Kurt Nilsen

Kurt Erik Nilsen, born on September 29, 1978, is a Norwegian pop and country singer. He first achieved national fame in May 2003 by winning the inaugural season of the Norwegian reality music competition Idol on TV 2. He subsequently gained international prominence on January 1, 2004, after winning World Idol, a one-off competition featuring winners from various national Idol shows.

Before pursuing a full-time music career, Nilsen worked as a plumber upon leaving school. As a musician, he served as the lead singer for the Norwegian band Fenrik Lane. Nilsen is a left-handed guitarist who plays his instrument with the strings upside down.

In May 2003, Nilsen won the Norwegian Idol contest with 54 percent of the vote against runner-up Gaute Ormåsen, remaining outside the bottom placements throughout the weekly voting rounds. Following his win, he released the single "She's So High," written by Tal Bachman. The track went straight to number one on the VG-lista singles chart and became one of the biggest-selling singles in Norway. He followed this success with his debut album, titled I. On January 1, 2004, Nilsen performed U2's "Beautiful Day" to win World Idol, placing first in 10 of the 11 eligible voting countries against international competitors including Kelly Clarkson and Will Young.

Nilsen released his second album, A Part of Me, in 2004, which contained exclusively his own original material. Over the following years, he participated in several notable collaborations. He performed the duet "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" with Marion Raven at the One Call Event, and in the summer of 2007 performed "When You're Gone" alongside Melanie C at the Top 20 event in Oslo. In 2008, he released the country-flavoured album Rise to the Occasion and recorded the country standard "Lost Highway" as a duet with Willie Nelson. The song became an instant hit, helping him top the singles, album, and radio charts simultaneously in Norway.

In 2006, Nilsen joined fellow Norwegian artists Askil Holm, Espen Lind, and Alejandro Fuentes to tour as a group known by the media as "The New Guitar Buddies." The tour played to over 100,000 people across around 30 concerts and produced a live album. The group reunited in 2009 for another tour and album. In early 2010, Nilsen launched an acoustic hall tour across Norway featuring guest artist Elin Gaustad, with whom he performed the duet "The Water is Wide" on the television show Senkveld.

In late 2010, Nilsen recorded the Christmas album Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK). Released on November 15, 2010, the album spent five consecutive weeks at the top of the Norwegian Albums Chart and featured a live television broadcast on NRK from Lillestrøm messecenter. In September 2012, he was announced as a judge for the 10th anniversary season of Norwegian Idol. Outside of music, Nilsen has received national attention for his guitar-shaped alpine hut in Hardangervidda, Norway.