DENMARK 2025

The Danish song and act were selected on March 1st through the show "Dansk Melodi Grand Prix" . In the final there was an initial round of voting to select the top 3 then another to choose a winner. Voting was a 50-50 mix was a mixture of televote and jury. Going to Basel is Sissal with the song "Hallucination"

Sissal Jóhanna Norðberg Niclasen is 30 years old and is from Thorshavn in the Faroe Islands. She has been singing since she was very small and even won the Faroese version of MGP at aged 10. Since moving to Denmark in 2020, she's played at festivals, dubbed a role in a Disney film and, most importantly, released her debut EP "Hear Me Now" earlier this year.  She also has a handful of other tracks available to stream online. Her music has a strong electronic pop sound with an obvious Nordic/Swedish production influence. She also has her sights set beyond performing as she is training to become a teacher.

Sissal is joined on stage by 2 dancers. Sissal is wearing a long sleeved leotard which has a greenish-black sparkle to it that gives off a green low around its edges. The dancers seem to be wearing a similar material but they are totally covered, including heads, plus as they are mainly in the shadows they are not really noticed as much. Sissal's movement is very natural with some sidesteps, hand waving as well as moving down to the floor on her knees. She also has a constant wind machine which creates movement in her hair which is effective on the close up head-shots. The background is rather non-descript with strobing lights mainly in shades of white, blue and pink. The song starts will a verse then pre-chorus and short chorus. This is run through again but with more instrumentation although the verse is quite short. There is then a lengthy bridge with shorter sharper lines followed by an extended chorus to the end.

It is quite clear that this entry is route one Loreen: at times it reminds you of "Euphoria", sometimes  "Tattoo", and at some points at the same time  - which is quite a feat. The visual show, at least is not so similar, but still has its own imperfections. Sissal has a very pleasant and technically proficient voice. I really love listening to the verses as many female singers find control of the lower register very tricky and Sissal tackles this with ease. My main concern is in how this entry has been presented. Not only does this barely use any stage, making the setup feel tiny but the two dancers behind Sissel are barely visible! Either we need to see those people - or have even more of them - on stage or they need to go. I kind of enjoy the minimal movement Sissal has on stage as it feels genuine and naturalistic but I feel more use could be made of the wind machine - maybe she could have a cape, a translucent poncho, or  some straggly strips that creates a movement that makes her the centre. Overall, this really isn't anything new. Some people will vote for this because of its proximity to previous winners but many may see this as almost plagiaristic and unoriginal. This is a shame as Sissal is a powerful singer and this song, with this staging, may not be enough.

ARTIST - Sissal

SONG - Halloucination

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - L Deb, M Johansen, C Rohde-Frisk, L Spangsberg, M Wehbe, M Winther-John

DENMARK 2024

The Danish act and song was chosen on February 17th through their long-running national final "Dansk Melodi Grand Prix". Two rounds of 50/50 voting were used to find a winner. Televoting was open from 10-16 February and during the show itself while the jury consisted of 10 Danish and 10 international professionals. In the first round, televoting decided on a top 3 then the same combination of votes selected the winner. Going to Malmö is Saba performing the song "Sand".

Saba's full name is Anna Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæge and she has a twin sister called Andrea. They were both adopted from Ethiopia as babies and were raised in the Danish town of Ringkøbing. In 2018 she was featured in a documentary on DR which focused on her battle with self-harm and depression. After a spell in hospital, being diagnosed as bipolar and subsequently dropping out of school, Saba moved with her sister to Copenhagen, with Saba started a new career in modelling, acting and musical theatre. In fact Saba's big break came when she replaced her sibling in the musical "Hair" when her sister had to leave the role due to her pregnancy.

This entry has a rather unusual arrangement. The intro almost signposts you to something up-tempo and relentless but the when the vocal comes we discover it is much more considered and placed. As the beat fades out, she starts on the first verse with a small echoing part at the end, which turns out to be the same as the chorus but with different words. The prechorus is where Saba's voice is at full strength and creates some tension before the beat comes back in for the chorus proper. We then start again with verse two followed by the prechorus but this time the chorus is repeated twice. On the second time the words are amended with the word 'sand' repeated instead of the ooh ooh earworm. after a short interlude there is another repeat of the amended chorus before the song seems to suddenly stop.

The staging of Sand is very simple. Saba is on her own throughout and stood on a small plinth to lift her above the dry ice and smoke effects. There are some simple uses of lasers and beams of light to create movement and energy. I really like the use of the back wall to create silhouettes as this really ensures you are listening to the words rather than relying on visual cues. She is wearing a shiny white top and similarly made pair of trousers. This is used later on the song when a beating heart is transposed onto her chest. The song is slightly on the safe side, although Saba's measured and almost flawless vocal gives it s sprinkle of uniqueness. Saba's voice is very expressive and she is able to really eek out every note with the right amount of power, subtlety and emotion. I just fear that in the semi-final, televoters will be sucked in by the more controversial acts and perfectly good songs and singers like this may be left on the shelf. She is also in the top half of semi 2 which is awash with solo female performers which might make that section rather awkward. While I feel that juries would absolutely suck this all in, getting out of the semi final on a 100% televote ticket may well prove to bit a bit trickier.

ARTIST - Saba

SONG - Sand

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Melanie Gabriella Hayrapetian, Pil Kalinka, Nygaard Jeppesen, Jonas Thander

DENMARK 2023

The Danish final "Dansk Melodi Grand Prix" was held on February 11th at the Næstved Arena. The show was hosted by Tina Müller and Heino Hansen. There were two rounds of voting. Firstly sms and app voting would select a top 3, with app voting open before the final and during. Finally a winner was chosen by a 50/50 mix of jury vote and sms & app votes. The winning act was Reiley with "Breaking my heart".

Reiley - real name Rani Petersen - is a Faroese singer & social media influencer who started out posting on Instagram and is now most prominently on TikTok. Most of this posts are of him singing cover songs. Before this he started playing piano as a six-year-old but then left music to train for for gymnastics. However his interest in music returned when he performed as a dancer and singer in his secondary school’s production of Grease. In 2019, he travelled to London and Los Angeles to record music and landed a record deal with Atlantic Records thereafter. His single and debut 'Let It Ring' had most success in South Korea.

Reiley starts alone on stage in front a neon pink heart which, as the song suggests, breaks up as he moves onto the stage proper. He is good joined by two female and two male dancers. They are dressed in jeans and jackets while Reiley's is very much in white and pink. The verse is rather short and have a lot of modulating in and out of falsetto . This is followed by a longer pre-chorus then chorus proper. Here the backing track cuts off and all you can hear is synthesised backing vocals singing the first part of the chorus. The track soon comes back in but is not the main feature. We then have another verse followed by a pre-chorus before another chorus with the track stoppage. The chorus is much longer with the final part with a much stringer backing track. It then slips back into a pre-chorus before one long chorus which ends rather abruptly with a green backdrop with random love symbols.

This is all extremely boring and pedestrian. The only reason the chorus has any impact at all is because of the vocoder. It will be interesting to see if this will even be allowed as you cannot hear his vocal during this pivotal point. He has very little stage presence and actually seems a little overwhelmed by performing in front of a crowd. Talking of the crowd they seemed very underwhelmed by what they were seeing. The subject matter makes it unclappable and the plodding beat makes it hard to wave your arms or your flag to. This flatness really was palpable down the camera. This is actually a shame as the chorus has a really interesting melody but the stop/start backing track is too over the top - this track needs to grow rather had yo-yo backwards and forwards. To make matters worse he choreography of the dancers is poor and dated. The graffiti on the jacket idea just didn't work and for this song is a very bad gimmick.

I don't really know how famous Reiley is outside of Denmark or the Nordic world but if he is then he is going to have no problems getting his followers and fans to vote him in - remember it is now 100% televote in the semi-finals. Ideally this song needs a visual revamp - I mean if he is a TikTok star why not produce the performance so it feels like one of this videos? They are not going to tinker with the song so they need to work much more on the staging and his presentation skills too. This may well appeal to the younger viewers but to those stalwarts who actually watch the semis, most of which are probably of an age where they are not so interested in acts' social media presence - this will not make a mark. I hope and wish for a dramatic revamp but I doubt I am going to get it.

ARTIST - Reiley

SONG - Breaking my heart

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet, Rani Petersen, Hilda Stenmalm

DENMARK 2021

The Danish Final (Dansk Melodi Grand Prix) was held on March 6th at the DR TV Studios in Copenhagen, hosted by Tina Müller & Martin Brygmann. The winner was chosen solely by SMS and mobile app; firstly to select a top3 then a second round to select the winner. The winner was the duo Fyr & Flamme (Fire & Flame) with the song "Øve os på hinanden" (Practice on each other)

The setting is VERY eighties with a Tron-esque grid of colour. the guitarist, Laurits, is already on stage on his plinth while Jesper strides on confidently during the intro, Laurits is blond and wears a silver  jacket and blue satin trousers, Jesper has a violet jacket, white vest and grey trousers. The backdrop changes throughout the song, going from a moving grid type affair to a strobing pulsating triangle. Jesper does a bit of dancing during the song, although nothing highly choreographed and during the last minute he comes off his podium and dances around the rest of the stage and singing to the camera.

The song begins with a strong eighties guitar/synth intro and feels genuinely retro rather than a modern take on the genre. The first verse does not have a typical form or rhythm to it and you can find it hard to memories or have feelings towards. The pre-chorus however has a much more memorable sound but comes and goes too quickly. The chorus is a little underwhelming and doesn't seem to more the song onto a different plane from where it has already gone - in fact the short instrumental after the chorus has more character than the chorus itself. After a shortened second  verse, we go into another pre-chorus/chorus combination. After this the song seems to loosen up a little more into a bridge and final chorus. The song then ends with a final burst of instrumental.

The duo of Jesper and Laurits has been together for around 4 years although it looks like they have only been releasing music in the past 2 years. Laurits has some solo music available on spotify and is also the lead singer of another Danish band called The Grenadines. Jesper is best known in Denmark as an actor, including a lot of comedy and satire roles. The band seem to take themselves seriously as a band who make 80s style music, although many have wondered if this is some kind of 'act' or 'joke' because of Jesper's background.

One of the things that is slightly tricky about this liver national final performance is that they used a live band during the show, something that won't be used during Eurovision itself. Having listened to the studio version, the backing track is a more coherent and bring through that 80s feel. The big problem is that this song goes nowhere. even of it was in English the tune is not particularly memorable and the song as a whole is really nothing special. The national final performance with the podiums felt rather odd and at first I though it may have been a COVID intervention until Jespers danced behind him on his! The outfits are absolutely terrible and the whole stage could do with filling up with other instrumentalists or dancers. I don't see this troubling the scoreboard.

ARTIST - Fyr og Flamme
SONG - Øve os på hinanden" (Practice on each other)
WRITING CREDITS - Laurits Emanuel

 

21/01/12 DENMARK

The

The Danish Final was held on January 21st at the Gigantium in Aalborg, hosted by Louise Wolff & Emil Thorup.

The one-off show consisted of 9 songs. There were due to be 10 songs in the running, however song 2 “Nowhere” to be sung by Tine Lyngaaard was disqualified due to irregularities about early release on youtube. This then meant (confusingly) that Song 1 was followed by song 3…

The voting was in 2 parts.

Firstly the entries were whittled down to a Top 3, from am 50% televote 50% jury vote. The Super Final consisted of song 1 “Take our Hearts”, song 9 “Should’ve known better” and song 10, the only Danish language song “Venter”.

Then the voting window was opened once more. Then the “international” juries voted. This included Alex Sparrow from Russia and Nikki (the winner last year) from Azerbaijan. Then the Danish Jury gave their marks. The other half of the marks came from the televote and the winner was Soluna Samay with “Should’ve known better”.

The song starts off with the chorus (which is always a very clever thing to do) and the name of the song gets in your head very quickly. It is a very radio friendly song and could easily be heard on the radio stations around Europe ad even further afield. The staging is a little strange. Soluna was wearing a military inspired outfit, including oversized hat, whilst her ‘band’ is sat around her. There is not much movement but to be honest it is not a dancy song. Soluna sings the song very well and accompanying herself on a guitar. Parallels between this and Anna Bergendahl from Sweden must not be far away… also every time I hear the chorus I think it is about to turningg to Seal’s “Crazy”.

The Danes once again put on a fantastic show with a good range of songs and artists and to be honest the best 3 songs did get through to the super final. However I don’t think this song will be troubling the highest echelons of the scoreboard in Baku…

SONG  - Should’ve known better

ARTIST - Soluna Samay

COMPOSERS - Remee, Chief 1, Isam Bachiri

LYRICISTS – Chief 1

LANGUAGE – English

DENMARK

The Danish Final was held on February 26th at the Ballerup Super Arena, Finding a winner was a complicated affair – with 3 rounds of voting! The top4 was selected by a on 50-50 Jury/SMS voting procedure. Round 2 had the songs competing in pairs, the winners of each pair selected by public vote then a final ‘superfinal’ with 2 songs competing, chosen only by public vote. The winning song was “New Tomorrow” performed by the band A Friend In London

This is a slow indie style rock song. The song sounds quite familiar and reminds me of lots of other songs, which I guess can only be a good thing. The verses are more chanted whilst the chorus is much slower and sung properly. The chorus is quite memorable and is singable. I am actually surprised as to how quickly I found myself humming and singing along to the tune as well and being able to hum it when the track was not playing.

The styling of this track is quite static. The four band members (drummer, 2 guitarists and a guitarist/singer) are quite static. Saying that, the song is not a real one four jumping up and down to or adding 2 extra dancers. Half way through the track giant balloons are released on top of the audience which really complements the black and white lighting effects - but would this really be a practical addition for Eurovision?

I think this is a very welcome diversion for Denmark and Eurovision and I really hope it does well. I don’t think it is a winner but I hope it does well in its semi-final.


SINGER – A Friend in London
SONG – New Tomorrow
MUSIC – Lise Cabble, Jakob Glæsner.
WORDS – Lise Cabble, Jakob Glæsner.