Denmark has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 52 times, making its first appearance in 1957. Having competed in ten consecutive contests until 1966, Denmark was absent for eleven consecutive contests from 1967 to 1977. Since 1978, it has been absent from only four contests. Denmark has won the contest three times: in 1963, 2000 and 2013. The Danish participant broadcaster in the contest is the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), which select its entrant with the national competition Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.
DR first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, held in Frankfurt, Germany. It had intended to compete at the first contest in 1956, but had submitted its application past the deadline and was, therefore, not allowed to compete. Denmark was the first Nordic country to take part in the contest, with Sweden, Norway, and Finland following soon after. Iceland, however, did not take part until 1986.
Denmark's first participants were Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler, who sang the song "Skibet skal sejle i nat". Their performance was controversial as, at the end of the song, the couple performed an 11-second kiss, which caused outcry in some countries. Nevertheless, the performance achieved third place.
First victory
Denmark won the contest for the first time in 1963, when Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann sang "Dansevise". The victory, however, was controversial. When Norway announced its votes, the presenter Katie Boyle had to correct the spokesperson and said that she would call them again later. Viewers around Europe could then see the votes had been changed, changing the outcome of the contest and giving the victory to Denmark at the expense of Switzerland. In fact, the reason why Norway had to announce its votes again was that the Norwegian spokesperson did not follow the right procedure the first time and, therefore, there was doubt whether he gave the correct votes on the first occasion.
The final result was valid and the victory went to Denmark. Accordingly, in 1964, the contest was held in Denmark for the first time.
Absence and return
After the 1966 contest and a record low 14th place, Denmark withdrew from the contest, as DR's new head of entertainment Niels Jørgen Kaiser did not view the contest as being quality entertainment citing dissatisfaction from the viewers.[1] Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was not held from that year onwards.
However, in the 1978 contest, after 11 years of absence, and following Niels Jørgen Kaisers departure from DR, Denmark returned to the contest, represented by Mabel and the song "Boom Boom".
1980s
Denmark's most successful time at the contest came between 1984 and 1990, with the country reaching the top eight in six out of seven contests, including four top-five placings. The duo of Hot Eyes represented the nation three times during this period. In 1984, they sang the song "Det' lige det" and finished fourth. In 1985, they became the first and, as of 2020 only act to represent Denmark in two consecutive years. Singing "Sku' du spørg' fra no'en?", they could not repeat their success of the previous year and came 11th. In 1988, Hot Eyes represented Denmark again with "Ka' du se hva' jeg sa'?". The duo scored its best result to date, finishing in third place, losing only to Céline Dion and Scott Fitzgerald. Denmark's other good results during this time were sixth place for Lise Haavik in 1986, fifth for Anne-Cathrine Herdorf and Bandjo in 1987, third for Birthe Kjær in 1989 and eighth for Lonnie Devantier in 1990.
1990s
After 1990, Denmark fell from its high positions of the 1980s and was relegated from the contest on three occasions in the 1990s. In 1993, Tommy Seebach, who had previously represented Denmark in 1979 and 1981, finished 22nd, resulting Denmark being relegated from the contest in 1994. Aud Wilken sang "Fra Mols til Skagen" for the nation at the 1995 contest and came 5th, but this high placing could not be repeated in 1996, as Denmark's entry, "Kun med dig" sung by Dorthe Andersen and Martin Loft, did not qualify from the pre-qualifying round of the contest. In 1998, Denmark was once again relegated from the contest following a poor result in 1997. In 1999, the abolition of the language rule, which had required all countries to sing in their official languages, brought a return to success for Denmark, when Michael Teschl and Trine Jepsen finished 8th with "This Time I Mean It".
2000s and 2010s
In 2000, Denmark won the contest with brothers Jørgen and Niels Olsen defying the odds (they were considerably older than their competitors and only one male duo had won before), to win with "Fly on the Wings of Love". The song went on to enjoy huge success around Europe.
At the 2001 contest, held in Copenhagen, Rollo and King came second with the song "Never Ever Let You Go". However, in 2002, Malene Mortensen came 24th (last) with "Tell Me Who You Are", giving Denmark its worst result ever. Therefore, Denmark was relegated from the 2003 contest.
Since the introduction of semifinals in 2004, Denmark has qualified for the final on eleven out of 16 occasions. Another string of successful participations started in 2010, when Denmark reached the top five for the first time in nine years, finishing fourth with "In a Moment like This" performed by Chanée and N'evergreen. A year later, Denmark finished fifth with "New Tomorrow" performed by the band A Friend in London, and in 2013, Denmark won the contest for the third time, when Emmelie de Forest represented the country with the song "Only Teardrops", winning with Denmark's highest-ever score of 281 points.
In 2014, Denmark reached the top ten for the fourth time in five years, when Basim finished ninth. However, the success did not continue into 2015 and 2016, as Denmark failed to qualify for the final in those years. In 2017, the country returned to the final, finishing 20th with Anja Nissen. Denmark achieved its fifth top ten result of the decade in 2018, with Rasmussen and the song "Higher Ground" finishing ninth. In 2019, Leonora took Denmark to their 12th final with the song "Love Is Forever" and finished 12th in the final with 120 points.
2020s
In 2021, the duo Fyr og Flamme with "Øve os på hinanden", Denmark's first entry fully in Danish since 1997, failed to qualify for the final, finishing 11th in the second semi-final with 89 points. Further non-qualifications followed with Reddi in 2022, Reiley in 2023 and Saba in 2024.
Denmark has the current record of being the country with most consecutive non-placements in the final, with 4. Before 2024, the record was hold together by Georgia and Latvia, with 6 editions each, followed by Ireland, with 4; all three countries qualified to the final.
After hosting the contest in 2014, Denmark has only managed to qualify 3 times in 10 years (2017, 2018, 2019), after failing to qualify twice (in 2004 and 2007) since the introduction of the semi finals in 2004 up until 2014.
↑ In order to reduce the number of participating countries at the 1996 event a qualifying round was held among all countries except the hosts. Denmark failed to progress from this round; entries which failed to progress have subsequently been discounted by the EBU and do not feature as part of the countries' list of appearances.
↑ According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the grand final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's grand final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
↑ Krogsgård conducted the first half of the Danish entry. Part of the way through, as part of the staging, he was beckoned by Birthe Kjær to join her on stage, at which point he left the podium to sing with her backing group while Kaufman conducted the rest of the song. Krogsgård conducted the entire song at the national final.
↑ Conducted by Henrik Krogsgård at the national final.
↑ Although there was no orchestra at the international final, there was one present for the Danish selection show, conducted by Ken Børjesen.
Related Research Articles
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster DR since 1957, which determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and fourteen top-five placings.
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"Dansevise" is a song recorded by Danish husband and wife duo Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann with music composed by Otto Francker and Danish lyrics written by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen. It represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 held in London, resulting the first entry performed by a duo to win the contest and also the first win from a Scandinavian country.
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Talking to You" written by Jacob Launbjerg and Andreas Mørck. The song was performed by Jakob Sveistrup. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2005 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Tænder på dig" performed by Jakob Sveistrup was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Talking to You".
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Shame on You" written by Ivar Lind Greiner and Iben Plesner. The song was performed by Tomas Thordarson. The Danish broadcaster DR returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2003 as one of the bottom five countries in the 2002 contest. DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2004 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Sig det' løgn" performed by Tomas Thordarson was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Shame on You".
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Believe Again" written by Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson and Ronan Keating. The song was performed by Brinck. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Ten songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. The results of the first round were decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting while the results in the second and third round were determined solely by public televoting. "Believe Again" performed by Brinck was the winner after gaining the most public votes in the third round.
Denmark participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" written by Jørgen Olsen. The song was performed by the Olsen Brothers. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2000 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2000 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Smuk som et stjerneskud" performed by the Olsen Brothers was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of jury voting and public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Fly on the Wings of Love".
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "In a Moment like This" written by Thomas G:son, Henrik Sethsson and Erik Bernholm. The song was performed by Chanée and N'evergreen. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2010 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. Ten songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. The results of the first round were decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting while the results in the second and third round were determined solely by public televoting. "In a Moment like This" performed by Chanée and N'evergreen was the winner after gaining the most public votes in the third round.
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "Never Ever Let You Go" written by Søren Poppe, Stefan Nielsen and Thomas Brekling. The song was performed by the duo Rollo and King. In addition to participating in the contest, the Danish broadcaster DR also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2000 with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by the Olsen Brothers. DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2001 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2001 contest in Copenhagen. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Der står et billede af dig på mit bord" performed by Rollo and King was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of jury voting and public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Never Ever Let You Go".
Denmark was represented by Tommy Seebach, with the song "Disco Tango", at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem. "Disco Tango" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 3 February, and was the first of Seebach's three Eurovision appearances for Denmark. The 1979 DMGP is notable for the participation of two of Denmark's three Eurovision winners, Grethe Ingmann and the Olsen Brothers.
Denmark was represented by the band Mabel, with the song "Boom Boom", at the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 April in Paris. "Boom Boom" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 25 February, and marked Denmark's return to Eurovision after an 11-year absence.
Denmark was represented by the band Bamses Venner, with the song "Tænker altid på dig", at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 19 April in The Hague. "Tænker altid på dig" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 29 March. Other participants in the 1980 DMGP included Danish Eurovision winners Grethe Ingmann and the Olsen Brothers, and 1989 entrant Birthe Kjær.
Denmark was represented by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, with the song "Dansevise", at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 March in London. "Dansevise" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 24 February, and went on to win the contest for Denmark in the most controversial of circumstances, when it was alleged that the Norwegian jury had altered their votes in order to hand victory to Denmark at the expense of Switzerland.
Denmark participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" written by Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen and Thomas Stengaard. The song was performed by Emmelie de Forest. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2013 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Cliche Love Song" written by Lasse Lindorff, Kim Nowak-Zorde, Daniel Fält and Basim. The song was performed by Basim. In addition to participating in the contest, the Danish broadcaster DR also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2014 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Cliche Love Song" performed by Basim was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.
This is a list of Danish television related events from 1963.
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Higher Ground" written by Niclas Arn and Karl Eurén. The song was performed by Rasmussen. 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. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.
Denmark originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Yes" written by Emil Lei, Jimmy Jansson and Linnea Deb. The song was performed by the duo Ben and Tan. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2020 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national selection consisted of a radio semi-final and a televised final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. The results of the first round were decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting while in the second round, the winner was selected solely by public televoting. "Yes" performed by Ben and Tan was the winner after gaining 61% of the public vote.
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "The Show" performed by the band Reddi. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix2022 in order to select the Danish entry. Eight songs competed in a televised show where "The Show" performed by Reddi was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of public voting.
↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol.One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp.93–101. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol.Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp.142–168. ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol.Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN978-1-84583-118-9.
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