Through two qualification heats of a very high standard Denmark was ready for its best final in many years. The show didn't disapoint, the quality of the 10 songs was very high and we were even rewarded with a surprise winner. What else can one want from a national final?”

Annette Heick had the honour of opening the show with her disco Schlager Copenhagen airport. Only few changes had been made from the first qualification heat; a wind machine had been added plus some fireworks. She was wearing the same stewardess shirt and hot pants and was still using what seem to be Carola’s dancers from 1991. It did appear though as Annette was a bit nervous. She wasn’t as smiling as usual and was obviously thinking that it can be very hard being the one to open the ball.

Me & My had changed outfits and left their Superman costumes at home. Both in a black skirt and different white tops they appeared a lot more feminine than in their qualification heat. Some more smoke had been added which exploded from the back of the stage near the end of the song. One of the sisters had been suffering from a cold the past few days although it didn’t affect their singing tonight.

Annika Askman had also changed outfit a little bit. This time she was in white denim, but despite the flames in the background she didn’t appear as much as a rock mama as she did in her qualification heat. The performance was the same with Annika starting out at her electrical piano, which she leaves half way through the song.

Katrine Falkenberg hadn’t changed much in her performance. The set up was the same and she was wearing the same red dress. Only thing different was the fact that she had changed to some shorter gloves.

Jacob Andersen gave the same performance to his rock song Listen to love. Both him and the band in the background gave it a 100% and this is one of the songs that have contributed to the very high standard in Denmark this year. It is a great rock song a la Oasis and could also have been an excellent choice for Helsinki now that it seems the contest is more open to rock.

Jørgen Olsen made the biggest change of everyone. The clothes were the same, the performance the same – but the song was different! For the qualification heat the song was disturbed by a conversation between him and a band member, a conversation which is also a part of the studio version. This, however, didn’t work very well on stage in the qualification heat; in fact it seemed rather annoying and Jørgen had listened to the criticism and removed that part of the song for tonight. Instead of talking a bit had now been added where the music simply stops and Jørgen sings the chorus alone. Well done to Jørgen for having the professionalism to improve the song, because that was indeed what it was. It worked a lot better now and after that improvement it was clear that it was indeed going to be a very strong final where anything could happen.

Danni Elmo hadn’t made any changes to his song or his clothes. The performance was very much the same although Danni seemed less nervous than in the qualification heat where he was a bit stiff in his movements. This time he was more relaxed and it was clear that him and Jacob would be competing about the same votes.

Stig Rossen gave an outstanding performance as in the semi-final leaving no doubt that he probably is Denmark’s best male singer. The audience in the hall really loved him and it looked very much like this would be the winner, this was the one to beat. By qualifying directly to the final he had already proved that strong power ballads and Dansk Melodi Grand Prix could work together and it seemed this was the way Denmark would go – in what seems to be an international contest with a lot of rock songs this could indeed go all the way for Denmark.

James Sampson was wearing the same white suit as in the qualification heat and the performance was the same too using the same dancers in Mary Quant/ Lulu dresses. Only difference seemed to be the fact that this time he was wearing a yellow belt. Right from the start this song with its motown style appears to be the only one who can threaten Stig Rossen. Everything works perfectly and this could also be a well-deserved victory.

DQ had the honour of closing the party and we all knew we would indeed have a real party song now. The 10th starting position means luck in Denmark, it is without doubt the position which gives most victories, but as DQ had already lost to 4 of the songs and had to go through the wildcard selection to get a second chance it seemed impossible this year. It was impossible to point at anything, he was very sure on stage and the song itself is a real Schlager hit which will work well as one of those karaoke songs that are popular in Denmark. It is a party on stage and you can easily sing along to the song, but you can’t win a final you didn’t even qualify for in the first place. You might move up a position or two, but having lost to at least 4 of the other 9 songs does make it impossible. Or at least that is how it is on paper – in reality “it ain’t over until the fat lady sings”….

The Danish final was a bit different this year as there was no super final with 5 songs being performed one more time. Despite interval acts as Gordon Kennedy, Master Fatman, DK Rocks and British super band Take That there was also time for the hosts to be interviewing the participants in between the songs. This revealed some very interesting things:

James Sampson said that he would have preferred a pink suit instead of the white one, but it hadn’t been possible to locate one. When asked if he would get that in time for Helsinki in case he won he revealed that he would be borrowing DQ’s dress for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Jørgen Olsen’s song Vi elsker bare danske piger is a tribute to the Danish girls and male host Adam Duvå Hall had to know if Jørgen was ready for the Finnish girls: Jørgen, we know you can handle the Danish girls very well, but how about the Finnish girls?
Jørgen is ready to represent Denmark in Helsinki if he gets the chance: Oh, I believe that the Finnish girls are just like the Danish girls; øksi, kaksi, kolme, 1, 2, 3 and it is there!

Esctoday.com has previously reported about Gordon Kennedy’s many attempts to get a song selected for the Danish final. He still hasn’t achieved that, but tonight he finally got to feel how it is to be on the stage in a Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as he performed a medley of some of his many rejected songs over the years.

Master Fatman entered the stage and clips were shown from his two Danish final songs from 1995 and 1996. He told that he was ready to take part again if the opportunity came up. He then kissed the two hosts on the mouth although Adam tried to avoid it!
He goes to a mixer and acts like a DJ on some older Danish entries. He is being interrupted by a lady who pulls out the plugs in the beginning of Video Video from 1982. She enters the stage and together with a band she delivers a more up to date rock version of this Danish entry.

Then it was time for the biggest interval act Take That who performed their big comeback hit Patience. Take That promised to be voting for Denmark and wished good luck to all the participants.

And now it was time for what we all had the waiting for; the whole point of the evening: to pick Denmark’s entry for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.

Denmark’s five regions would be giving points to five of the songs.

Søren Bundgaard, one half of the famous Kirsten & Søren who represented Denmark in 1984, 1985 and 1989, announced the points from North Jutland:

4 points to Me & My
6 points to Katrine Falkenberg
8 points to James Sampson
10 points to Stig Rossen
and finally 12 points to DQ!

This probably shocked most people – how was that possible?

Then it was time for Helge Engelbrecht to announce the result from Mid Jutland:

4 points to Jacob Andersen
6 points to Katrine Falkenberg
8 points to Stig Rossen
10 points to DQ
and 12 points to James Sampson.

Jacob Sveistrup who represented Denmark in 2005 announced the results from South Jutland and Funen:

4 points to Me & My
6 points to Katrine Falkenberg
8 points to Stig Rossen
10 points to DQ
and finally 12 points to James Sampson who was now in a tied first position with DQ.

Lotte Feder was a big part of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in the 80’s in the female Aalborg – duo Snapshot. In 1992 she represented Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest together with Kenny Lübcke. Now she announced the points from Sealand + islands excluding the capital Copenhagen:

4 points for Jacob Andersen
6 points for Katrine Falkenberg
8 points for Stig Rossen
10 points for James Sampson
and 12 points for DQ who was now again alone in the leading position, 2 points ahead of James Sampson.

It was clear that it would be Copenhagen deciding the winner. Sasha Dupont announced the result from the capital:

4 points to Jacob Andersen
6 points to Katrine Falkenberg
8 points to Stig Rossen
10 points to James Sampson
and finally 12 points to DQ!

The impossible had happened – DQ who wasn’t even directly qualified for the final had won the whole thing and will be representing Denmark in Helsinki. It is hard to explain how this is possible. Was it the campaign the gay society had been doing during the past week that has paid off or are the viewing figures so much higher for the final that it can explain this Hans Christian Andersen fairytale?

DQ is not the only one who is now looking like a beautiful swan – the whole Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2007 has really been a fantastic improvement with a very high level that will be hard to beat. The last couple of years it has suffered a bit, but now Denmark seems to be back on the right track. Now we will have to see if DQ can qualify for the final in Helsinki, which is the requirement, he now has to face.

Click here to read the interview esctoday.com did with DQ only two days ago at the official opening party for the Danish final.

AVAILABLE CDs

• Click here to purchase Denmark's Melodi Grand Prix 2007
• Click here to purchase Denmark's Melodi Grand Prix 2006
• Click here to purchase Denmark's Melodi Grand Prix 2005
• Click here to purchase Denmark's Melodi Grand Prix 2004