Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Love Is Forever" written by Lise Cabble, Melanie Wehbe and Emil Lei. The song was performed by Leonora. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Love Is Forever" performed by Leonora was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.
Denmark was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 16 May 2019. Performing during the show in position 7, "Love Is Forever" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Denmark placed tenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 94 points. In the final, Denmark performed in position 6 and placed twelfth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 120 points.
Background
Prior to the 2019 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-seven times since their first entry in . Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in with the song "" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, and twice in Sweden: in with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and again in with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. In the 2018 contest, "Higher Ground" performed by Rasmussen qualified Denmark to the final placing ninth.
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 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 10 August 2018. Denmark has selected all of their Eurovision entries thus far through the national final . On 22 August 2018, the broadcaster announced that would be organised in order to select Denmark's entry for the 2019 contest.
Before Eurovision
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019
2019 was the 49th edition of , the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 23 February 2019 at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, hosted by Johannes Nymark and Kristian Gintberg and televised on DR1 as well as streamed online at DR TV. The show was also televised in Greenland on KNR1 as well as streamed online at KNR TV. The national final was watched by 1.324 million viewers in Denmark.
Format
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 tem-member jury panel qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, the winner was determined by the public and jury vote. Viewers in Denmark and Greenland 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 ten-member jury panel was composed of ten Danish Eurovision fans: Peter Bach, Clara Amalie Singerholm Christiansen, Benjamin Holstebroe, Jonas Jacobsen, Christina Janus, Kristina Møller Karlsen, Annette Kjungberg Kjeldsen, Mila Kovalj, Jonas Leth-Jensen and Ole Tøpholm.
Competing entries
DR opened a submission period on 22 August 2018 for artists and composers to submit their entries. Entries could be submitted throughout the year, however only songs submitted by 26 September 2018 were considered for the 2019 edition of the competition. The entertainment director for DR, Jan Lagermand Lundme, stated that the competition would seek out "high quality songs that have a strong chorus" with emphasis on songs that stand out to viewers. The broadcaster received 800 entries during the submission period. 30 songs were shortlisted from the entries submitted to the broadcaster and a selection committee of OGAE Denmark members, Eurovision viewers and industry professionals selected ten songs. DR held a press meet and greet at the Koncerthuset in Copenhagen on 31 January 2019 where the competing artists and songs were announced and officially presented.