was awesome to me, but the numbers seemed to me like nothing more than figures on a piece of paper. As I was in high school at the time, I decided to finish, hanging around with my friends who had other interests. I don't think I would have gotten through it the way I did if it wasn't for that."

Kyrkjebø's other records include "Soria Moria" from 1989, and the just-released Nordic project album "Innerst i sjelen" (Deepest Within My Soul), a collection of folk tunes from the Nordic countries. The project originated from a visit four years ago to the Færoe Islands in the North Sea (a mythic region Sting also mentioned in his 1991 song "Why Should I Cry For YOU?"). The record also includes music dating as far back as the middle ages.

Kyrkjebø also has worked in film. When Walt Disney's animated movie "The Little Mermaid" was dubbed into Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish, Kyrkjebø earned the part.

"She is a very important person to many Norwegians," says Evenrud. "To them, she is something close to royalty."