Say YES to Denmark’s Ben & Tan
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix the national final moved back to Copenhagen for the first time since 2008 in, what was planned to be, one almighty celebration. But sadly, in what may prove to be some ominous foreshadowing, the Danish Eurovision selection took place in an empty arena.
Two days prior to the event it was announced that, due to the continued spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19, the arena would remain empty of joyous fans. Broadcaster DR is on record as being “annoyed” that the event could not have taken place with a smaller audience (of less than 1000) forcing the team to rejig all of the camera work to remove any audience or crowd shots.
So, 10 songs went to battle in an empty arena on Saturday March 7, 2020.
But for 5 artists their path to the final was not so straightforward with a pre-qualification element introduced into the mix this year. It was announced that, during the month of January, 9 songs would be divided into 3 territories where one song from each group would advance to the final. The songs were then released exclusively on Danish radio with the Danish general public asked to select their favourites. Artists Kenny Duerlund, Ben & Tan and Sander Sanchez were elevated to the final by the public vote with Jamie Talbot and Emil being awarded wildcards into the main event.
District Group South
· Jamie Talbot – “Bye Bye Heaven (wildcard)
· Kenny Duerlund – “Forget It All” (winner)
· Nick Jones – “2AM”
District Group East
· SamSara – “For You”
· BEN & TAN – “YES” (winner)
· Søren Okholm – “Impossible Dreamers”
District Group North
· Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig” (wildcard)
· Mielou – “We Could Be So Beautiful”
· Sander Sanchez – “SCREENS” (winner)
Once the final line-up was announced the chatter amongst “those in the know” was that the final would most likely be a two-horse race between the upbeat folksie love ditty from Ben & Tan and the ethno-ethereal bop of “Human” by Jasmin Rose featuring RoxorLoops. And with Ben & Tan performing early and Jasmine Rose to sing last it appeared that the script was written.
But, as we all know, things rarely play to script.
Final Line-up
1. Isam B – “Bølger”
2. Ben & Tan – “Yes”
3. Maja & De Sarte Sjæle – “Den eneste goth i Vejle”
4. Benjamin Kissi – “Faith”
5. Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”
6. Sys Bjerre – “Honestly”
7. Jamie Talbot – “Bye Bye Heaven”
8. Sander Sanchez – “Screens”
9. Kenny Duerlund – “Forget It All”
10. Jasmin Rose feat. RoxorLoops – “Human”
After the 10 songs performed 3 songs would advance to the “super final” where the general public would ultimately decide which song they wanted to send to Rotterdam in May. And sadly, for Jasmin Rose featuring RoxorLoops their effort fell at the first hurdle and failed to make the super final. And most interestingly, all 3 songs that progressed came from the pre-selection competition.
The Super-Finalists
Sander Sanchez – “Screens”
Ben & Tan – “Yes”
Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”
Thankfully, the final 3 songs differed wildly in styles making the final choice by the Danish general public an interesting one. Arguably Sander Sanchez’s “Screens” was the most accessible, radio-friendly and contemporary effort with the folksie, undeniably ear-worming “Yes” from Ben & Tan being the most crowd pleasing. But without a crowd would this work against the cute duo? And finally, Emil’s place in the super final was the most surprising as he’d required a wildcard from the pre-selection competition but his gentle ballad worked a little magic and he slipped through to the last stage of the competition.
Check out the super-finalists here…
Emil - “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”
In the end Denmark said YES to Ben & Tan who scored a whopping 61% of the vote from the super final and won the chance to represent Denmark at Eurovision in Rotterdam in May. The race for second and third was a lot tighter with Sander Sanchez scoring 20% of the vote and Emil 19%.