Denmark: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Preview

This weekend Denmark will select their 2021 Eurovision representative with the 51st edition of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (DGMP).

The contest will be performed without a live audience at DR Studio 5 in Copenhagen. However, an orchestra will be present. It will be the first time since 1999 that DMGP will be held in a TV studio.

The broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) has moved away from last year’s format which saw 5 automatic qualifiers plus 5 acts which were selected from a pre-qualifying final. This year the contest will see 8 songs that will compete in one final where the winner will be selected over two rounds of exclusively public voting.

The first round will see the top three songs qualify to a Superfinal. In the Superfinal, the winner will be chosen. Danish viewers can vote via SMS or by using an app which has been specifically developed for the competition.

The running order of the show on Sunday morning is as follows: 1 – Chief 1 & Buttenschøn – 'Højt over skyerne'

Songwriters: Chief 1, Thomas Buttenschøn and Nermin Harambasic

Chief 1 & Buttenschøn have had relative recent success as a duo with 'Alt er godt’ (Everything is good) in 2019. Thomas Buttenschøn is a newcomer to DMGP and will make his debut on Saturday night. He has released 6 albums in Danish and English since 2006.

Chief 1 (Lars Pedersen) on the other hand, has been successful in the competition as a songwriter. He wrote 'Stemmen i mit liv' for Kølig Kaj in 1997, 'Should've Known Better' for Soluna Samay in 2012 and most recently 'The Way You Are’ for Anti Social Media in 2015. This will be the first time that he will enter the competition as a performer.

2 – Nanna Olivia – ‘Hvileløse hjerter’

Songwriters: Anna David, Nicolai Levring & Casper Sørensen

Nanna Olivia is a 22 year old newcomer to the competition with her song ‘Hvileløse hjerter’ or ‘Restless hearts'. The Entrepreneurship and Design student has been singing since she was 3. Although Nanna writes many of her songs herself, she will debut at DMGP with an Anna David penned song. David performed ‘It hurts’ at the contest in 2014.

“Hvileløse hjerter” was also co-written Nicolai Levring and Casper Sørensen.

3 – The Cosmic Twins – ‘Silver Bullet’

Songwriters: Lise Cabble , Gisli Gislason, Rasmus Duelund and August Emil

The big name in this production is Lise Cabble, one of the songwriters for Emmerlie de Forest’s 2013 Eurovision Song Contest winning song ‘Only Teadrops’. Cabble is the undisputed queen of DMGP, writing three other Dansk Melodi Grand Prix winning songs including Leonora’s 2019 Eurovision entry. Another of the songwriters, Gisli Gislason co-wrote Benjamin Kissi’s 2020 DMGP song “Faith”

The Cosmic Twins are Chris and Alec Andreev. They are of Bulgarian and American heritage and chose their professional name after a painting that their father painted of them when they were babies. They were inspired to take up music after playing Guitar Hero when they were 12 years old.

The Andreev twins have been performing since 2018. They are a popular live act in Denmark and have released an EP and a few singles.

4 – Claudia Campagnol – ‘Abracadabra’ Songwriters: Melanie Wehbe , Emil Adler Lei and Louis Jarto

With two musical professional parents, Hungarian born and Swedish raised Claudia Campagnol is well known in Denmark’s jazz scene. However, this is her first foray into Dansk Melody Grand Prix. 34 year old, Campagnol began playing the piano at age 4 and wrote her first song at 12. She has performed in a gospel choir and was nominated for two Danish Music Awards as recently as 2019.

‘Abracadabra’ was co-written by two of the songwriters of Leonora’s 2019 winning song ‘Love if Forever’- Melanie Wehbe and Emil Adler Lei. Lei is going for his third win in a row, also writing last year’s winning song ‘Yes’ for Ben & Tan.

Wehbe was also successful as a co-writer for The Mamas’ Melodifestivalen winning song ‘Move’ in 2020.

5 – Mike Tramp – ‘Everything Is Alright’

Songwriter: Mike Tramp

Mike Tramp is a Danish music legend!

60 year old Michael Trempenau has done almost everything in music. He has sung in a children’s choir, been a teen idol and succeeded as a rock star. He is also a past Eurovision contestant when he sang lead vocals with his group Mabel and the song ‘Boom Boom’, the Scandinavian nation returning to the contest after a 12 year hiatus. The song finished in 13th place out of 16 songs.

Tramp has had a career spanning of 40 years, 26 of those as a solo artist releasing 12 albums. Last year he released his greatest hits collection, titled- ‘Trampthology’. He had also fronted the bands, White Lion and Freak Of Nature.

There is an Aussie connection associated with Tramp. Tramp’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his son Dylan, Fleur Thiemeyer who is an Australian costume designer and has worked with many stars from the 1960s and 1970s including Leif Garrett, Peter Frampton, Andy Gibb, Bon Scott, Zoot and Russell Morris. She was also Daryl Cotton’s first wife and is a good friend of UK’s 1974 Eurovision contestant and Australian music legend, Olivia Newton John.

Want another Fleur Thiemeyer connection? Well, if you are familiar with The Easybeats. You may know the song ‘Sorry’. Fleur Thiemeyer is the “Fleur” mentioned in the song.

Tramp’s self-penned song ‘Everything Is Alright’ was not initially intended for Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. He has entered the competition for his fans, many of whom are internationally based. He still performs ‘Boom Boom’ to this day.

6 – Fyr & Flamme – 'Øve os på hinanden'

Songwriter: Laurits Emanuel

This 1980s inspired dance anthem is the favourite to take out the competition.

Fyr & Flamme are a duo made up of one of The Grenadines lead singers, Laurits Emanuel and actor Jesper Groth who has starred in television shows such as ‘Sygeplejeskolen’ (Nursing school) and ‘Stormester’ (Grandmaster).

They describe themselves as “Teenage idols your parents can understand“. Hence the style of their music. The duo have had previous success in the domestic market with their hits 'Human Consumer' and 'Chameleon'.

7 – Emma Nicoline – ‘Står lige her’ Songwriters: Jeppe Pilgaard, Jacob Jørgensen, Emma Nicoline Winther Nielsen, Adam Kalwa and Patricia Namakula Mbabazi

‘Står lige her’ was the favourite amongst the Aussievision contributors.

Århus native and self-confessed 1980s music fan, Emma Nicoline Winther Nielsen is a novice in the Danish music industry. Her appearance in DMGP on Saturday will be her first television appearance.

The 24 year old has co-written ‘Står lige her’ which is her debut single with Jeppe Pilgaard and Jacob Jørgensen who have had experience in writing for DMGP. Adam Kalwa and Patricia Namakula Mbabazi are the other writers.

Emma Nicoline writes her songs based on personal experiences. One of her musical influences is Prince.

8 – Jean Michel – ‘Beautiful’ Songwriters: Clara Sofie Fabricius, Johannes Nymark , Jesper Hjersing Sidelmann and Andreas Jensen

33 year old musical theatre star, Jean Michel participated in Danish X-Factor in 2012. He had entered the competition as part of a duo but they withdrew during the quarter final stage due to personal reasons. They finished in 5th place. One of the songwriters should be well known to Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision fans. Johannes Nymark was a member of Lighthouse X who represented Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016. He has also hosted DMGP from 2017-19. This year will be his debut as a songwriter.

Clara Sofie Fabricius is another of the songwriters who has had previous experience at DMGP. This will be her third foray into the competition, her most recent entry was ‘Kiss like this’ which she wrote for Jasmin Gabay.

This year’s contest will be hosted by veteran television presenter Tina Müller and newcomer, Martin Brygmman. Brygmman is better known as an actor, comedian and musician.

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix will be broadcast on Saturday 06 March at 20.00 on DR1 and DRTV or in the morning of Sunday 07 March for Australian viewers.

• 20:00pm CET (Europe)
  

• 06:00am AEDT (NSW, VIC, ACT, TAS)
  

• 05:30am (SA)
  

• 05:00am (QLD)
  

• 04:30am (NT)
  

• 03:00am (WA)

Watch it via: https://www.dr.dk/drtv/kanal/dr1_20875