Best of the Bunch: Denmark

Denmark was the first Nordic nation to enter Eurovision, the year after the contest debut. They intended to join the contest in 1956, although their application missed the deadline, and as such, entered the following year. Denmark first won the country in 1963 with the song Dansevise, and since then, have had their highs and lows, and even a length break between 1967 and 1977. In more recent history, Denmark have been fairly successful, only missing the final a few times. Today we’re starting our Best of the Bunch journey in 2006, and continuing on to 2015, and once we’ve recapped the entries, it will be your turn to have your say! Vote in the poll below for your Danish Best of the Bunch!

Starting with 2006, where Denmark was represented by Sidsel Ben Semmane and the song Twist of Love. The song had some pretty cheesy lyrics and dance moves, but fortunately for Denmark they had automatically qualified to the final due to finishing in the Top 11 in the previous year. The song finished in 18^th place in the final.

The following year, Denmark sent one of their most outrageous participants in DQ. The song was called Drama Queen, and boy was it dramatic! The costumes were memorable, but unfortunately the song didn’t impress Europe, finishing in 19^th place in the semi-final.

In 2008, the nation sent a more sensible entry in Simon Matthew with the song All Night Long. The song had a catchy chorus, and it was well performed on the night, and it was enough to breeze into the final. It finished in 3^rd place in the semi-final, and then in the final it ended up in 15^th place with 60 points.

In 2009, Niels Brinck was selected to represent Denmark, and he only just beat Hera Björk in the national final, although not all was lost for Hera, who went on to represent Iceland the following year. The song that Niels performed was called Believe Again, and Europe believed. The song finished in 13^th place in the final.

The following year, Chanée & N’evergreen dazzled audiences with their duet In A Moment Like This. It was one of their most popular entries in years, and it gave Denmark the best results since 2001. In the semi-final, it qualified in 5^th place, putting them in a strong position for the final, and they did not disappoint with a final result of 4^th place with 149 points.

In 2011, the band A Friend In London was selected to represent Denmark through Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, a national final tradition. The song qualified to the final in 2^nd place, and was expected to give Denmark another Top 5 result. The band did manage to crack to the top 5, finishing in 5^th place with 134 points.

The next year, Soluna Samay was chosen to represent the nation with the slower pop entry titled Should’ve Known Better. The song had a homely staging with some eclectic costumes, but didn’t quite reach the heights of the songs before. The song scraped through to the final in 9^th place, and then in the final, finished in 23^rd with 21 points.

2013 was the lucky year for Denmark as they took out their 3^rd Eurovision win. The singer was Emmelie de Forest, who charmed us with her very organic song, called Only Teardrops. The combination of song, singer and stage performance was the winning combination, as she qualified in 1st position and finished in 1^st position with 281 points.

On home turf, Basim was chosen to represent the host nation with the song Cliché love song, and although cliché, it was totally catchy! The song automatically qualified to the final as Denmark was the host nation, and Basim kept Denmark in the Top 10, finishing in 9^th place with 74 points.

We finish our journey in 2015, where the boy band Anti Social Media were selected to head to Vienna to represent Denmark. Unfortunately, Europe, and now Australia didn’t quite fall in love with the boys who performed the retro style song The Way You Are. The song finished in 13^th position in the semi-final.

Now it’s your time to vote for your Best of the Bunch!