| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | Denmark |
| Preselection: | Danish: [[Dansk Melodi Grand Prix]] 2024 |
| Preselection Date: | 17 February 2024 |
| Entrant: | Saba |
| Song: | Sand |
| Sf Result: | Failed to qualify (12th) |
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "Sand" performed by Saba. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Danish: [[Dansk Melodi Grand Prix]] 2024 in order to select the Danish entry for the contest.
See main article: Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 2024 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-one times since their first entry in .[1] Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in with the song "Danish: [[Dansevise]]|italics=no" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, in with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and in with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. In, and, "Danish: [[Øve os på hinanden]]|i=no" performed by Danish: [[Fyr og Flamme]]|i=no, "The Show" performed by Reddi and "Breaking My Heart" performed by Reiley all failed to qualify Denmark to the final.[1]
The Danish national broadcaster, DR, broadcasts the event within Denmark and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Denmark had selected all of its Eurovision entries thus far through the national final Danish: [[Dansk Melodi Grand Prix]]|i=no. DR confirmed its intention to participate at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest on 12 May 2023, announcing that Danish: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix|i=no would again be organised in order to select Denmark's entry for the contest.[2]
Danish: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024 was the 54th edition of Danish: [[Dansk Melodi Grand Prix]]|i=no (DMGP), the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 17 February 2024 at the Danish: [[Koncerthuset|DR Koncerthuset]]|i=no in Copenhagen, and was hosted by and .[3] [4] [5] [6] The show was broadcast on DR1 and on DR's online platform DR TV.[7]
Eight acts competed in one show where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, open between 10 and 16 February 2024 and again during the live final of 17 February, the top three songs qualified to a superfinal, where a second voting round determined the winner. The results of both rounds were based on the 50/50 combination of votes from the public and a 20-member jury panel (a larger one than in previous editions), composed for the first time since of ten international membersfrom the five most recent winning countries, i.e.,,, the and alongside ten Danish professionals. Viewers were able to vote each song once per round via a new version of the mobile application introduced in the 2023 edition or, during the live show, via SMS. Artists were given the option of a live orchestra accompaniment for their live performances.[3] [4] [8] [9] [10]
On 29 August 2023, DR opened a submission period until 27 October 2023 for artists and composers to submit their entries. Songs could be submitted and performed in any language, however, in order to qualify to compete, at least one composer, lyricist or performer had to be a Danish citizen or exhibit connection to Denmark (such as permanent residence in the country or marriage to a Danish citizen). By the end of the submission window, around 600 entries had been received. DR also selected contestants by direct invitation of artists from the Danish music scene.[7] [9] [11] [12] The selection process was completed on 27 October 2023,[13] with the selected entries announced and released on 25 January 2024; they were presented in a dedicated programme hosted by Danish: [[Fyr og Flamme]]|i=no on 10 February, one week before the final. Among the entrants was Basim, who represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. For the first time in the history of the event, none of the competing entries contained lyrics in the Danish language, all of them being in English.[7] [14] [15]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura Dione | "Mirrorball of Hope" | ||
| Basim | "Johnny" | ||
| Chu Chu | "The Chase (Zoom Zoom)" | ||
| Janus Wiberg | "I Need Your Love" | ||
| RoseeLu | "Real Love" | ||
| Saba | "Sand" | ||
| Stella | "Sign Here" | ||
| Ublu | "Planetary Hearts" |
The final took place on 17 February 2024.
| Artist | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saba | "Sand" | Qualified | |
| 2 | Stella | "Sign Here" | Eliminated | |
| 3 | Chu Chu | "The Chase (Zoom Zoom)" | Eliminated | |
| 4 | Basim | "Johnny" | Qualified | |
| 5 | RoseeLu | "Real Love" | Eliminated | |
| 6 | Ublu | "Planetary Hearts" | Eliminated | |
| 7 | Janus Wiberg | "I Need Your Love" | Qualified | |
| 8 | Aura Dione | "Mirrorball of Hope" | Eliminated |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saba | "Sand" | 22 | 15 | 37 | 1 | |
| 2 | Basim | "Johnny" | 15 | 19 | 34 | 2 | |
| 3 | Janus Wiberg | "I Need Your Love" | 13 | 16 | 29 | 3 |
| Share (%) | (%) | Total viewership | (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 967,200 | 67.3% | 16.9% | 1,574,262 | 27.5% |
As part of the promotion of her participation in the contest, Saba attended the Melfest WKND event in Stockholm on 8 March 2024, the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024, the Barcelona Eurovision Party on 6 April 2024, the London Eurovision Party on 7 April 2024, and the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 13 April 2024.[17] She was also set to perform at the Nordic Music Celebration's Eurovision Night in Oslo on 20 April 2024 but was forced to be absent due to undisclosed personal reasons.[18] [19]
The inclusion of in the list of participants for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war sparked controversy in Denmark as well as several other participating countries, with calls and petitions for broadcasters to boycott the event. By mid-January 2024, Gustav Lützhøft, head of culture, children and youth at DR, stated that the broadcaster would support Israel's participation,[20] leading to demonstrations outside the Danish: DR Koncerthuset|i=no during the announcement of DMGP contestants on 25 January, calling for the broadcaster or the eventual winning artist to boycott the contest.[21] None of the entrants expressed their overt support for a boycott;[22] Ublu later stated their opposition to Israel's participation ahead of the show.[23]
While not mentioning Israel's participation in the contest, on 29 March 2024, Saba released a joint statement with other Eurovision 2024 entrantsnamely Bambie Thug, Norwegian: [[Gåte]]|i=no, Iolanda, Megara, Mustii, Nemo, Olly Alexander, Silvester Belt and Windows95man calling for "an immediate and lasting ceasefire" in Gaza as well as the return of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.[24]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[25] Denmark was scheduled for the first half of the second semi-final.[26] The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Denmark was set to perform in position 7.[27]
In Denmark, all the shows were broadcast on DR1 as well as online via DR TV, with commentary provided by Ole Tøpholm.[28] [29] In addition, as part of the Eurovision programming, DR and SVT collaborated with other EBU member broadcastersnamely ARD/WDR, the BBC, ČT, ERR, French: [[France Télévisions]]|i=no, NRK, NTR, RÚV, VRT and Yleto produce and air a documentary titled ABBAAgainst the Odds, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of with "Waterloo" by ABBA.[30] [31]
Saba took part in technical rehearsals on 29 April and 2 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May.[32] Her performance of "Sand" at the contest involved LED lighting and actual sand scattering on the stage.[33]
Denmark performed in position 7, following the entry from and before the entry from .[27] The country was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. This marked the fourth consecutive time that Denmark failed to advance from the semi-finals. It was later revealed that Denmark finished 12th out of 16 countries, scoring 36 points.
See also: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to and by Denmark in the second semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public.[34] The Danish jury consisted of Jesper Groth, who represented as a member of the group Danish: [[Fyr og Flamme]]|i=unset, Ihan Haydar, who represented as a member of the band Reddi, Vicky Leander, Las Thomsen, and Søren Torpegaard Lund.[35] In the second semi-final, Denmark placed 12th with 36 points. Over the course of the contest, Denmark awarded its 12 points to in the second semi-final, and to (jury) and (televote) in the final.[36] [37]
The spokesperson for the Danish jury at the final was .[38]
Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[39] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Danish jury:[35]
| + | ||||
| Draw | Country | Televote | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Points | |||
| 01 | 14 | |||
| 02 | 13 | |||
| 03 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 04 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 05 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 06 | 8 | 3 | ||
| 07 | ||||
| 08 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 09 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 10 | 15 | |||
| 11 | 11 | |||
| 05 | 12 | |||
| 13 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 14 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 15 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 16 | 2 | 10 | ||
| + | |||||||||||
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | |||
| 01 | 3 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 02 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 03 | 20 | 23 | 6 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 14 | ||||
| 04 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 20 | |||
| 06 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 3 | 8 | |||
| 07 | 14 | 26 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 26 | 10 | 1 | |||
| 08 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 8 | 18 | 19 | ||||
| 09 | 26 | 22 | 26 | 5 | 25 | 20 | 16 | ||||
| 10 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 3 | ||
| 11 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 22 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 12 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 26 | 5 | 12 | 18 | ||||
| 13 | 10 | 12 | 19 | 6 | 18 | 15 | 21 | ||||
| 14 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 14 | 11 | ||||
| 15 | 7 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 16 | 12 | ||||
| 16 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 10 | 2 | 22 | |||
| 17 | 23 | 15 | 23 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 2 | |||
| 18 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 20 | 10 | 23 | 24 | ||||
| 19 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 13 | |||
| 20 | 17 | 24 | 24 | 14 | 13 | 25 | 15 | ||||
| 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 22 | 24 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 26 | 24 | 25 | ||||
| 23 | 5 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 24 | 18 | 5 | 17 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 23 | ||||
| 25 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 26 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 17 | ||||