The Final that convinced me to start writing this blog - the 2013 triumph of Emmelie De Forest in Malmö with 'Only Teardrops', the song that I heard at the Danish NF that year and instantly knew it was going to win. My conviction of this likelihood was openly and aggressively shot down by contributors to one major Eurovision website so I decided to put my own thoughts online and the rest is history...
The other reason for showing this is that this was the second Danish ESC victory of the 21st Century, both occurring on Swedish soil. It's 2016 and we are going to Stockholm - would the run continue? Would having thousands of Danish fans flooding across the Øresund Bridge make the Globen seem like a home venue again and help repeat history? A brilliant song that could win a Contest, such the one above and 'Fly On The Wings Of Love' would help that plan along - would the Danish people choose wisely? After the arguments of last year, where Anne Gadegaard won the public vote but lost out due to the jury's votes:
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DR had decided to make it totally a televote decision to select the eventual winner - pros and cons for that but surely only the best song would win...wouldn't it? I watched the show to find out...
The main reason why I chose to watch the Danish NF live rather than Switzerland was that it always seemed a modern and slick show, especially last year's. Imagine my surprise when I saw the hosts:
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And the stage:
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It all looked very retro, even variety show - I'm old enough to remember enough of those sort of 'Summertime Specials' to have hoped that I had left them behind in the 1980s! The hosts looked either my age (ancient) or older and played it all for laughs...that's the UK's thing, stop copying us! This did not bode well for a nation supposedly looking for their third straight win on Swedish soil. The one thing that I did like was the intro music for each entry - the same used in Copenhagen in 2014, gave me some good memories. Would the acts this year be as entertaining and provide pleasant memories too?
David Jay - "Rays Of Sunlight"
Now this was a great start to the show, a nice tempo to the music and some decent choreography. Everyone on stage had some good threads on but the vocals were lost a bit in the music, all apart from the chorus which was quite memorable. He connected well with crowd and viewer but I felt that this had been put out first to get the crowd pumping, the viewers interested and all the sound levels / camera angles tweaked. A decent effort but not a winner. 7.0
Simone - "Heart Shaped Hole"
After the warm-up act came one of this year's big hitters, Simone - Denmark's own Sanna. Almost styled like a bride, introduced in an ice heart, I expected a powerful and emotive ballad but performed with some sadness. Simone was smiling throughout and this gave me a problem as I felt there was a disconnection between singer and lyrics. She had a superb voice and is a beautiful woman, connecting well with everyone watching but the words of the verse got a bit lost, in my opinion. The chorus was the saving grace for me but I didn't think that 'Heart Shaped Hole' deserved the hype it had gained before the NF. 7.0
Bracelet - "Breakaway"
Now this was my 'wow moment of the night - a superb performance from this band, a novel role reversal of male lead singer and female guitarists, a nice contrast between soft verse and powerful chorus, 'Breakaway' did it big time for me. This was a real crowd pleaser, there always being something new to watch on stage, even with some crowd interaction on the clapping front. This was a real surprise for me - so much better than the studio version and by far the best out of the first three acts. I thought that this could be at least in the Super Final and even be an outsider for the win. 8.5
Sophia Nohr - "Blue Horizon"
From people moving around the stage constantly to totally fixed staging, two musicians and a singer presenting their material stock still. This was very atmospheric, moody and well sung, all very pleasant. There was a nice change in mood into the chorus but the downside with this entry was the lack of emotion in the delivery of the song, whether by her voice or face. The lyrics were a bit difficult to pick up on at times and to be honest I got bored of this in the last third - this entry also made "Martin's cardinal sin" of stopping dead at the end without warning. 6.5
Veronica's Horizon - "The Wrong Kind"
With this entry we were immediately into a Euroclub tune with a great beat and rhythm and it all got the crowd up and excited. What bothered me as a 48 year old straight guy was that it seemed like a song on a teenage music show, with slightly childlike vocals, annoying chants by a girl and her crew imposing their sassy attitude on everyone watching. Which is all well and good but I felt I wasn't invited (*sob* - no, not really!), as I am sure a lot of the audience watching at home would have done, given who DR appeared to be targeting this show at - not teens, that's for sure! This would have been a great performance to get the Eurovision crowd up and moving but it wasn't for me. 6.5
Lighthouse X - "Soldiers Of Love"
That's what the world needs - a 'Man Band'! These guys appeared to be a little bit lost on this stage but they sung it all competently and earnestly. Their performance was at level 8 as they had a decent routine sorted and connected well together but their voices didn't get to that level. It was just 'nice' - no 'wow' factor, nothing to get me excited. I felt that Lighthouse X needed a leader, someone who'd take the lyrics by the scruff of the neck and belt them out. The music even got me thinking more of "Dragostea din tei" by O-Zone than what they were singing - that's never a good sign when your entry triggers better memories elsewhere! 6.0
Kristel Lisberg - "Who Needs A Heart"
This had a lot of potential to be an outsider for qualification but right from the start it was obvious that Kristel's voice could not cope with the lyrics or the key of the music. Her voice always sounded as though it was right on the edge of being out of tune and she didn't have the power in her vocals to keep my attention. The lyrics were the best bit of the entry but it was difficult to focus on those when being sung in this way. It became obvious that emotion was being pushed into this and that didn't work either - this was the least convincing performance of the evening. 5.0
Jessica - "Break It Good"
Now I love hearing steel drums, I think they are superb instruments if used in the right setting - this wasn't it! Having said that, this started off well, a nice soulful sound and a smooth groove but it was all very low key, with little going on to watch, not much emotion in her voice and the vocals were okay at best, sometimes straying into off-key. Bob Marley might have carried all this off but Jessica didn't. 5.5
Muri & Mario - "To Stjerner"
Respect due to these guys for having the guts to sing in Danish (the only ones to do so this year) but that's about it. It looked and sounded like they had won "Denmark's Got Talent" and had been given random suggestions on how to stage this, picking them all. The trapeze artists - why? Is there a link to them in the song? The guitarist walking around the crowd? The keyboard guy pretending that he was making the noises and not the black keys on his instrument? It all looked a mess, the only redeeming thing was that the singer gave it everything and emoted well to the camera. I have no idea who thought this deserved confetti either. 5.0
Anja Nissen - "Never Alone"
The other reason for showing this is that this was the second Danish ESC victory of the 21st Century, both occurring on Swedish soil. It's 2016 and we are going to Stockholm - would the run continue? Would having thousands of Danish fans flooding across the Øresund Bridge make the Globen seem like a home venue again and help repeat history? A brilliant song that could win a Contest, such the one above and 'Fly On The Wings Of Love' would help that plan along - would the Danish people choose wisely? After the arguments of last year, where Anne Gadegaard won the public vote but lost out due to the jury's votes:
The main reason why I chose to watch the Danish NF live rather than Switzerland was that it always seemed a modern and slick show, especially last year's. Imagine my surprise when I saw the hosts:
David Jay - "Rays Of Sunlight"
Now this was a great start to the show, a nice tempo to the music and some decent choreography. Everyone on stage had some good threads on but the vocals were lost a bit in the music, all apart from the chorus which was quite memorable. He connected well with crowd and viewer but I felt that this had been put out first to get the crowd pumping, the viewers interested and all the sound levels / camera angles tweaked. A decent effort but not a winner. 7.0
Simone - "Heart Shaped Hole"
After the warm-up act came one of this year's big hitters, Simone - Denmark's own Sanna. Almost styled like a bride, introduced in an ice heart, I expected a powerful and emotive ballad but performed with some sadness. Simone was smiling throughout and this gave me a problem as I felt there was a disconnection between singer and lyrics. She had a superb voice and is a beautiful woman, connecting well with everyone watching but the words of the verse got a bit lost, in my opinion. The chorus was the saving grace for me but I didn't think that 'Heart Shaped Hole' deserved the hype it had gained before the NF. 7.0
Bracelet - "Breakaway"
Now this was my 'wow moment of the night - a superb performance from this band, a novel role reversal of male lead singer and female guitarists, a nice contrast between soft verse and powerful chorus, 'Breakaway' did it big time for me. This was a real crowd pleaser, there always being something new to watch on stage, even with some crowd interaction on the clapping front. This was a real surprise for me - so much better than the studio version and by far the best out of the first three acts. I thought that this could be at least in the Super Final and even be an outsider for the win. 8.5
Sophia Nohr - "Blue Horizon"
From people moving around the stage constantly to totally fixed staging, two musicians and a singer presenting their material stock still. This was very atmospheric, moody and well sung, all very pleasant. There was a nice change in mood into the chorus but the downside with this entry was the lack of emotion in the delivery of the song, whether by her voice or face. The lyrics were a bit difficult to pick up on at times and to be honest I got bored of this in the last third - this entry also made "Martin's cardinal sin" of stopping dead at the end without warning. 6.5
Veronica's Horizon - "The Wrong Kind"
With this entry we were immediately into a Euroclub tune with a great beat and rhythm and it all got the crowd up and excited. What bothered me as a 48 year old straight guy was that it seemed like a song on a teenage music show, with slightly childlike vocals, annoying chants by a girl and her crew imposing their sassy attitude on everyone watching. Which is all well and good but I felt I wasn't invited (*sob* - no, not really!), as I am sure a lot of the audience watching at home would have done, given who DR appeared to be targeting this show at - not teens, that's for sure! This would have been a great performance to get the Eurovision crowd up and moving but it wasn't for me. 6.5
Lighthouse X - "Soldiers Of Love"
That's what the world needs - a 'Man Band'! These guys appeared to be a little bit lost on this stage but they sung it all competently and earnestly. Their performance was at level 8 as they had a decent routine sorted and connected well together but their voices didn't get to that level. It was just 'nice' - no 'wow' factor, nothing to get me excited. I felt that Lighthouse X needed a leader, someone who'd take the lyrics by the scruff of the neck and belt them out. The music even got me thinking more of "Dragostea din tei" by O-Zone than what they were singing - that's never a good sign when your entry triggers better memories elsewhere! 6.0
Kristel Lisberg - "Who Needs A Heart"
This had a lot of potential to be an outsider for qualification but right from the start it was obvious that Kristel's voice could not cope with the lyrics or the key of the music. Her voice always sounded as though it was right on the edge of being out of tune and she didn't have the power in her vocals to keep my attention. The lyrics were the best bit of the entry but it was difficult to focus on those when being sung in this way. It became obvious that emotion was being pushed into this and that didn't work either - this was the least convincing performance of the evening. 5.0
Jessica - "Break It Good"
Now I love hearing steel drums, I think they are superb instruments if used in the right setting - this wasn't it! Having said that, this started off well, a nice soulful sound and a smooth groove but it was all very low key, with little going on to watch, not much emotion in her voice and the vocals were okay at best, sometimes straying into off-key. Bob Marley might have carried all this off but Jessica didn't. 5.5
Muri & Mario - "To Stjerner"
Respect due to these guys for having the guts to sing in Danish (the only ones to do so this year) but that's about it. It looked and sounded like they had won "Denmark's Got Talent" and had been given random suggestions on how to stage this, picking them all. The trapeze artists - why? Is there a link to them in the song? The guitarist walking around the crowd? The keyboard guy pretending that he was making the noises and not the black keys on his instrument? It all looked a mess, the only redeeming thing was that the singer gave it everything and emoted well to the camera. I have no idea who thought this deserved confetti either. 5.0
Anja Nissen - "Never Alone"
Now I make no apologies that this was my favourite before the show, the one that, when I heard the studio version, I thought could not only win this but have a chance of winning Eurovision overall. And then I heard Anja sing this live - and my heart sank! Her live vocals were obviously not as strong as the studio version, going off key several times through the three minutes. The problem bits were the softer, almost spoken parts - when she was belting out the chorus, there was absolutely no problem at all. The staging was excellent however and was the only thing I could see that would get her into the Super Final, although her moving around didn't help her voice. I thought that Anja had blown her chances there and then - totally disappointing performance for a potential ESC winner. 6.5
And that was it for the ten songs - who would reach the Super Final for the public to vote through to Stockholm? My initial marks were as follows:
It shows you how poor some of the entries were that the one that I thought was merely the 'warm up' act was up in second as far as I was concerned after all had sung. Even Anja with her disastrous vocals was still fifth! In my eyes, Bracelet were far and away better than all the others but it wasn't down to me - who got into the Super Final?
To be honest, Simone had done enough to secure a Super Final place, whereas I thought that Lighthouse X were there just to make up the numbers. The shock in one way but probably not in another was Anja. She had been given a massive lifeline as her first performance was poor, to say the least. I just prayed that she could replicate the studio version vocals to go with that staging - surely that would be enough to see off the ever present Simone? I didn't even consider Lighthouse X to be a contender at this point - it looked for all the world that DR had set up a shoot-out between Simone and Anja, with the guys there to make it look less like a set-up...
Simone gave a better vocal delivery this time but she still didn't match the emotion to the lyrics of the song. It was still all rather twee but the icy heart matched the song, which made it even bizarre how Simone acted her performance. Even so, if the others performed the way they did the first time, she could still have won this. 7.5
This was a far better performance this time and the guys seemed to be warming into the part, maybe gaining some confidence that they were now in the final 3. I had to admit that it was a toe tapper and they used the stage a lot better than their first attempt - I still felt that one of them 'taking the lead' would have lifted this up into real contention. 7.0
Now this was the REAL DEAL! Anja's vocals were a massive improvement on her near disaster earlier on, the thumping beat and sing along quality now all coming together to supply what I thought would be the clear winner. The superb quirky staging was now matched by Anja's singing and the performance was absolutely amazing, flares and all. She still got a little breathless at times but everything was in tune this time and it was all an amazing show stopping end. 8.5
The artists had done their utmost to win, three to start with:
Which became two but we had a shock as to who that third place would be - SIMONE? Really? With only 22% of the vote? I know I wasn't as into 'Heart Shaped Hole' as a lot of Eurovision fans were but third behind Lighthouse X? They really couldn't believe it but as long as the other blonde bombshell won, it wouldn't really matter. It had to be my favourite, Anja Nissen, surely?
An okay man-band against that spectacle at the end, with all the bells and whistles, the beautiful singer and the amazingly catchy song? Anja and Simone were very gracious with their reactions but you could tell they were gutted with the decision. Lighthouse X, in comparison, were over the moon as not many people had tipped them to be in the Super Final, let alone win and be the Danish representative in Stockholm. A couple of last year's artists, Anti-Social Media, presented the winner's trophy to the man-band, cut knee-caps and all:
It's ironic that last year the gorgeous Anne Gadegaard, who was favourite, won the public vote and lost out by the juror's votes to Anti-Social Media, an okay young-man band, whereas this year Anja Nissen and Simone, who were the favourites, lost out on the public vote! In the space of fifteen minutes, in my opinion, Denmark went from possible winners of Eurovision 2016 (if they had gone with either of the two blondes) to potentially not even making it out of their SF in May. The only plus point I could say about Lighthouse X was that they gave the most consistent vocal and visual performance over the evening but I felt that 'Soldiers Of Love' was very bland and lightweight, the band themselves having a 'Blue-lite' persona without the passion or entertainment. Whatever I felt didn't matter however, the great Danish public had chosen and the guys got to do it all again, this time with confetti:
I suppose that I shouldn't have been surprised that Denmark didn't go with the obvious choice but I was hoping that my instincts for a winning song were right this time. Sending Anja Nissen (preferably) or Simone (as second best) would have guaranteed Denmark a place in the Final, no question, and a possible run for the title, especially with 'Never Alone' and the staging that was on show at DMGP. I think that Simone's choreography could have been improved on but she was the best vocalist on the night - another opportunity lost. Of course my real favourite of the first run was from these guys and gals:
One thing I'm starting to realise is that young acts don't go down too well in Denmark - maybe an older viewer age group on DR? If Bracelet had been the third act in the Super Final rather than Lighthouse X, I would not have had any issue if they had gone to Stockholm - lots of youthful enthusiasm, a great performance and a real crowd pleaser. But it was not to be...
Remember I posed an equation in the title of this article, right at the top? I came up with that before the NF, thinking I was being clever but now after watching the show and seeing the result, I now have an answer:
NO!