Our trip around Scandinavia goes on and today it’s time for a short stop in Denmark! For yet another time, the land of legends will be selecting its Eurovision entry by using the annual national selection event, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Who will be thrown into battle for Rotterdam? Time to meet some of the event’s participants!

DMGP turns 50 this year and is going to be extended with three initial radio semi-finals, organized by P4 Radio. Each semi-final sees three participating entries, with only one of them progressing to the Grand Final, which is set to take place on 7 March at the Royal Arena of the capital Copenhagen this year. A public vote will decide the three qualifiers, while two of the six eliminated songs will be offered a “wildcard” for the final. All 5 lucky entrants will be announced on 24 January.

The distibution of the 9 semi-finalists in the semi-finals is based on the Danish regions and will be as follows:

First semi-final – South Denmark

• Jamie Talbot – Bye bye heaven
• Kenny Duerlund – Forget it all
• Nick Jones – 2AM

Second semi-final – Eastern Denmark

• SamSara – For you
• BEN & TAN – YES
• Søren Okholm – Impossible dreamers

Third semi-final – Northern Denmark

• Emil – Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig
• Mielou – We could be so beautiful
• Sander Sanchez – SCREENS

You may enjoy all 9 songs on the official website of the Danish broadcaster DR.

The audience will be able to cast its votes depending on their place of origin, via dr.dk/grandprix by 24 January at 12:00 CET. Only one vote a day is permitted.

10 finalists on 7 March; Orchestra is back!

However, not only 5, but a total of 10 entries will fight for the Eurovision ticket in the final. This happens because there are still 5 pre-qualified entries, which are yet to be revealed. That brings the overall number of contestants to 10, as it has been the case in the last few years.

Notably, the event’s fans will be delighted by the return of the orchestra, which will accompany the finalists again, 21 whole years after its most recent use in 1999.

Hosting the Grand Final will be two actors this year; Hella Joof and Rasmus Bjerg.

Denmark in Eurovision

Denmark joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and has enjoyed three victories since, namely in 1963 with Grethe & Jorgen Ingmann, in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers and most recently in 2013, with Emmelie de Forest‘s Only teardrops.

The country has staged the competition three times in Copenhagen (1964, 2001 and 2014) and moreover, it became home to the 50th Eurovision anniversary special show Congratulations: 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, back in 2005.

Last year, Denmark picked Leonora to sing in Tel Aviv her multi-lingual entry Love is forever, which placed 12th in the Grand Final.

How far could Denmark reach in Rotterdam?