Denmark, once a powerhouse at Eurovision has taken a bit of a blow over the last few years, failing to qualify to the final. This year, they’ve put their hopes in Aussie girl Anja Nissen with the song Where I Am. Last year, Anja participated in the national final with the song Never Alone, and only just missed out on representing Denmark, so we were excited to see that she was back this year, and boy did she come back with a bang.
Denmark are back in the game with this song. It’s a modern and fresh pop entry, which in my mind is a big step up from Never Alone. The intro of the song immediately hooks you in, and then the verse builds you up for the incredibly epic chorus which really show Anja’s incredible vocals. The contrast between the verse and chorus brings out the intensity of the chorus, which is really the ‘wow’ moment of the song. As soon as the bridge hits, you just know that she’s going to absolutely belt out that one big note, and that’s exactly what she does. The thing about Anja is that her vocals are so reliable that all those big notes will be hit with absolute precision.
A simple staging would suit this song, as it would allow the audience to really focus on her vocal performance. A clever use of lighting, and potentially some billowing smoke beneath her, or even some waterfall pyrotechnics during that big note in the last chorus could bring this song into another dimension. Anja has so much stage experience, so she really knows how to engage with the camera and the audience, which as a television viewer, really helps the song shine.
This song has huge potential to do well, however, Denmark did get the short straw to end up in semi-final 2, surrounded by a league of amazing songs. What this song has above many of the others is the more upbeat nature of the song, whilst still showing off Anja’s vocals as if it was a huge power ballad. If this is wedged between two ballad entries, for example, Russia, Ireland of Malta in the first half of the semi-final, this will have the opportunity to really shine.
This song wasn’t an instantaneous hit for me, but it only took a second listen to really fall in love with it. I thought about giving this a 9, however upon second thought, there is nothing in this song that makes me want to detract that point, so it’s a 10/10. Go Aussie, Go!
