Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster DR since 1957, which determines for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and fourteen top-five placings.
History
With the introduction of a semi-final at the 2004 contest, and due to Denmark's absence from the 2003 contest, Denmark's 2004 representative, Tomas Thordarson, had to take part in the semi-final. His song, "Shame on You" did not reach the final, finishing 13th in a field of 22 contestants.
In 2005, DR made a bold step for Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Artists were allowed, for the first time ever, to sing in a language other than Danish. Many of the entries that year were sung in English; however, against the odds, the winning song was sung in Danish. Jakob Sveistrup won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with his song "Tænder på dig". It was later re-written for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 to English as "Talking to You". Unlike the year before, Denmark secured a place in the final, finishing third in the semifinal. In the final he came 9th, guaranteeing Denmark a place in the final of the 2006 contest. A year later, Sidsel Ben Semmane sang "Twist of Love" in the final, but managed to finish 18th of 24 songs.
In 2007, after many poor results, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix adopted a semi-final format that had served well for the Swedish preselection, Melodifestivalen. Two semi-finals with 8 songs each were introduced, with the top 4 songs qualifying for the final. The 4 losing songs of each semi-final then took part in one of two wildcard rounds where the listeners of Danish radio stations P3 and P4 chose another two finalists. The winner under this new format, DQ with the song "Drama Queen" (a wildcard entrant), finished 18th in the semifinal, failing to qualify Denmark for the final again.
DR continued to use this format in the 2008 edition which was won by Simon Mathew and the song "All Night Long". At the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, Denmark as in 2005, finished 3rd in the semifinals, qualifying for the grand final. In the final, Mathew got 60 points, finishing 15th in a field of 25 songs.
For the 2009 of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, DR reverted to their one-night final, that was held on 31 January 2009. The final of 10 songs consisted of 6 songs from an open call of songs from the public, with 4 songs being invited by DR to compete.
Winners Almost all winners of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix have gone on to represent Denmark at Eurovision, with two exceptions: the 1996 winner, "Kun med dig" by and , which failed to qualify from the Eurovision pre-selection, and the 2020 winner, "Yes" by Ben and Tan, which was slated to be the country's entry before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Denmark has won Eurovision three times: in 1963, 2000 and 2013.
+Table keyWinnerSecond placeThird placeLast placeEntry selected but did not competeUpcoming
+ Year Host city and venue Date Song Artist Songwriter(s) Eurovisionplacing 1957 Copenhagen (Radiohuset) 17 February "Skibet skal sejle i nat" Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler Erik Fiehn, Poul Sørensen 3 1958 Copenhagen (Radiohuset) 16 February "Jeg rev et blad ud af min dagbog" Raquel Rastenni Sven Ulrik, Harry Jensen 8 1959 Copenhagen (Radiohuset) 11 February "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" Birthe Wilke Otto Lington, Carl Andersen 5 1960 Copenhagen (Radiohuset) 4 March "Det var en yndig tid" Katy Bødtger Vilfred Kjær, Sven Buemann 10 1961 Fredericia () 19 February "Angelique" Dario Campeotto Aksel V. Rasmussen 5 1962 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 9 February "Vuggevise" Ellen Winther Kjeld Bonfils, Sejr Volmer-Sørensen 10 1963 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 24 February "Dansevise" Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann Otto Francker, Sejr Volmer-Sørensen 1 1964 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 15 February "Sangen om dig" Bjørn Tidmand Aksel V. Rasmussen, Mogens Dam 9 1965 Copenhagen (Radiohuset)(internal selection) 18 February "For din skyld" Birgit Brüel Jørgen Jersild, Poul Henningsen 7 1966 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 6 February "Stop - mens legen er go'" Ulla Pia Erik Kåre 14 1978 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 25 February "Boom Boom" Mabel Peter Nielsen, Andy Kulmbak, Michael Trempenau, Christian Have 16 1979 Søborg (TV-Byen) 3 February "Disco Tango" Tommy Seebach Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick 6 1980 Copenhagen (Falkoner Center) 29 March "Tænker altid på dig" Bamses Venner Bjarne Gren Jensen, Flemming Jørgensen 14 1981 Copenhagen (Valencia) 28 February "Krøller eller ej" Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick 11 1982 Søborg (TV-Byen) 13 March "Video, Video" Brixx Jens Brixtofte 17 1983 Søborg (TV-Byen) 5 March "Kloden drejer" Gry Johansen Flemming Gernyx, Lars Christensen, Christian Jacobsen, Billy Cross 17 1984 Søborg (TV-Byen) 18 February "Det' lige det" Kirsten and Søren Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick 4 1985 Lyngby (ASA Filmudlejning) 9 March "Sku' du spørg' fra no'en?" Kirsten and Søren Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick 11 1986 Søborg (TV-Byen) 22 February "Du er fuld af løgn" Lise Haavik John Hatting 6 1987 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 28 February "En lille melodi" Anne-Cathrine Herdorf Helge Engelbrecht, Jacob Jonia 5 1988 Søborg (TV-Byen) 27 February "Ka' du se hva' jeg sa'?" Kirsten and Søren Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick 3 1989 Copenhagen (Bella Center) 25 March "Vi maler byen rød" Birthe Kjær Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick 3 1990 Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) 24 March "Hallo Hallo" Lonnie Devantier John Hatting, Torben Lendager, Keld Heick 8 1991 Aarhus (Musikhuset) 16 March "Lige der hvor hjertet slår" Anders Frandsen Michael Elo 19 1992 Aalborg (Aalborghallen) 29 February "Alt det som ingen ser" Kenny Lübcke and Lotte Nilsson Carsten Warming 12 1993 Odense () 3 April "Under stjernerne på himlen" Tommy Seebach Band Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick 22 1995 Søborg (TV-Byen) 25 March "Fra Mols til Skagen" Aud Wilken Lise Cabble, Mette Mathiesen 5 1996 Søborg (TV-Byen) 9 March "Kun med dig" Dorte Andersen and Martin Loft Jascha Richter, Keld Heick X 1997 Søborg (TV-Byen) 1 March "Stemmen i mit liv" Kølig Kaj Lars Pedersen, Thomas Lægård 16 1999 Søborg (TV-Byen) 13 March "Denne gang" Michael Teschl and Trine Jepsen Ebbe Ravn 8 2000 Copenhagen (Cirkusbygningen) 19 February "Smuk som et stjerneskud" Olsen Brothers Jørgen Olsen 1 2001 Herning (Messecenter Herning) 17 February "Der står et billede af dig på mit bord" Rollo and King Søren Poppe, Thomas Brekling, Stefan Teilmann Laub Nielsen 2 2002 Copenhagen (Cirkusbygningen) 9 February "Vis mig hvem du er" Malene Mortensen Michael Ronson 24 ◁ 2004 Aarhus (Atletion) 7 February "Sig det' løgn" Tomas Thordarson Ivar Lind Greiner, Iben Plesner 2005 Horsens (Forum Horsens) 12 February "Tænder på dig" Jakob Sveistrup Andreas Mørck, Jacob Launbjerg 9 2006 Aalborg (Gigantium) 11 February "Twist of Love" Sidsel Ben Semmane Niels Drevsholt 18 2007 Holstebro (Musikteatret; semi-final 1)Aalborg (Aalborghallen; semi-final 2)Horsens (Forum Horsens; final) 10 February "Drama Queen" DQ Simon Munk, Peter Andersen, Claus Christensen 2008 Copenhagen (DR Byen; semi-finals)Horsens (Forum Horsens; final) 2 February "All Night Long" Simon Mathew Jacob Launbjerg, Svend Gudiksen, Nis Bøgvad 15 2009 Herning (Messecenter Herning) 31 January "Believe Again" Niels Brinck Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Møller Larsson, Ronan Keating 13 2010 Aalborg (Gigantium) 6 February "In a Moment Like This" Chanée and N'evergreen Thomas G:son, Henrik Sethsson, Erik Bernholmis 4 2011 Ballerup (Ballerup Super Arena) 26 February "New Tomorrow" A Friend in London Lise Cabble, Jakob Glæsner 5 2012 Aalborg (Gigantium) 21 January "Should've Known Better" Soluna Samay Remee, Chief 1, Amir Sulaiman, Isam Bachiri 23 2013 Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) 26 January "Only Teardrops" Emmelie de Forest Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, Thomas Stengaard 1 2014 Odense (Arena Fyn) 8 March "Cliché Love Song" Basim Lasse Lindorff, Kim Nowak-Zorde, Daniel Fält 9 2015 Aalborg (Gigantium) 7 February "The Way You Are" Anti Social Media Remee S. Jackman, Chief 1 2016 Horsens (Forum Horsens) 13 February "Soldiers of Love" Lighthouse X Sebastian F. Ovens, Daniel Lund Jørgensen, Katrine Klith Andersen, Søren Bregendal, Johannes Nymark, Martin Skriver 2017 Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) 25 February "Where I Am" Anja Nissen Anja Nissen, Angel Tupai, Michael D'Arcy 20 2018 Aalborg (Gigantium) 10 February "Higher Ground" Rasmussen Niclas Arn, Karl Eurén 9 2019 Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) 23 February "Love Is Forever" Leonora Lise Cabble, Melanie Wehbe, Emil Lei 12 2020 Copenhagen (Royal Arena) 7 March "Yes" Ben and Tan Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, Linnea Deb X 2021 Copenhagen (DR Byen) 6 March "Øve os på hinanden" Fyr og Flamme Laurits Emanuel 2022 Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) 5 March "The Show" Reddi Chief 1, Ihan Haydar, Julia Fabrin, Remee Jackman, Siggy Savery 2023 Næstved (Næstved Arena) 11 February "Breaking My Heart" Reiley Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Hilda Stenmalm, Rani Petersen, Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet 2024 Copenhagen (DR Koncerthuset) 17 February "Sand" Saba Jonas Thander, Melanie Wehbe, Pil Jeppesen 2025 Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) 1 March "Hallucination" Sissal Linnea Deb, Melanie Wehbe, Malthe Johansen, Sissal Jóhanna Norðberg Niclasen, Chris Rohde-Frisk, Lina Spangsberg, Marcus Winther-John 232026 Frederikshavn () 14 February "Før vi går hjem" Søren Torpegaard Lund Clara Sofie Fabricius, Søren Torpegaard Lund, Thomas Meilstrup, Valdemar Littauer Bendixen 72027 Kolding (Sydbank Arena) 13 February TBA
Albums Main album series YearAlbumPeak positionsWeeks at #1Certification DEN2015Melodi Grand Prix 20157N/A
Children's MGP album series YearAlbumPeak positionsWeeks at #1Certification DEN2001MGP 2001132002MGP 2002172003MGP 2003142004MGP 2004132005MGP 2005132006MGP 2006122007MGP 2007142008MGP 2008: Det er bare noget, vi leger!132009MGP 2009122011MGP 2011152012MGP 2012162013MGP 2013142014MGP 2014182015MGP 2015162016MGP 2016122017MGP 20172—2018MGP 2018122019MGP 2019112020MGP 20202—2021MGP 2021132022MGP 2022112023MGP 20233—2024MGP 2024132025MGP 2025142026MGP 202611
De vindere series YearAlbumPeak positions DEN2004MGP 2004 – De 3 vindere112005MGP 2005 – De 3 vindere122006MGP 2006 – De 3 vindere112007MGP 2006 – De 3 vindere242008MGP 2008 – Vinderne33
Others YearAlbumPeak positions DEN2014MGP Jul7
See also Dansk Melodi Grand Prix winners Melodifestivalen Melodi Grand Prix Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest MGP Junior (Denmark)
Notes and references Notes
References
External links
DR: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix The Eurovision Song Contest National Finals Homepage