Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "New Tomorrow" written by Lise Cabble and Jakob Glæsner. The song was performed by the band A Friend in London. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2011 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. Ten songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. The results of the first round were decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting while the results in the second and third round were determined solely by public televoting. "New Tomorrow" performed by A Friend in London was the winner after gaining the most public votes in the third round.
Denmark was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 18, "New Tomorrow" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Denmark placed second out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 135 points. In the final, Denmark performed in position 3 and placed fifth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 134 points.
Background
Prior to the 2011 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-nine times since its first entry in 1957. Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on two occasions: in with the song "Dansevise" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, and in with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers. In the 2010 contest, "In a Moment like This" performed by Chanée and N'evergreen qualified Denmark to the final placing fourth.
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 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 June 2010. Denmark has selected all of their Eurovision entries through the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced that Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2011 would be organised in order to select Denmark's entry for the 2011 contest.
Before Eurovision
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2011
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2011 was the 41st edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 26 February 2011 at the Ballerup Super Arena in Ballerup, hosted by Felix Smith and Lise Rønne and televised on DR1. The national final was watched by 1.661 million viewers in Denmark.
Format
Ten songs competed in one show where the winner was determined over three rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four songs based on the combination of votes from a public vote and a five-member jury panel qualified to the second round. In the second round, the four songs competed in two duels and the winner of each duel as determined exclusively by a public vote qualified to the final round. In the final round, the winner was determined again exclusively by a public vote. Viewers were able to vote via SMS.
The five-member jury panel was composed of:
Bent Fabricius-Bjerre – composer
Erann David Drori (Erann DD) – singer-songwriter
Karen Rosenberg – singer
Le Gammeltoft – radio host on DR P3
Martin Brygmann – actor and composer
Competing entries
DR opened a submission period between 4 June 2010 and 27 September 2010 for artists and composers to submit their entries. The broadcaster received 663 entries during the submission period. A selection committee selected seven songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster, while three of the participants were invited to compete based on editorial considerations: Anne Noa, Jenny Berggren and Stine Kinck. DR held a press meet and greet at the DR Byen in Copenhagen on 3 January 2011 where the competing artists and songs were announced and officially presented.
Final
The final took place on 26 February 2011. The running order was determined by DR and announced on 21 February 2011. In the first round of voting the top four advanced to the superfinal based on the votes of a five-member jury (50%) and a public vote (50%). In the second round, four songs faced off each other in two duels and a public vote selected the winners of each duel that advanced to the final round. In the final round, the winner, "New Tomorrow" performed by A Friend in London, was selected solely by a public vote.