Venke Knutson (born 20.October 1978) She grew up in the small village Birkeland in Norway. She didn’t sing that often, but she proclaimed a lot of poetry. She had a high and clear voice.
Venke’s favourite hobby as a little girl was to lie in the grass in the evening and look at the stars. She liked to listen to her father telling her about the names of the stars, and the history. Venke still likes to dream away with the sky as a ceiling. The star on the top to the left in Orion’s Belt is Venke’s favourite star. It lights the strongest in October around Venke’s birthday.Her father was a director at the local band, that her grandfather founded. In addition to playing drums in the band, Venke sang in several choirs and played the piano. After Venke graduated from Junior High School, her family moved to Houston, Texas, in USA. she had lived there before, but then she was too young to see and do so much. Inspired by her two older sisters, Venke applied to the music line at Vågsbygd School when the family returned to Norway. She was accepted without a song audition since she still was in Texas. “Luck” says Venke. Venke dreamed of being an artist. But she insists still to that she is a person first, then an artist.In the fall 1998 Venke started at the teachers academy in Oslo, and started to work with Dan Sundhordvik. Venke sang for several bands, and when the group S.P.O.O.N, with lead singer Erik Faber won the Norwegian Championship in Rock in 1999, she was on the stage as a backup singer. In 2001 she married Svenn Kåre Liodden, and she tells the sweet story about how she met her boyfriend: “When I was 17 and was attending the musicline at Vågsbygd School, I went with some boys who where going on the danish boat and play jazz in regarding “Operasjon Dagsverk”. I couldn’t sing jazz, and had never song in a microphone before, but I tagged along since I thought the drummer was so cute. So I sang for the first time on the danish boat, and the drummer later became my husband.”
On spring 2003 Venke got a record deal with the record company Universal working with her manager, Jan Fredrik Karlsen, also known as the Judge in the tv-show “Idol”. Venke tells about her relationship with Idol: “I got totally addicted to it. Especially last year, then I really paid attention. But this year unfortunately it haven’t been too much watching at tv, but I have tried to pay attention as much as I can. But I really don’t understand how people dare to be in something like that. I wouldn’t dare it. if I’m going to criticize the concept a bit, the lower age should be raised to 18 instead of 16. I thought it was horrible to see all the critic that came towards a young and innocent girl like Sandra Lyng Haugen who only was 16. People were really mean and awful to her.”
“So I called Sandra and told her to never mind them and to keep working. Besides, I had to thank her too for singing “Panic”. That was so funny!.” In June her single “Panic” came and it was the summer hit all until February 2004. Panic was on several collection albums, and made it’s best place on the “VG-lista” with place nr.10. In march came the follow up, “Scared”, and in June her album “Scared” was released to the stores.Venke has now completed her education as a teacher, and is the teacher of class 3A at Bryn School in Oslo. Her students were scared when they saw her on television. Scared of her changing job. “They didn’t really understand what their teacher was doing on TV, but at least I got invalidated that I was starting on the children’s channel… The artist has no plans about leaving her job as a teacher: “24 beautiful kids meet me here every day”. No matter how things will go with my record. “They have agreed that they are very good in singing all together in the mornings” , Venke smiles.
