In 2013 she took Europe by storm en route to winning Eurovision. And last Sunday Danish Eurovision queen Emmelie de Forest reminded us she’s still got all that charm and more as she sat down with our Rick at Stuttgart’s Eurovision Weekend 2021.
Among other things, they discuss her new single “Typical Love Song”, which features a sample from the 1984 Alphaville classic “Big in Japan”. They also dive into the difficulties of singing in Danish and Fyr og Flamme’s recent turn in Rotterdam.
Emmelie de Forest Interview at Eurovision Weekend 2021
The original plan was to hold Eurovision Weekend in Summer 2020. But as these plans fell through, its organisers postponed the event until October 2021. And what a payoff it was, as German Eurofans could finally come together to see the likes of Daniel Schuhmacher, Justs Sirmais, and, perhaps the main event, Emmelie de Forest.
Asked about the impact that winning Eurovision had on her career, Emmelie had a simple answer: “I think it’s hard to say what I would’ve done if I hadn’t won. I mean, nobody knows. But what I wanted was to make a living from music and do that full-time, and I have been able to do that for eight years”.
But make no mistake: winning Eurovision doesn’t automatically turn you into ABBA or Celine Dion. “If you want to cross over to mainstream radio it can be difficult,” she says. “Eurovision is its own world in a kind of way compared to the rest of the music business.”
Speaking of Fyr og Flamme, Emmelie gave her assessment of Denmark’s non-qualification in Rotterdam. “Danish is not Portuguese or French or Italian; it’s not as pretty to sing in,” she stated. “I’m sorry, you guys,” she added jokingly in a nod to Danish viewers. She also said that the genre of the retro-themed “Øve os på hinanden” may have hurt its chances. “We as Danes think [80’s pastiche] is super fun, but I think the Eurovision crowd, maybe, didn’t like it.” And what about her hopes for Denmark’s Eurovision future? “I would love to see songs that we see more of in Melodifestivalen, in Sweden.”
The conversation went on to her new song, also somewhat 80s-themed, “Typical Love Song”. De Forest’s first description of the song was apt (“well, it’s a typical love song”). She discussed getting the rights from Alphaville to interpolate their track (“they loved it!”), and her joy in being able to release it after 1.5 years working on Zoom (“it’s fun to get the opportunity to do something so different”).
What do you think of “Typical Love Song”? Would you like to see Emmelie de Forest return for Denmark? Let us know in the comments box down below!
Also, Ukrainian is not a pretty language to sing or hear either but it came 2nd in televoting this year. So, Emmelie’s point is not 100% accurate. It’s all about the song/music and general atmosphere.
Actually Denmark did very well this year, it was close to qualification even though it was expected to flop hard before the rehearsals. I think they should be proud, the song was a hit in Denmark and the locals loved it so it’s all that matters. Countries should not send what they think Europe might like. So well done Denmark. And please more countries singing in their native languages would be cool. About Emmelie: it’s sad that the hype did not help her at all. She was the massive favourite to win even before winning the national final, her hype… Read more »
I agree. However, following Euphoria was never an easy task. Still after 2012 all the winners had from moderate to massive mainstream success, except for Emelie and Jamala who are more for the fans.
As she says, winning Eurovision doesn’t translate into real world success, but it’s good that in the last year this glass ceiling is definitely broken. Most if not all winners after her (maybe the exception being Jamala) broke the Eurovision bubble and made it to mainstream. And what is happening to Måneskin this year is awesome, who could have thought.
Duncan and Maneskin success helps a lot the Eurovision brand and hopefully more talented artists will be encouraged to take part now as there is a good incentive of global success.
I agree. It makes me feel so good that Eurovision is having a social impact that didn’t have since they 70’s. And not just Duncan and Måneskin, Toy, Fuego and Soldi for example are often played here years after they competed. Sort of Eurovision pride.
She’s not wrong, nordic languages are…what they are.
I actually liked Denmark 2021. I don’t think the native language hurt Fyr & Flamme much, since they came in a strong 11th place. However, I do think that the 80s vibe did damage their chances (by the time they went on stage, the voters had already seen two 80s songs with neon in the same semi-final).
She’s right. Nowadays non-English songs are working only if they are:
French/Italian/Portuguese ballads, modern INTERESTING ethnic entries & stuff like Hatari. Anything else is a recipe of disaster with few exceptions.
This year’s Danish entry is a perfect example about why Nordic countries shouldn’t send songs in their Languages, because it will be a sure flop 100% . I can’t blame TIX for singing in English at ESC. He wouldn’t even qualified with the Norwegian version.
You should add Russian /Ukrainian or Slavic languages to the equation, there is enough pan Europeans to understand and vote, the winning formula is an outstanding song, captivating global attention regardless of language and in our day and age the those behind the betting odds and their affiliates play a huge part in deciding and influencing the winner through social media . Top 5 this year 4 we’re in non English. It’s good to see and hear songs that are not in English but I think Nordic/Germanic languages do tend to struggle , but it all depends on the quality… Read more »
She didn’t say anything nasty or horrible. She was asked about Fyr and Flammes non qualification and gave an honest answer. She could of said something like “oh there were so many strong entries in the semi it is a shame they missed out” but she spoke truth. She didn’t diss the contest. She said she has been fortunate to make a living in the music industry. Denmark is a similar country to Sweden so the comparison the Melodifestavlen has validity even if we don’t like the contest being overly dominated by Sweden. If she said she wished Denmark’s national… Read more »
Sometimes I feel the “the rest of the world doesn’t like our language” is a stronger feeling between those who speak the language than with outsiders. I understand where this comes from, because their language doesn’t gather the same appreciation as some others who are more romantic, but the truth is that there are beautiful songs in each language. “Dansevise” is one of my favorite Eurovision songs and it sounds amazing in Danish. On the other hand, I think Emmelie has a point when she says the genre of Fyr & Flamme’s song may had hurt their chances. It’s like… Read more »
it’s more like a melody thing than the language itself
She’s as bland as her winning song. Sorry (no sorry).
some languages are more musical than others… emmelie didn’t lie about danish lacking musicality lol
Still, the Dutch entry of 1998 is pretty good, so ultimately it does depend on a song, no?
Have you ever heard Walking on Water, Edsilia’s English version of that song? I much prefer the Dutch.
I’ve heard it. It’s good, but I also much prefer Hemel en aarde.
How do people here feel about the Danish version of the 2000 winner? Smuk Som Et Stjerneskud is what won DMGP that year, not Fly on the Wings of Love.
People like it more
Denmark in general just had an overall weak selection, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they didn’t qualify. Yes, Øve os på hinanden Did grow on people over time, enough to Nab seventh place with the televote, But it wasn’t enough. It was just Denmark’s year to sit out.
There’s a lot of good songs in Danish, btw European Portuguese is not a very appealing language to many and yet it won.
That comment of hers, was quite ignorant
I love all off the Portuguese songs from the eurovision song contest Portugal should have won the eurovision song contest way more time than they did
Portugese still falls under the latin languages which are in general liked by people.
I am a native speaker of European Portuguese.
Our language is a romance language, but make no mistake, our phonetic pronounciation is waaaay different from other latin languages which makes people perceivecit as less appealing
I understand what you’re trying to say. I’m brazilian, a native portuguese person, and have a bunch of friends from Portugal in my college. From the others foreigners in the campus, brazilian portuguese sounds more like spanish and italian. But I do think euro portuguese sounds a lot like french.
Yes, i thought the same about her comment. Portugal and Portuguese language has been underrated for years in Eurovision and still is (O Jardim being last still hurts), much more than Danish. She probably only remembers Salvador Sobral.
there are many global hits in Portuguese (esp hits made in Brazil). But in Danish? None that i can think of.
Emmelie is wonderful, and her new song is quite cute! I have to disagree with Danish not being pretty enough though, I personally think it’s a lovely and expressive language, and in music it can be very beautiful. Eurovision would be a lot duller if all songs were in English, French and Italian, I can’t imagine “Shum” or “Russian Woman” in any other language for example!
I agree! Any language can be used to create a piece of art!
It was an 80’s song that was over-hyped by the fandom because it featured two openly gay men.
That moment I heard it I knew it won’t qualify. it’s just super-forgettable (and kinda cheesy).
the Danish language had nothing to do with it.
Girl, none of them are gay, they are both in relationships with a female.
One of them is married to a woman, but okay.
I adore Emmelie of course, so it’s great to see her “out” at the Stuttgart event after all this time. I personally don’t agree with her opinion about singing the Danish language, but that’s fine. Emmelie has such an emotive voice; she can sing in any language she wants to. I know she deserves to be bigger than just “that Eurovision winner,” but despite this, I wouldn’t rule out a second attempt for the trophy.
Third attempt if you count 2017.
I agree that EdF is an amazing singer, and a worthy winner of 2013, just like I also disagee about Dutch being inherently unmelodic (Edsilia would disagree). 🙂 PS. On a totally unrelated note, meanwhile I looked up the translation of Poland 2010 and *you were right*. It IS a dark and bizzare song, with choral parts sung in Polish revealing some of the darkest aspects. Still, I think that it’s a good song, because it feels fully aware of how bizzare it is (and how negative “the protagonist” is). In short, it’s like a Disney villain’s POV love song.… Read more »
VERY dark…. Almost like a Disney villain singing it….
Ok, so that’s your reference to dark?
Dark and dramatic, sure. Think about truly dark Disney villain songs, like Hellfire or Savages. Not sure if I’d say that Poland 2010 hits the exact spot, but that’s the angle they are working with.
Both. The language was part of the issue yes. It was the wrong language for that song. But also it was not that strong of a song. It was fun, nothing more. Had it been in English I doubt it would have done better..
They were trying to make a song like the ones they loved when they were younger. Danish is the only language they could use to do that, it was the whole point.
Look, it was obvious the song wouldn’t work. None of the songs from MGP 2021 would reach final, it was a very disappointing weak year for the Danes. Well done Danish public for choosing it, though they didn’t have much to choose from arguably..
Creativity? What is so creative about a song that literally sounds like it was stuck in the 1980’s? And fun is of course good but it needs to be more than just fun.Compare Dadi Freyr to this and you will see the difference in how you can be fun and creative and retro..
I liked Danish entry in 2021 – love the lanugage and the song was fun. And as far as I remember televoters wanted it to go through, it was lower with the juries. Maybe this song was not a winner, but still I believe that any language could win. You just need the whole package.
That’s not true. It’s not a language or genre factor. It’s still a competition, amd Denmark was just not good enough to pass other competitors. I think singing in your language is a great opportunity, especially in Eurovision where you can show your country’s identity
Their 1963 entry will forever be one of my favourites Eurovision songs in history and it was in Danish.
It all depends on the song and how you use the language.
Their 2021 entry was nice and fun but I guess it wasn’t enough to qualify or wasn’t as strong as the other qualifiers.
Maybe in a different year 😛 And perhaps Danish would work with another song better, and hopefully soon because the more languages, the merrier!
Danish might not be a good language to sing for Eurovision, but at least it is good enough to name a winning band.
I loved that song. It was in Danish and it was fun. The only problem were the juries…
Every languages is beautiful in their own way, a good song is a good song and will stay a good song whatever the language. If the language is used melodically it will work whatever the language. For the danish entry this year, the language was not the problem, it was a fun song but nothing more, it didn’t stand out enough.
I’m sure there are beautiful songs and ballads in danish as nice for the ears as some songs in italian french or portuguese.