Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Background
Prior to the 2019 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-seven times since their first entry in. Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in with the song "Dansevise" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, in with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and in with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. In the 2018 contest, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen came 9th in the final with 226 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 10 August 2017. Denmark has selected all of their Eurovision entries thus far through the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.
Before Eurovision
''Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019''
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019 was the 49th edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 23 February 2019 at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, hosted by Johannes Nymark and Kristian Gintberg.Competing entries
The ten competing songs were announced by DR on 31 January 2019.Artist | Song | Composer |
Humørekspressen | "Dronning af baren" | Christian Kroman, Søren Schou, Chang Il Kim, Peter Lützen |
Jasmin Gabay | "Kiss Like This" | Lise Cabble, Clara Sofie Fabricius, Fredrik Sonefors |
Julie & Nina | "League of Light" | Julie Berthelsen, Nina Kreutzmann Jørgensen, Marcus Winther-John, Joachim Ersgaard |
Leeloo | "That Vibe" | Laurell Barker, Ludvig Hilarius Brygmann, Maria Marcus |
Leonora | "Love Is Forever" | Lise Cabble, Melanie Wehbe, Emil Lei |
Marie Isabell | "Dancing with You in My Heart" | Greg C. Curtis, Miguel Garcia, Petrus Wessman, John Ballard |
Rasmus Faartoft | "Hold My Breath" | Martin Skriver, Tim Schou, Thomas Agerholm, Sebastian Owens, Benjamin Rønn, Marcus Elkjer |
Sigmund | "Say My Name" | Christoffer Stjerne, Abigail F. Jones |
Simone Emilie | "Anywhere" | Jeanette Bonde, Fred Miller, Fredrik Sonefors |
Teit Samsø | "Step It Up" | Christoffer Stjerne, Lise Cabble, Nanna Larsen |
Final
The final took place on 23 February 2019. In the first round of voting the top three advanced to a super-final based on the votes of a ten-member jury and a public vote. In the super-final, the winner was selected by the public and jury vote.Promotion
Leonora made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Love Is Forever" as the Danish Eurovision entry. On 6 April, she performed at the Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam, hosted by Cornald Maas and Marlayne, to over 4500 spectators. On 14 April, she performed at the London Eurovision Party at the Café de Paris venue in London, which was hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell. She also performed at the Moscow Eurovision Party in Moscow on 26 April.At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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 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 28 January 2019, 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 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.Once all the competing songs for the 2019 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 7, following the entry from Romania and preceding the entry from Sweden.
Semi-final
Denmark performed seventh in the second semi-final, following the entry from Romania and preceding the entry from Sweden. At the end of the show, Denmark was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 94 points: 41 points coming from the televoting and 53 points coming from the juries.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 will be released shortly after the grand final.Points awarded to Denmark
Points awarded by Denmark
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Danish jury:- Henrik Milling – Chairperson – radio host, DJ, music expert
- Anders Bisgaard – radio host
- Katinka Buchwald Bjerregaard – singer and songwriter
- Julie Berthelsen – singer
- Johnny Reimar – singer and songwriter