There are certain traditions within the Eurovision circle, and among them is Denmark pulling a victory when the contest is hosted in Sweden. The Olsen Brothers did it in 2000, when the contest was hosted in Globen, in Stockholm and Emmelie de Forest did it in 2013, when the contest was hosted in Malmö Arena. However, that did not happen last Sweden hosted in 2016, so what’s in store for Denmark, let’s have a look!
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024
Simply known as Melodi Grand Prix in Denmark, we have today been informed, that the national broadcaster (DR), has announced that the national final will be held on the 17th of February 2024, in Copenhagen.
Unfortunately, it will NOT be held in the much larger Royal Arena, but in DR Koncerthuset instead. The disappointment of the announcement comes from the fact, that the indoor concert hall only has a capacity of holding less than 2000 spectators, meaning that there will be far less tickets available. However, this will make it very easy for DR when it comes to transportation of equipment and preparation, since as the name of the hall suggest, it is located right next to the headquarter of the broadcaster.
This will however, be the first time since 2002, that Copenhagen will host the national final with an audience. The much larger Royal Arena was set to host in 2020 with spectators as well, until the show had to be done without spectators due to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since restriction rules carried over into 2021, the national final was once again held behind closed doors, also in Copenhagen.
At the moment, it is only confirmed that the winner will be travelling across the bridge, in order to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest, which is to be held in Malmö.
Program Director for the show, Erik Struve Hansen, had the following to say:
- Dansk Melodi Grand Prix is an event, that year after year gathers the Danes across taste in music, geography and age. Viewers and spectators can look forward to a magnificent show from Koncerthuset, which gives the artists a unique opportunity to deliver strong performances on a coveted stage and with enough room to fill the hall with feelings, which is also an important part of the Grand Prix-universe.
Despite not stated by DR yet, Erik Struve Hansen has been in touch with our Danish colleges from Good Evening Europe sharing further details, which includes a new jury that will include international juries. In 2023, DR tried with a new voting system, which unfortunately was not only very hard to understand for foreign viewers, but even for the Danish viewers as well, so work will also be shifted on a proper way to select next year’s winner. Furthermore, it was also mentioned that it hasn’t been decided whether it will be 8 songs competing again, or a different number of acts.
The submission period is still open and will remain until the 27th of October 2023. More precise details are expected to be revealed at a later time.
In 2023, for the first time ever, Denmark was represented by a Faroese, that being Reiley with his song “Breaking My Heart“. Sadly, despite the high hopes, Denmark managed to score only 6 points in total, all coming from Iceland in the semi-final and have now missed the final 3 years in a row, which was described in Denmark as a historical low.
Source : ESCUnited
