They’re laying down their armour — and going on the offensive! The past three years have not been a bed of roses for Denmark with two missed finals in a row, followed by Anja Nissen ranking on the right side of the scoreboard in 2017. But Denmark is more than ready to stop its string of failures.

Today, Danish broadcaster DR revealed that they will be making a series of significant changes to the future set-up of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.

DR’s Head of Entertainment, Jan Lagermand Lundme, spoke to DR’s Grand Prix blog about their plans.

“We want to upgrade Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Because even though there is still a long time until the show, it is right now we are laying the groundwork for what is to happen in 2018”.

That involves some serious changes. First of all, DR have announced it’s now possible for anyone to submit a song all year round. It’s a successful formula already used at Sweden’s Melodifestivalen. Previously, songs could only enter DMGP over two months during the summer.

The new rule means that any song submitted before 15 September will be part of the selection process for the upcoming Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Songs submitted after this date will be in the following year’s pool of potential DMGP songs.

The teams selecting the DMGP finalists has been changed too. DR has chosen to part ways with Cutfather and Jonas Schrøder, replacing them with Mads Enggaard, who will take on the position of DMGP Contributions Producer.

Jan Lagermand Lundme explains: “It is an expression of us trying to do things in another way. We have been super fond of Jonas and Cutfather who have done a huge amount of work. It is completely undramatic that we are now trying something new.”

Mads certainly has the qualifications for the role. He’s been the Viewing Room Producer at Eurovision for the last four years, and has experience with hundreds of Eurovision songs.

Speaking about his role and the vision for the upcoming DMGP songs, Mads says:

“I think there is a lot to be gained by looking at the contributions as whole products. We should not pick songs first, then find artists and then, in the end, add a trampoline. We have to think the entire process through and look at the whole package from the start. You have to show that you have been thinking about what kind of sound image the song is delivered with and that it is something which can be applicable for Eurovision where the standard is constantly getting higher.”

It’s obvious that DR is ready to do what it takes to get back on track and deliver a new top result in Eurovision. With a new front figure, armed with an impressive Eurovision CV, it’s all looking very promising.

What do you think about Denmark’s changes? Do you think that DMGP needs to be revamped? Let us know in the comments box below.

Read more Denmark Eurovision news here

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Musika
Musika
6 years ago

DMGP this year wasn’t too bad. I thought the Big 3 songs were all great in their own ways. What I did find strange was that they didn’t upload all the performances on their YouTube channel except for Anja’s. Maybe they wanted to avoid another backlash from ESC fans like last year with LighthouseX because they wanted Anja or Simone instead….lol……

Marcus (Day One)
Marcus (Day One)
6 years ago

The problem is that 6 of the 10 acts in dmgp are invited artists meaning when they announce they’ve received 1000’s of songs only 4 are picked.

I still don’t get how Denmark keeps getting more and more entries submitted and the song quality is just awful.

Its like DR is so desperate not to win because of the ridiculous amount of money spent on Eurovision 2014.

Also Denmark received its worst viewing figures for a final last year so DR must be worried about ratings.

MarekBP
MarekBP
6 years ago

That’s not true. The number of songs coming from invited artists isn’t fixed. This year, only two of the entries came from invited artists – the remaining eight songs were all chosen from among the submitted songs.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

I would love that they make the whole show closer to us. DMGP released their songs only few days before the show and only in sound clips. Compare that to MESC, which released their songs almost two months early or UMK, who released fully produced videos, also few weeks early. With all the ESC euphoria, it was impossible to concentrate on DMGP. Even after the show, most performances are nowhere to be found online. Only Sada Vidoo and the winner Anja made their performances public. Then, there are also issues with the songs. Most of them, good or bad, are… Read more »

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Honestly, Denmark has great artists that they should have sent at their peak. Christine Milton in 2004, Celina Ree in 2008 (still wondering how no scene queen took part in the contest back then…), Sys Bjerre in 2009, Medina in 2010, Sarah in 2012… now their industry has shifted to rap/hip-hop which isn’t exactly a Eurovision thing, but considering the potential they have, DR should get their big artists interested in the competition.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

Considering two songs containing rap that qualified this year, Denmark could just surprise us with a good rap song. Norway sent a less overdone genre this year and it turned out really good.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

I don’t get why it didn’t get many televote points ….more like nearly zero although on average they were quite high!! 🙁

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Yeah, the problem is, their rappers use Danish which isn’t a musical language at all. The rest of Europe won’t understand the lyrics and it’ll be considered noise.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

The biggest change they have to make is about the songs. Accept different genres, not just meaningless pop songs. This year they had a shot at doing well with “A.S.A.P.” by Johanna Beijbom (a very quirky and tongue-in-cheek song with an elaborate performance that wasn’t about screaming), but they went for the biggest star with a weak song instead.

Musika
Musika
6 years ago

A.S.A.P. was a rip off of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head lolz they wouldn’t have even qualified for grands if they sent that. I mean look at how Germany got crucified for sending a David Guetta’s Titanium-sounding song this year.

Unknown Melody
Unknown Melody
6 years ago

I thought Anja is basically unknown in Denmark?

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago

Interesting to see that several countries (France, Switzerland, Malta, Spain, U.K. now Denmark) are trying out a fresh approach to next year’s ESC. I feel a trend here. Maybe that has to do with the victory of the underdog Portugal. Like “if they can do it, we can do it as well”. I think is great

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  L'oiseau

Its more like they’re trying to follow Sweden though.

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

I know that. I haven’t said they are trying to follow Portugal’s “model”. That would be too presumptuous… I don’t think that the Festival da Cancao would be a model for anyone (just yet, anyway). I am just saying that the victory of Portugal, who has been an underdog, might have inspired other countries that they too can win, whether one likes the song or not. 😉

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  L'oiseau

Definitely not like the song.Either Denmark’s or Portugal. If they want to be number ONE again they need good songs ASAP.

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Totally agreed on the last part and on Denmark, disagreed on Portugal. But that is life… 🙂

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  L'oiseau

I think they are just tired of doing bad and losing their audience. France changed the HoD after the results between 2011-2015. The Netherlands sent Anouk in 2013 after 10 years without qualifying. Switzerland “is” afraid of the same. In Belgium, it seems that we might see a “native competition” between Flanders and Wallonia. Spain and Germany don’t want to finish in the bottom again. They don’t necessarily want to win (Spain?). About Portugal, I think it’s important to wait and see if the victory will help them to continue doing well. I’m confident because Austria is still qualifying after… Read more »

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  L'oiseau

Yes I am more confident now for Portugal, as well, so long RTP keeps the same creative people behind the Festival da Canção and continuing to give the artists full autonomy, as they did this year.

Richardinho
Richardinho
6 years ago

I thought Denmark’s entry this year was pretty strong so they must be doing something right at the moment.

The Anders
6 years ago

Well, first and foremost: better songs are needed. And they should be different from each other instead of sounding the same, which was very much the case this year.

And then, that “whole package from the beginning” talk takes it in a direction that I really don’t approve of. I want it to be about songs, not a big show with pyro and flashing lights.

James
James
6 years ago

And send a song in Danish. The langauges hasn’t be heard on a ESC stage for a veeery long time.

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  James

*At least for Melodi Grand Prix.

Shame there’s still no edit button here in wiwibloggs though. lol.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  James

Yes!
I have Utro by Gulddreng in my playlist. Danish language can sound very good.

Denis
Denis
6 years ago

I think Denmark needs better songs. The selection can only go so far if you have nothing to choose from. Since 2015 Denmark has sent us filler songs, from a selection of filler songs. The kind of songs MF would have to fill out between the highlights. Generic and standard All of the songs sounded similar and were carved in the same form. All of them unspectacular. I think Denmark should try new genres and not just stick with the same middle of the road pop that don’t work. Denmark has a very thriving modern music scene, yet none of… Read more »

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago
Reply to  Denis

I don’t think there’s a problem with the quality of songs that Denmark has in its final but rather a general tendency for them to pick the wrong song from their final. In 2015, they had Suitcase. In 2016, they had Heart-Shaped Hole. Both of these songs I think would have been left hand side in the final of their respective year if they had been chosen. This year, Rikke Skytte or Ida Una would have probably done slightly better than Anja based on the quality of song. There are countries suffering from a lack of quality song submissions but… Read more »

craig
craig
6 years ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

I completely agree. The Danish tele voters selecting those boy bands in 2015 and 2016 beggared belief. I think suitcase may even have landed itself in the Top 10-such an ear worm!

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

Heart Shaped Flop was going nowhere beyond the semi, and it’s not like Suitcase sounded like a smash either. They just need better songs because what they’ve been offering is bland and uneventful.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

I think it was an OK song…..in a ballad heavy year predicting its success is difficult!! But Never Alone would have definitely done well.

Marc
Marc
6 years ago

Anja’s hard flop in the televote was so expected. First time a Danish entry don’t even chart in Denmark.
How Eurore will like a song that is not even likes in its own country?

Their big issue is having mediocre songs that don’t represent Danish music at all.
Playing generic never works for televote, it’s just boring.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

Their useless method in the super-final needs to go!! Ida Una won the televote by a landslide but the Jurors(that too unqualified) had already given 50% points to Anja’s bland-at-best song.

The ESC results reflect the same….blanked by the public vote nearly.

Hersi
Hersi
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

I didn’t realize that Ida Una won the televote ? Is there a link to that info ? Ida was the big favorite in Denmark (Sada was also a favorite yes, but more in the esc community than in Denmark itself ), but if she managed to win the televote I don’t think she would end up with only 26% in comparison to Anja’s 64% even if the Juries heavily favored Anja. But I mean maybe it’s possible, would be nice if they released a full results sheet

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Hersi

The rules in Denmark was that in the superfinal 50% score will be awarded by 5 random chosen public jurors(each awarding only one song 10% ) and the remaining 50% coming from the proportion of votes in the televote. From the final split it’s obvious that ASAP which had only 10% points in total had 0 votes from the jury. By similar deduction Anja atleast had 4 votes from the jury. (In this scenario then Anja got 48%(24% weightage in final tally) of public vote and Ida got 32%(16% in final tally) of public vote…… Considering the buzz in Denmark… Read more »

Heri
Heri
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

I don’t think your theory is too likely, considering Ida did have a lot of hype, but her performance and live vocals were VERY weak and people realized that it was not a good entry. I’m sure that Anja won over the jury and the telovoters, and IDA was probably third in the final televote behind Sada Vidoo. I honestly have no idea how ASAP made the super final, except for being having an advantage by performing last.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Heri

Are you danish? Maybe you can ask for that information under RTI??

Its not complete theory….The Jury vote gave Anja At least a 30% advantage (40-10-0 split after Jury) if not a 50% advantage (50-0-0 split)…..so if one of the other two had to win they needed a minimum of 82% televote which doesn’t happen in a multi-optional vote.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Norway too followed a similar system wherein the 10 professional country juries gave their favourite their total 5% points.

The remaining 50% came as a proportion of televote.
But in the super final it was solely televote there.

The way the rules were in Denmark Anja had already won even before the public televote.

Mattias Sollerman
Mattias Sollerman
6 years ago

I find Enggaard’s comment to be very encouraging. A good song is worth nothing unless there is a way of communicating the value of the song to the public. Eurovision has evolved into a unique genre of entertainment, rather than just a series of filmed stage performances, and should be embraced as such.

Áustria
Áustria
6 years ago

Denmark is very old-fashioned in my opinion. Their Eurovision songs never sound fresh and modern, but always generic and behind their time.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Áustria

Their Eurovision songs all sound the same! 90% are guitar-driven easy-listening pop songs. Can you tell apart their songs from 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016? To me, they’re the exact same song with different lyrics. And it’s not like Only Teardrops was that different – it won mainly because of the enormous pre-contest promo it got, something no other country got. The fact that EBU won’t reveal the actual split results from 2013 makes me think she didn’t even win the televote.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

A song that received only 5 points in the televoting by two neighbouring countries should not be selected to qualify.
Anyway, the songs in the Danish selection are in general quite weak. Denmark is trying to succeed following “Only Teardrops & Cliche Love Song” recent achievements, filling the national selection with bland ballads and cheesy pop songs. Variety is what works better at Eurovision, and Norway, for example, knows how to use it.

Mattias Sollerman
Mattias Sollerman
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Would Denmark have qualified under the 2015 voting system?

Evan
Evan
6 years ago

No it would come 15th or 14th in semi

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

It’s unlikely.

ESCmonaco
ESCmonaco
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

In the final they only got 8 points from the televote and all were from Australia.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Yeah, I’m still mad they made it. The song was clearly not going to be voted for by the audience because it wasn’t outstanding at all. The performance had 2005 written all over it. I don’t get what the juries saw in it? I guess they like tons of screaming.

In the final, she was the third least voted on average after Spain and Germany. Almost all the countries ranked her bottom 5 in televote, and hadn’t she been Australian, she would have gotten nul.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

Do you have the average voting rankings actually?I’d like to see to see in the ESC fandom terms which songs were ‘overrated’ and which went ‘underrated’!!

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

On average. Same Top 8
9th- France
10- Croatia
11- Cyprus
12- Norway
13- Netherlands
14- Belarus
15- Israel
16- Uk
17- Poland
18- Australia
19- Azerbaijan
20- Greece
21- Armenia
22- Ukraine
23- Austria
24- Denmark
25- Germany
26- Spain

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Thanks Marc. 🙂

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc

That means Israel and Netherlanda were hugely underrated and Azerbaijan got points only from a few countries!! 😮

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Indeed.
Azerbaijan was basically saved by Czech Republic, Moldova and Georgia.
Poland got all points from Diaspora countries.
Cyprus, Netherlands or Israel were ranked in many televotes 11th-16th.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Nope, the top 8 would have been different.
3. Belgium
4. Moldova
5. Italy
6. Romania

That’s if you count San Marino’s jury votes, since their televote is fake and it wouldn’t be needed in a 100% televote formula like this one.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

I think Sweden would’ve been 3rd.

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Jo, We are talking only on televote 🙂

PG, I counted San Marino fake televote yes.
If I remember right Moldova-Belgium. Romania-Italy were all really close yes.