Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Denmark | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 10 February 2018 | |||
| Selected entrant | Rasmussen | |||
| Selected song | "Higher Ground" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Niclas Arn Karl Eurén | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (5th, 204 points) | |||
| Final result | 9th, 226 points | |||
| Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Background
Prior to the 2018 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-six times since their first entry in 1957.[1] Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in 1963 with the song "Dansevise" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, and twice in Sweden: in 2000 with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and again in 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. In the 2017 contest, "Where I Am" performed by Anja Nissen ended in 20th place in the final with 77 points
The Danish national broadcaster, DR, broadcasts the event within Denmark and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. DR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 July 2017.[2] Denmark has selected all of their Eurovision entries thus far through the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.
Before Eurovision
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018 was the 48th edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 10 February 2018 at the Gigantium in Aalborg, hosted by Annette Heick and Johannes Nymark.[3] The show was televised on DR1 as well as streamed online at the official DR website.
Format
Ten songs competed in one show where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three songs based on the combination of votes from a public vote and a five-member jury panel qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, the winner was determined by the public and jury vote.[4] Viewers were able to vote via SMS or a mobile application specifically designed for the competition. Viewers using the app to cast a vote were provided with one free vote. The five-member jury panel was composed of five Danish Eurovision fans: Julie Lund Mikkelsen, Jens Erik Møller, Morten Madsen, Christian Kaad and Anna Bennike.[5]
Competing entries
DR opened a submission period on 4 July 2017 for artists and composers to submit their entries. Entries submitted before 15 September 2017 were considered for the 2018 competition.[2] A selection committee selected ten songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster and the competing artists and songs were officially presented on 22 January 2018 during a press conference.[6]
| Artist | Song | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Albin Fredy | "Music for the Road" | Rune Braager, John Garrison, Olivio Antonio |
| Anna Ritsmar | "Starlight" | Lise Cabble |
| CARLSEN | "Standing Up for Love" | Thomas Thörnholm, Michael Clauss, Dave Rude |
| Ditte Marie | "Riot" | Theis Andersen, Lise Cabble, Chris Wahle |
| KARUI | "Signals" | Annelie Karui Saemala Overbeck, Jeanette Bonde, Daniel Fält, Jonas Halager |
| Lasse Meling | "Unfound" | Lasse Meling, Kim Nowak-Zorde, TheArrangement |
| Rasmussen | "Higher Ground" | Niclas Arn, Karl Eurén |
| Rikke Ganer-Tolsøe | "Holder fast i ingenting" | Rune Braager, Clara Sofie Fabricius, Andrea Emilie Fredslund Nørgaard |
| Sandra | "Angels to My Battlefield" | Chief 1, Ronny Vidar Svendsen, Anne Judith Stokke Wik, Nermin Harambasic, Sandra Hilal |
| Sannie | "Boys on Girls" | Sannie Carlson, Domenico Canu, James Reeves |
Final
The final took place on 10 February 2018. In the first round of voting the top three advanced to a superfinal based on the votes of a five-member jury (50%) and a public vote (50%). The three superfinalists were "Starlight" performed by Anna Ritsmar, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen and "Music for the Road" performed by Albin Fredy. In the superfinal, the winner, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen, was selected by the public and jury vote.[7][8]
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Austrian Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst performed as the interval act.[9]
| Final – 10 February 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Ditte Marie | "Riot" | Eliminated |
| 2 | Anna Ritsmar | "Starlight" | Superfinalist |
| 3 | Rasmussen | "Higher Ground" | Superfinalist |
| 4 | Sannie | "Boys on Girls" | Eliminated |
| 5 | Sandra | "Angels to My Battlefield" | Eliminated |
| 6 | Lasse Meling | "Unfound" | Eliminated |
| 7 | CARLSEN | "Standing Up for Love" | Eliminated |
| 8 | KARUI | "Signals" | Eliminated |
| 9 | Rikke Ganer-Tolsøe | "Holder fast i ingenting" | Eliminated |
| 10 | Albin Fredy | "Music for the Road" | Superfinalist |
| Superfinal – 10 February 2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury (50%) |
Televote (50%) |
Total | Place |
| 1 | Anna Ritsmar | "Starlight" | 13% | 18% | 31% | 2 |
| 2 | Rasmussen | "Higher Ground" | 30% | 20% | 50% | 1 |
| 3 | Albin Fredy | "Music for the Road" | 7% | 12% | 19% | 3 |
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Denmark was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[10]
Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Denmark was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from San Marino and preceding the entry from Russia.[11]
Semi-final
Prior to their first live performance, the Danish delegation were one of a handful of countries necessitating technical assistance following tech rehearsals. They complained that the snow provided by the Portuguese broadcaster was too light and fluffy for the song, asking for a harsher snowfall in the actual performance. This request was granted. Denmark performed fifth in the second semi-final, following San Marino and preceding Russia. At the end of the night, Denmark was announced as one of the ten countries that qualified for the grand final, allowing them to appear in the final two years in a row for the first time since 2014. Following the semi-final, Rasmussen participated in a draw with the other qualifiers to determine which half of the final he would perform in. Ultimately, Denmark was drawn to perform in the second half of the final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed fifth in semi-final 2 - although they only placed 12th in the jury vote, they won the televote, the first time Denmark has won the televote of their semi-final since 2013.
Final
Denmark performed fifteenth in the grand final, following the Czech Republic and preceding Australia. As with their semi, they received a poor score from the international juries, finishing in twentieth place with 38 points (although they did receive full marks from the Hungarian jury). However, they turned it around by coming fifth with the televote, adding 188 points to their score and allowing them to finish in ninth place with 226 points. This marked Denmark's first appearance in the top ten since their hosting in 2014, where Basim's "Cliche Love Song" also finished in ninth place.
Voting
Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
Points awarded to Denmark
| Points awarded to Denmark (Semi-final 2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Televote | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Jury | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Points awarded to Denmark (final) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Televote | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Jury | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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Points awarded by Denmark
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Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Danish jury:[12]
- Brian Risberg Clausen (Bryan Rice) – Chairperson – singer
- Søs Fenger – singer and songwriter
- Emmelie de Forest – singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013
- Linda Andreasen (Linda Andrews) – singer and songwriter
- Lasse Olsen Meling (Lasse Meling) – singer and songwriter
| Split voting results from Denmark (Semi-final 2) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| B. Rice | S. Fenger | E. de Forest | L. Andrews | L. Meling | Average Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Norway | 7 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
| 02 |  Romania | 13 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | ||
| 03 |  Serbia | 16 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 12 | |
| 04 |  San Marino | 17 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 11 | 16 | 13 | ||
| 05 | Denmark | |||||||||
| 06 |  Russia | 14 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 15 | ||
| 07 |  Moldova | 9 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 08 |  Netherlands | 5 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 09 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 8 |
| 10 |  Georgia | 12 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 16 | ||
| 11 |  Poland | 10 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 4 | |
| 12 |  Malta | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
| 13 |  Hungary | 15 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 11 | ||
| 14 |  Latvia | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| 15 |  Sweden | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 10 |
| 16 |  Montenegro | 11 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 17 | 17 | ||
| 17 |  Slovenia | 4 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| 18 |  Ukraine | 8 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Split voting results from Denmark (final) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| B. Rice | S. Fenger | E. de Forest | L. Andrews | L. Meling | Average Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 | Ukraine | 11 | 12 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 19 | 18 | ||
| 02 |  Spain | 4 | 4 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 20 | |
| 03 | Slovenia | 9 | 8 | 23 | 22 | 25 | 16 | 21 | ||
| 04 |  Lithuania | 8 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 15 | 16 | ||
| 05 |  Austria | 6 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 06 |  Estonia | 10 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 12 | |
| 07 | Norway | 24 | 21 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 3 | 8 | |
| 08 |  Portugal | 20 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 25 | ||
| 09 |  United Kingdom | 15 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 3 | |
| 10 | Serbia | 23 | 11 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 23 | ||
| 11 |  Germany | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| 12 |  Albania | 22 | 23 | 15 | 25 | 20 | 24 | 24 | ||
| 13 |  France | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | |
| 14 |  Czech Republic | 7 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 6 | |
| 15 | Denmark | |||||||||
| 16 | Australia | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 2 |
| 17 |  Finland | 12 | 25 | 13 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 15 | ||
| 18 |  Bulgaria | 18 | 17 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 22 | |
| 19 | Moldova | 21 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 14 | ||
| 20 | Sweden | 5 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| 21 | Hungary | 25 | 14 | 20 | 24 | 12 | 22 | 19 | ||
| 22 |  Israel | 13 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 11 | |
| 23 | Netherlands | 19 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 6 | 5 | |
| 24 |  Ireland | 14 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 4 | |
| 25 |  Cyprus | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| 26 |  Italy | 16 | 18 | 24 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 17 | ||
References
- "Denmark Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- Granger, Anthony (4 July 2017). "Denmark: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Undergoes Revamp For 2018". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- Weaver, Jessica (6 September 2016). "Denmark: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018 on 10 February". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- Grønbech, Jens (22 January 2018). "DR dropper årelang tradition i Melodi Grand Prix: Seerne får en helt ny oplevelse". dr.dk (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- Karlskov, Troels (10 February 2018). "5 Grand Prix-fans har samme magt som 5,5 mio. danskere: Intet pres på vores skuldre". dr.dk (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- "Denmark: DR reveals the ten Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2017 hopefuls" (in Danish). DR. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- "Watch: Denmark picks song for Viking-themed raid on Eurovision Song Contest". The Local Denmark. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- http://esctoday.com/159682/denmark-dr-reveals-full-voting-breakdown-dmgp/
- Buhl, Christian Mejdahl (30 January 2018). "Vender tilbage til Danmark: Eurovision-vinder optræder til Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018". DR. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
External links
| Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Entries scored out are when Denmark did not compete | |||||||||||||||||||||