Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The country was represented by the song "Where I Am", performed by Anja Nissen and co-written by Australian songwriters Angel Tupai and Michael D'Arcy. The Danish broadcaster DR selected the entry through the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2017.
Background
Prior to the 2017 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-five times since their first entry in. Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in with the song "Dansevise" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, in with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and in with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. In the 2016 contest, "Soldiers of Love" performed by Lighthouse X failed to qualify Denmark to the final, making it the second consecutive year that Denmark missed out on qualification.The Danish national broadcaster, DR, broadcasts the event within Denmark and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. DR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 6 June 2016. Denmark has selected all of their Eurovision entries thus far through the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.
Before Eurovision
''Melodi Grand Prix 2017''
Melodi Grand Prix 2017 was the 47th edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 25 February 2017 at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, hosted by Annette Heick and Johannes Nymark.Format
Ten songs competed in the final, where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top 3 songs based on the combination of votes from a public vote and a five-member jury panel qualified to the super-final. In the super-final, the winner was determined as well by the combination of votes from the public and the jury panel. The jury panel consisted of five Danish Eurovision fans: Mogens Dalsgaard Myklebust, Mette Thorning Svendsen, Peter Hansen, Morten Kaiser, and Søren Toft.Competing entries
DR opened a submission period between 6 June 2016 and 5 September 2016 for artists and composers to submit their entries. The entertainment director for DR, Jan Lagermand Lundme, stated that the competition would seek out "good songs with a strong chorus, which have the potential to be a hit—and that can get us in the final of Eurovision." Five of the competing entries were selected by a committee of industry professionals, members of OGAE and a representative sample of television viewers. The remaining five entries were selected by music producers Cutfather and Jonas Schrøder. The broadcaster received a record breaking 1,115 entries during the submission period; the previous record was set in 2016 when the broadcaster received 982 entries. The competing artists and songs were announced in a press conference held by DR on 19 January 2017.| Artist | Song | Composer |
| Anja | "Where I Am" | Anja Nissen, Angel Tupai, Michael D'Arcy |
| Anthony | "Smoke In My Eyes" | Kim Nowak-Zorde, Kasper Larsen, Hans Petersen, Ollie Marland, Phil Plested |
| Calling Mercury | "Big Little Lies" | Thomas Sardorf, Rune Braager, Martin Luke Brown |
| Ida Una | "One" | Peter Bjørnskov, Lene Dissing |
| Jeanette Bonde | "Hurricane" | Jeanette Bonde, Alexander Grandjean, Jeppe Pilgaard Ulrichsen, Nermin Harambasic |
| Johanna Beijbom | "A.S.A.P." | Peter Wallevik, Daniel Heløy Davidsen, Patrick Devine, Dimitri Stassos, Freja Jonsson Blomberg, Christian Fast |
| René Machon | "Warriors" | Astrid Cordes, Alexander Grandjean, Hans Petersen, Lars Andersen |
| Rikke Skytte | "Color My World" | Mads Løkkegaard, Joël Pagiël MacDonald, Mohamed Alitou, Laura Kloos |
| Sada Vidoo | "Northern Lights" | Christoffer Lauridsen, Andreas Öhrn, Alessandra Günthardt |
| Thomas Ring | "Vesterbro" | Thomas Ring |
Final
The final took place on 25 February 2017. In the first round of voting the top three advanced to a super-final based on the votes of a five-member jury and a public vote. The three superfinalists were "One" performed by Ida Una, "Where I Am" performed by Anja Nissen and "A.S.A.P." performed by Johanna Beijbom. In the super-final, the winner, "Where I Am" performed by Anja Nissen, was selected by the public and jury vote.In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Danish Eurovision Song Contest 2000 winners Olsen Brothers performed as the interval act.
Promotion
Anja Nissen made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Where I Am" as the Danish Eurovision entry. On 2 April, she performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French. Between 3 and 6 April, Nissen took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where she performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue. On 8 April, Anja Nissen performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Denmark was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Originally, Denmark was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Ireland. However, following Russia's withdrawal from the contest on 13 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Denmark's performing position shifted to 8.
Semi-final
Anja Nissen took part in technical rehearsals on 2 April and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.At the end of the show, Denmark was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 101 points: 5 points from the televoting and 96 points from the juries.