Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2018 was the 48th edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 10 February 2018 at the Gigantium in Aalborg, hosted by Annette Heick and Johannes Nymark.[3] The show was televised on DR1 as well as streamed online at the official DR website.

Ten songs competed in one show where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three songs based on the combination of votes from a public vote and a five-member jury panel qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, the winner was determined by the public and jury vote.[4] Viewers were able to vote via SMS or a mobile application specifically designed for the competition. Viewers using the app to cast a vote were provided with one free vote. The five-member jury panel was composed of five Danish Eurovision fans: Julie Lund Mikkelsen, Jens Erik Møller, Morten Madsen, Christian Kaad and Anna Bennike.[5]

DR opened a submission period on 4 July 2017 for artists and composers to submit their entries. Entries submitted before 15 September 2017 were considered for the 2018 competition.[2] A selection committee selected ten songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster and the competing artists and songs were officially presented on 22 January 2018 during a press conference.[6]

The final took place on 10 February 2018. In the first round of voting the top three advanced to a superfinal based on the votes of a five-member jury (50%) and a public vote (50%). The three superfinalists were "Starlight" performed by Anna Ritsmar, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen and "Music for the Road" performed by Albin Fredy. In the superfinal, the winner, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen, was selected by the public and jury vote.[7][8]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Austrian Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst performed as the interval act.[9]

Prior to their first live performance, the Danish delegation were one of a handful of countries necessitating technical assistance following tech rehearsals. They complained that the snow provided by the Portuguese broadcaster was too light and fluffy for the song, asking for a harsher snowfall in the actual performance. This request was granted. Denmark performed fifth in the second semi-final, following San Marino and preceding Russia. At the end of the night, Denmark was announced as one of the ten countries that qualified for the grand final, allowing them to appear in the final two years in a row for the first time since 2014. Following the semi-final, Rasmussen participated in a draw with the other qualifiers to determine which half of the final he would perform in. Ultimately, Denmark was drawn to perform in the second half of the final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed fifth in semi-final 2 - although they only placed 12th in the jury vote, they won the televote, the first time Denmark has won the televote of their semi-final since 2013.

Denmark performed fifteenth in the grand final, following the Czech Republic and preceding Australia. As with their semi, they received a poor score from the international juries, finishing in twentieth place with 38 points (although they did receive full marks from the Hungarian jury). However, they turned it around by coming fifth with the televote, adding 188 points to their score and allowing them to finish in ninth place with 226 points. This marked Denmark's first appearance in the top ten since their hosting in 2014, where Basim's "Cliche Love Song" also finished in ninth place.

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

The following five members comprised the Danish jury:[12]

• Brian Risberg Clausen (Bryan Rice) – Chairperson – singer
• Søs Fenger – singer and songwriter
• Emmelie de Forest – singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013
• Linda Andreasen (Linda Andrews) – singer and songwriter
• Lasse Olsen Meling (Lasse Meling) – singer and songwriter

Split voting results from Denmark (Semi-final 2)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		B. Rice	S. Fenger	E. de Forest	L. Andrews	L. Meling	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Norway	7	12	6	3	3	5	6	1	12
02	Romania	13	8	13	13	12	14		14
03	Serbia	16	7	11	5	13	10	1	12
04	San Marino	17	17	8	17	11	16		13
05	Denmark
06	Russia	14	10	17	4	14	11		15
07	Moldova	9	15	4	7	10	9	2	5	6
08	Netherlands	5	14	3	6	4	6	5	4	7
09	Australia	3	2	1	1	1	1	12	3	8
10	Georgia	12	9	15	12	17	15		16
11	Poland	10	13	14	15	5	12		7	4
12	Malta	2	6	5	8	7	3	8	10	1
13	Hungary	15	11	9	16	6	13		11
14	Latvia	6	5	7	9	2	4	7	9	2
15	Sweden	1	3	2	2	8	2	10	2	10
16	Montenegro	11	16	16	11	16	17		17
17	Slovenia	4	4	10	10	9	7	4	8	3
18	Ukraine	8	1	12	14	15	8	3	6	5

Split voting results from Denmark (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		B. Rice	S. Fenger	E. de Forest	L. Andrews	L. Meling	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Ukraine	11	12	25	23	19	19		18
02	Spain	4	4	21	5	5	5	6	20
03	Slovenia	9	8	23	22	25	16		21
04	Lithuania	8	20	10	15	23	15		16
05	Austria	6	9	2	3	9	3	8	2	10
06	Estonia	10	1	17	7	4	4	7	12
07	Norway	24	21	9	17	15	18		3	8
08	Portugal	20	13	16	20	22	23		25
09	United Kingdom	15	15	6	21	18	14		8	3
10	Serbia	23	11	19	8	6	12		23
11	Germany	3	7	1	1	3	1	12	1	12
12	Albania	22	23	15	25	20	24		24
13	France	17	6	5	6	24	9	2	13
14	Czech Republic	7	24	11	11	16	13		5	6
15	Denmark
16	Australia	1	3	3	10	1	2	10	9	2
17	Finland	12	25	13	19	17	20		15
18	Bulgaria	18	17	18	9	2	10	1	22
19	Moldova	21	22	22	18	21	25		14
20	Sweden	5	10	8	2	10	7	4	4	7
21	Hungary	25	14	20	24	12	22		19
22	Israel	13	2	4	16	13	8	3	11
23	Netherlands	19	19	12	13	11	17		6	5
24	Ireland	14	16	14	4	8	11		7	4
25	Cyprus	2	5	7	12	7	6	5	10	1
26	Italy	16	18	24	14	14	21		17