Lise Stokke has humble beginnings in the north of Norway, where when she was a small child she could be seen sitting on the fence at her nursery school, singing her country's Eurovision Song Contest entry in 1980, Sámiid Ædnan to passers by.
Lise subsequently went on to achieve great things and is now to participate in Norway's popular national selection, Melodi Grand Prix with the song With Love.
Commenting her participation she said, "I never got to compete with sport, the sporting talent was conspiciously absent. But I love to compete, it's just that I never win!". She also went on to reminisce about her favourite Eurovision Song Contest songs, "I loved the British Save All Your Kisses For Me but my absolute favourite song is Halleluja. I could really imagine singing it at church", she said enthusiastically.
The biggest rolls in the West End
Lise's career came to light when she entered the competition Talentiaden in 1994, coming number three after amongst others Jan Werner Danielsen, who represented Norway that same year together with Elisabeth Andreassen and the song Duett.
Lise is perhaps best know for her musical endeavours, some of which have been very successful. The most impressive of these is spending a year playing the roll of Sophie in the ABBA musical Mamma Mia in the West End of London. Here she played 8 shows a week, which was quite a challenge.
Seven years later, Lise went on to star in the musical Guys And Dolls, also in London. Here she played Sarah Brown opposite 80's hero and Miami Vice star, Don Johnson. She described this opportunity as a dream roll for her: "This role is so beautiful and well-written, I could have played it the rest of my life".
Lise Stokke & 2004 Norwegian entrant Knut Anders Sørum. Photo: Erik Dyrhaug (NRK)
Singing for Nelson Mandela
Despite the above, one of Lise's biggest achievements to date is performing in front of the legendary Nelson Mandela when he attended the Arctic Concert in Tromsø in 2005, where she was a presenter. She also got to perform together with Annie Lennox and Brian May.
Lise's next chapter is her participation in Melodi Grand Prix with her pop ballad With Love. We will soon see if she can write history and take her past endeavours to a new level when the competition kicks off in January.
