Fyr & Flamme will represent Denmark at Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam with their song “Øve Os På Hinanden”.
The Italo-disco duo of Jesper Groth and Laurits Emanuel earned the right to represent the Scandinavian nation by winning Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2021 over seven other competitors.
And now we’ve compiled 10 facts about Fyr & Flamme. Let’s do this!
Denmark at Eurovision 2021: Facts about Fyr & Flamme
1. They met in 2017
While the musical output from Fyr & Flamme is relatively new, Groth and Emanuel know each other for a while now. In 2017, both friends caught up in a Danish “Friday bar”, and went over the idea of starting a musical project. Fueled by a shared love of retro aesthetic and Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, they have been making music ever since.
2. Jesper is an accomplished actor
One half of this duo is a staple of Danish film and TV. Jesper graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts. His CV includes movies such as I blodet, Journal 64 and Retfærdighedens ryttere, and many television series. As an actor, he has picked up nominations for The Roberts, the Danish Oscars, for Best Supporting actor in television in 2019, for Klaphat, and one for Best Actor in 2021, for Sygeplejeskolen.
3. Laurits has an extensive background in music
Laurits Emanuel is quite a veteran of the Danish music business. An accomplished alum from the Danish Music Conservatory, Emanuel has been one of two long-time lead singers with the band The Grenadines.
4. They released their first single in 2020
In July 2020, the Fyr & Flamme project soared with the release of their debut single “Menneskeforbruger” (Maneater). The retro-synth explosion spelt success fortune for the duo — airplay on both P3 and P4, thousands of streams, live performance on nationwide TV and first place on the ‘P3 List’ for two weeks in a row. All of this culminated in a record contract with Universal Music. “We had not expected at all that all this would happen. I knew very well that it was a good number, but not necessarily that it was such a hit,” Groth stated.
5. They have always sung in Danish
It has been no secret that “Øve Os På Hinanden” was the first Danish-language song to win DMGP since 2005. And it will be the first song performed completely in Danish at Eurovision since 1997. Fyr & Flamme make it clear that the energy and specific message they want to give to the listeners blooms from the Danish language and culture. “We make songs according to Scandinavian traditions. I can not imagine at all how we should be able to translate our songs. Our dreams since we were little were born from Danish-speaking songs, so we want to keep that energy going,” they say.
6. Their singles have all been chart smashes
“The thing that made us get a breakthrough in Denmark is the way that we stay true to ourselves,” Groth stated. And their neon train has not stopped since. “Menneskeforbruger” kickstarted it all. Their debut single peaked at #12 in the Danish charts, which paved the way for their follow-up “Kamæleon”. It out did their first step, reaching #7. And most notably, “Øve Os På Hinanden” became the first DMGP winner in nine years to go straight to #1 prior to its Eurovision participation.
7. Their sound is inspired by Dansk Melodi Grand Prix
While they are proud of their ’80s revival style, Jesper and Laurits revealed that the main inspiration for the band’s inception was the same Danish national final. “We both have a strong love affair with the Grand Prix. My mother has often asked me if I should join, but I have never really dared to send in a song – until I met Jesper,” Laurits explains. Fyr & Flamme actually submitted a song for DMGP 2018, however, it did not make the final cut.
8. Their fans go crazy for them
Going by the self-description “teenage idols your parents can understand”, the duo aren’t struggling in their social outreach one bit. “It’s fun to see how some of the older ladies write to tell us our music is on their training playlist, but then they hear their kids also listen to them! The dream is that when we come on tour in Denmark, we will arrive in caravans and be received by people of all ages!”
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9) They have a list of must-listens
Being big fans of the 1980s, Jesper and Laurits have no shortage of song suggestions for their fans. These evergreens serve as both their inspirations and must-listens to show the world the true flavour of Danish Retro:
- Laban – ‘Kun et sekund’ (1985)
- Münchener Freiheit – ‘Tausendmal du’ (1986)
- Lars Muhl – ‘One More Minute’ (1986)
10. They’re in it for the long run
Some have questioned the staying power of Fyr & Flamme, considering their existing careers outside the band. But both Jesper and Laurits are adamant that they’re in it for the long run. “We spend all our waking time being serious about this. There are not many others who make the kind of music we do,” Laurits explains. “People really want me to choose between acting and music, but I do not get to. I just want to do both, and if we have at least one song that becomes a pub staple or gets replayed in 20-30 years time, we will have done it,” Jesper said. “It’s probably also very cool to end up as a modern Tommy Seebach or Hilda Heick, who participate in the Grand Prix year after year. Then you always know what to do in March!”
Can Fyr & Flamme set the Eurovision stage on fire? Let us know in the comments below.
Considering they are the only upbeat/happy song of their half of the semi, and they are coming right after the serious/dark songs of Finland, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Switzerland, I feel like they could qualify. It will just be a party on stage. Good luck to Denmark, and I hope they qualify.
Oh great my comments are disappearing… For those wondering about Retfærdighedens ryttere, Jesper is in like 2 minutes of it in the very beginning.
YESSSSS… dark horse is commmming …. eeeehmmmm is dancing …. flying on the wings…… Lol …. 10 points behind Swiss
I have some feeling that Denmark will be biggest surprise in ESC 2021. I see Denmark in final in TOP 10 even TOP 5 thanks to televote (like Moldova 2017 in points from televote, many people… gave more chance for good result in televote for Italy and Romania but they are far behing Moldova in points from televote).
ABBA type song from 70 s works very good for Sweden 1999, Denmark retro pop song from 80 s could work very welll for Denmark 2021.
Jesper is adorable:)
they both have female partners
That’s fine. My Gaydar is terrible but they look like they are in love in so many of the pictures? It is unlikely to be “baiting” I suppose. I have a sneaking regard for this track and I’d like to see it do well.
I think it is very likely to be baiting.
Hahaha….amazing comment!
A fake one…you mean ?
Danemark has strong chances to qualify as well as to reach top 15…This is a dynamic duo….The song is cult (scandinavian 90ties entry) and has its own audience.
“It has been no secret that “Øve Os På Hinanden” was the first Danish-language song to win DMGP since 2005″…. lol. why would that ever be a secret 😀
Somehow, unbelievably, this rose up to become my number one this year, omg
Omg omg omg
Mine too! I fell in love with this song!
I don’t remember you adding facts about how hetero all the hetero performers are.
Laurits is so gay he’s married to a woman and has two children with her.
I want them in the final so bad
Might be the first year since 2014, that we will have all of the Nordic countries in the final, each one giving a different sound and style.
And points to each other….poor Swiss and Malta
Well they’ve all got quite similar cultures, if we don’t look at every national feature, but it really is like that around the world. We see french speaking nations having similarities, then there’s eastern europeans and so on.
I do see it as neighbour countries are more likely to award each other with points, but how can we compare countries such as Norway & Denmark toNorway & Portugal, the cultures are different and that’s how Europe is. Different cultures, music, food or just about anything, we’re all a bit different yet some similarities are always to be found!
look at history Sweden almost never give us good points. Norway and Iceland tends to, but they only give us 12 if the song is good. It’s a myth that we only vote for ourselves.
It’sa danish expression. It means something like “all fired up” like being really excited about something. ‘Fyr’ means “fire up” (also same word for guy in danish, coincidentally) and ‘flamme’ means flame.
And in Dutch, “in vuur en vlam”
Can’t you do something else than write toxic comments, like get friends or something.
What a word….a toxic world
I’m so glad that Eurovision has a large gay following and if that means thousands of pink unicorns taking Rotterdam over in May then I’m 100% in agreement.
Straights are bigger followers….
I’m all for Laurits being gayer than everyone and everything in this world while bottoming for me. Such a snack.
I get you tried to be kind but dude…
Likeable artists with a feel good song, I’d like them to get into the final.
Love them.