Norway Embraces Zero With Jahn Teigen's Jumping Splits

MAY 15 1978 · 12:15

Jahn Teigen · "Mil etter mil" · Norway · 1978 Placement: 20 · Score: 0 · Language: Norwegian · Composers: Jahn Teigen, Kari Svendsen · Venue: Palais des Congrès · Host: Paris, France · Type: upset · Broadcast: color analog Teigen takes the Paris stage in white flared trousers and suspenders, his hair a teased black cloud. He opens with a mid-air splits jump, lands hard, then delivers the soft-rock power ballad with theatrical urgency. The song is earnest, but the performance veers into pantomime — Teigen mugs, arms outstretched, eyes wide. Across two hours of voting, not a single jury gives him a single point. Zero. The camera cuts to him applauding anyway, grinning, utterly unbothered. Context Norway arrived in 1978 after a string of underwhelming finishes. NRK selected Teigen's pop-rock entry through the Melodi Grand Prix national final, where it won decisively. Pre-show UK bookmakers ranked him mid-table. The song itself — a melancholy road ballad about endless distance — was commercially strong at home. Legacy Back in Norway, the song went to number one and stayed there for weeks. Teigen became a national folk hero precisely because of the zero points — a symbol of defiant Norwegian humor against Eurovision's snobbery. 'Mil etter mil' is still sung at Norwegian weddings and sports events. When Teigen died in 2020, the Prime Minister quoted the song in her tribute. Mythology Fan lore insists Teigen did the splits because the Wednesday rehearsal got laughs and he committed to the bit. His family later confirmed the choice was entirely intentional showmanship.