Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Denmark was represented by rapper Kølig Kaj, with the song "Stemmen i mit liv", at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 May in Dublin. "Stemmen i mit liv" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 1 March.
Eurovision Song Contest 1997 | ||||
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Country | Denmark | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1997 | |||
Selection date(s) | 1 March 1997 | |||
Selected entrant | Kølig Kaj | |||
Selected song | "Stemmen i mit liv" | |||
Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 16th, 25 points | |||
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1997
The final was held at the DR TV studios in Copenhagen, hosted by Hans Otto Bisgård. Ten songs competed in the contest and the winner was selected solely by a public televote, which led to the victory of "Stemmen i mit liv" performed by Kølig Kaj. The song won by a relatively narrow margin over "Utopia" performed Jette Torp, and was regarded as something of a risky choice as rap had only been tried once before at Eurovision (by the United Kingdom's Love City Groove in 1995), without a great deal of success.[1]
Final – 1 March 1997 | |||||
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Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
1 | Lars Nielsen | "Du er den eneste" | Peter Michael | 535 | 8 |
2 | Gry Harrit | "Mon du tænker en smule på mig" | Erik Nielsen, Søren Kollerup | 185 | 10 |
3 | Gorm Bull Sarning | "Si' mig li' Mari'" | Ebbe Ravn, Gorm Bull Sarning | 1,642 | 3 |
4 | Maria Abel | "Hyldest til livet" | Maria Abel, Michael Ronson | 1,275 | 5 |
5 | Stay Tuned | "Hvor går man hed med kærlighed" | Jacob Launbjerg | 452 | 9 |
6 | Dennis Ademsen Jensen | "Livet er en ubåd" | Knud Andersen, Michael Neergaard | 642 | 7 |
7 | Kølig Kaj | "Stemmen i mit liv" | Thomas Lægård, Lars Pedersen | 5,695 | 1 |
8 | Jette Torp | "Utopia" | Iben Plesner, Ivar Lind Greiner | 5,331 | 2 |
9 | Hans Olsen | "Et skyggespil" | Cathrine Borg, Hans Olsen | 916 | 6 |
10 | Lei Moe | "Vejen til paradis" | Kirsten Østrup, Tom Østrup | 1,432 | 4 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Kølig Kaj performed 21st in the running order, following Russia and preceding France. Both song and performance were the target of a great deal of mockery from contest commentators – the BBC's famously derisive Terry Wogan remarked "This is about an eejit who falls in love with Directory Enquiries" and later "I'd like to meet the man who introduced rap to Denmark, and give him a piece of my mind". Although widely considered as a likely candidate for the infamous nul-points, at the close of voting "Stemmen i mit liv" had received 25 points, placing Denmark 16th of the 25 entries. The Danish jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners the United Kingdom.[2]
Voting
Points awarded to Denmark
12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
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5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |