The return of a live orchestra! 100% public vote to decide the winner! Controversy around last year’s winners not making the cut! Seriously, the Danes had a bit going on this year in the lead up to their Eurovision selection vehicle Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Hype around the 8 competing acts seemed to get a bit lost in the weeks preceding the show as a debate about last year’s winners, Ben & Tan, absence from this year’s line-up sucked up the pre-contest oxygen.
Staged at DR Byen, the headquarters for Danish public broadcaster DR in super-chic Copenhagen, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was a slick affair that far exceeded expectations. The 15-piece live orchestra added some serious depth to each performance and transformed relatively middle-of-the-road offerings into something quite special. And the staging was superb. Each act looked like they we’re performing inside a glam pinball machine or jukebox which perfectly suited the telecast.
After the 8 acts performed their offerings the Danish public was asked to vote for their favourite songs with the top 3 from the televote to return for a super-final. Early faves Cosmic Twins and Emma Nicoline failed to make the cut and were sent packing leaving a testosterone heavy super-final.
The Danish public opted for Chief1 & Thomas Butteschøn’s jaunty “Høst over skyerne”, Jean Michael’s accessible if not a little generic “Beautiful” and Fyr & Flamme’s 80’s disco-tinged pop ditty “Øve os på hinanden” as their favourites to compete again in the super-final.
Once the superfinal votes were tallied it was a close run thing with the camptastic duo of Fyr & Flamme taking the victory and securing the ticket to represent Denmark in Rotterdam later this year. At the time of writing it was undecided whether the duo will sing their 80’s anthem in their native tongue or not.
Final Standings after the Super-final….
1st – Fyr & Flamme -“Øve os på hinanden” (37% of the votes)
2nd – Jean Michael ‘“Beautiful” (34% of the votes)
3rd – Chief1 & Thomas Butterschøn – “Høst over skyerne” (29% of the votes)