"Fly on the Wings of Love" is a love ballad, with the singers describing the beauty of a woman. Unusual for any pop song, its lyrics strongly imply that this is a beauty which has improved with age - a theme made more explicit in the Danish original "Smuk som et stjerneskud". The song was not expected to score highly, as it was an old-fashioned ballad and performed by two of the oldest performers to enter the Contest. In spite of this, it led the voting from start to finish and became a great favourite among fans of the Contest, being named one of the best entries at the Congratulations special in late 2005. The brothers in fact performed part of the song onstage and were greeted with rapturous applause. Renārs Kaupers, hosting the show, made several references to "being beaten by a pair of Danish brothers". The song is also memorable for the vocoding effects given to the voice during the final chorus, which allow it to sound something like a robot. These effects were the subject of a protest by the Russian delegation, however they were not found to be against the rules and the result stood. The song was succeeded in 2001 as winner by Tanel Padar and Dave Benton representing Estonia with "Everybody". It was succeeded as Danish representative at the 2001 contest by Rollo & King with "Never Ever Let You Go". The Olsen Brothers have additionally performed "Fly On The Wings Of Love" at the Romanian national Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, on 6 March. The song was one of the unofficial songs of the 2004 AFC Asian Cup held in China.
Chart performance
The Olsen Brothers were afforded an international hit with "Fly on the Wings of Love", most notably in Sweden, the Eurovision 2000 host nation, where "Fly on the Wings of Love" reached number one. In the Olsen Brothers' native Denmark, their native language rendering "Smuk som et stjerneskud" afforded them a number-one hit, spending three months in the Top Ten.
In 2000, Spanish dance act XTM recorded and released a trance version of the song, featuring DJ Chucky and vocals from Annia. It became a hit between 2000 and 2003, peaking at number two in Spain, number one in Ireland and number eight in the United Kingdom.
Chart performance
Upon release in Spain, the song reached number two on the PROMUSICAE chart on 20 January, behind "Love Don't Cost a Thing" by Jennifer Lopez. It stayed in the top 20 for nine weeks. Two years after its original release, in May 2003, the cover began to gain popularity in the British Isles. It debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart on the week beginning 1 June, then reached its peak of number eight the next week. Over the next ten weeks, the song fluctuated around the top 20, eventually spending two more weeks at number eight before dropping out of the top 20 on 24 August and the top 100 on 12 October. Due to its longevity on the UK chart, "Fly on the Wings of Love" finished 2003 as the country's 32nd best-selling single, outselling every song that peaked at numbers four to seven. It eventually received a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry in 2016 for sales and streams of over 200,000. The song was even more popular in Ireland, where it reached number one for two weeks in August 2003, spent 24 weeks in the top 50, and ended 2003 as Ireland's 11th highest-selling single. The cover also found moderate success in the Netherlands, climbing to number 31 in February 2004 and logging 19 weeks on the Dutch Singles Chart.
