Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

with the song "Believe Again" written by

Lars Halvor Jensen Lars Halvor Jensen (born 23 July 1973) is a Danish record producer and songwriter. He has achieved success in many genres of music, particularly pop, rock and R&B and he is the co-founder of DEEKAY Music, a production and publishing company wi ...

, Martin Michael Larsson and

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

. The song was performed by Brinck. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final ''Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009'' in order to select the Danish entry for the 2009 contest in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia. 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. "Believe Again" performed by Brinck 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 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 9, "Believe Again" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 16 May. It was later revealed that Denmark placed eighth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 69 points. In the final, Denmark performed in position 16 and placed thirteenth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 74 points.

Background

Prior to the 2009 contest, Denmark had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-seven times since its first entry in 1957. Denmark had won the contest, to this point, on two occasions: in with the song "

Dansevise "Dansevise" (; ) was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, which took place on 23 March in London. It was performed in Danish by husband and wife duo Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, representing . This was the first entry performed by ...

" performed by

Grethe Grethe is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singers and musicians *Grethe Fossli (born 1954), Norwegian politician for the Labour Party *Grethe Grünberg (born 1988), Estonian ice dancer *Greth ...

and

Jørgen Ingmann Jørgen Ingmann (born Jørgen Ingmann Pedersen; 26 April 1925 – 21 March 2015) was a Danish jazz and pop guitarist from Copenhagen. He was popular in Europe and had a wider international hit in 1961 with his version of "Apache". He and his w ...

, and in with the song "

Fly on the Wings of Love "Fly on the Wings of Love" is a song by Danish pop-rock duo Olsen Brothers, which was the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2000, performing for in English. The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following 's Serafín Zubiri with " Col ...

" performed by

Olsen Brothers Olsen Brothers ( da, Brødrene Olsen) are a Danish rock/pop music duo, formed by brothers Jørgen (born 15 March 1950) and Niels "Noller" Olsen (born 13 April 1954), both from Odense, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. They formed their f ...

. In the 2008 contest, "All Night Long" performed by

Simon Mathew Simon Mathew (born 17 May 1984) is a Danish pop singer. He is the brother of teen-pop singers Rebekka Mathew and Sabina Mathew.DR, broadcasts the event within Denmark and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. DR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest on 25 August 2008. 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 2009'' would be organised in order to select Denmark's entry for the 2009 contest.

Before Eurovision

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009

''Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009'' was the 39th edition of

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fe ...

, the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 31 January 2009 at the

MCH Messecenter Herning The MCH Messecenter Herning is an exhibition centre and entertainment complex in Herning, Denmark. The complex is the largest fair and exhibition center in Denmark– beating the Bella Center in Copenhagen. Located on , the complex hosts ma ...

Herning Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)Birthe Kjær Birthe Kjær (born 1 September 1948) is a Danish singer. She finished second at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 1980, 1986 and 1987, before winning in 1989, and went on to finish third at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne. She also fin ...

and Felix Smith and televised on

DR1 DR1 (DR Et) is the flagship television channel of the DR (broadcaster), Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a we ...

as well as streamed online at the official DR website. The national final was watched by 1.717 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 seven-member jury panel qualified to the second round. One of the jurors was a listener of

DR P4 DR P4 is the regional radio channel of Denmark's national public broadcasting corporation, DR. The 10 regional stations which make up P4 originate their own local programming and also carry jointly produced nationwide content. P4's programming is ...

who won the radio competition ''Danmarksmester''. 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 seven-member jury panel was composed of: *

Søs Fenger Charlotte Fenger (born 2 December 1961), known by the stage name Søs Fenger, is a Danish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Since the mid 1980s she has been one of the most successful names in Danish music. She has released numerous albums, bot ...

– singer-songwriter *

Bent Fabricius-Bjerre Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (7 December 1924 – 28 July 2020), better known internationally as Bent Fabric, was a Danish pianist and composer. Biography Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He started a jazz ensemble after W ...

– composer * Anna David – singer *Martin Brygmann – actor and composer *

Kjeld Tolstrup Kjeld Tolstrup (27 June 1965 – 21 March 2011) was a Danish radio DJ. Career Kjeld Tolstrup became one of the biggest names in Danish DJ circles in the 1980s performing at The Hacienda in Manchester, Ministry of Sound in London, ''Sensation'' eve ...

– DJ and radio host * Michael Hardinger – musician and songwriter * Kalle Meyer Vestergaard – member of

OGAE The (OGAE) () is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen. Four non-p ...

Denmark, winner of ''Danmarksmester''

Competing entries

DR opened a submission period between 25 August 2008 and 8 October 2008 for artists and composers to submit their entries. The broadcaster received a record breaking 684 entries during the submission period; the previous record was set in 2002 when the broadcaster received 662 entries. A selection committee selected six songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster with their artists being chosen by DR in consultation with the composers, while four of the participants were invited to compete based on editorial considerations: Jeppe, Jimmy Jørgensen,

Johnny Deluxe Johnny Deluxe is a Danish music band. Formed in London by the lead singer Noam Halby, bassist Jakob S. Glæsner and guitarist Søren Itenov in 2000, the group was later joined by Morten Lynggaard in 2002. The band took part in ''KarriereKa ...

and Marie Carmen Koppel. DR held a press meet and greet at the

DR Byen DR Byen (; literally: "the DR City") is the headquarters of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, DR, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. DR moved all employees from Radiohuset in Frederiksberg and TV-Byen in Søborg to DR Byen during 2006 and 2007. ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 9 January 2009 where the competing artists and songs were announced and officially presented. Among the artists was

Trine Jepsen Trine Randbo Jakobsen (nee Jepsen)(born 29 September 1977) is a Danish singer, actress and television presenter. Trine became known when she along with Michael Teschl won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1999 and got to represent Denmark in the Eurovisi ...

who represented

Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "This Time I Mean It" written by Ebbe Ravn. The song was performed by Trine Jepsen and Michael Teschl. The Danish broadcaster DR returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after ...

. The entries were to be released on 30 January 2009, however, a premature leak was made due to an early release of the official album by record company My Way Music. 17 legal downloads were made before the album was taken off and one of them was uploaded online via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and published as an illegal sharing file on the internet. My Way Music subsequently took legal action against the person who illegally published the sharing file.

Final

The final took place on 31 January 2009. In the first round of voting the top four advanced to the superfinal based on the votes of a seven-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, "Believe Again" performed by Brinck, was selected solely by a public vote.

Promotion

Brinck specifically promoted "Believe Again" as the Danish Eurovision entry on 18 April 2009 by taking part in promotional activities in the Netherlands where he performed during the ''Eurovision in Concert'' event which was held at the Amsterdam Marcanti venue in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Netherlands and hosted by

Marga Bult Marcha (born Margaretha Hendrika Maria Groeneveld on 2 July 1956), also known as Marga Bult, is a Dutch singer and television presenter, who has been a member of the groups Tulip, Babe and Dutch Divas and is also known for her participation in th ...

and

Maggie MacNeal Maggie MacNeal (born Sjoukje Lucie van 't Spijker; 5 May 1950) is a Dutch singer. She was a member of Mouth & MacNeal, a pop duo from the Netherlands, who are best known for their million-selling recording of " How Do You Do" in 1972, which to ...

, and appeared during the

RTL 4 RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable television channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment chan ...

programme ''Life and Cooking''.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 30 January 2009, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Denmark was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2009. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 16 March 2009 and Denmark was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and before the entry from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The two semi-finals and final were broadcast on

with commentary by Nikolaj Molbech. The Danish spokesperson, who Danish votes during the final, was Felix Smith.

Semi-final

Brinck took part in technical rehearsals on 6 and 9 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May. The Danish performance featured Brinck dressed in a white shirt and trousers with a black waistcoat and performing with three guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player. The LED screens transitioned from floodlights and green shrubbery to the words "Believe Again" in white lights at the end and the performance was finished with a pyrotechnic effect. The musicians that joined Brinck were: Anders Øhrstrøm, Claus Petersen, Oliver McEwan, Søren Andersen and Tim McEwan. At the end of the show, Denmark was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed eighth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 69 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Denmark was drawn to perform in position 15, following the entry from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and before the entry from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Brinck once again took part in dress rehearsals on 15 and 16 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Brinck performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 16 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Denmark finished in thirteenth place with 74 points.

Voting

The voting system for 2009 involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12, with the points in the final being decided by a combination of 50% national

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

and 50%

televoting Televoting, telephone voting or phone voting is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest televoting Televoting ...

. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. 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. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Denmark had placed nineteenth with the public televote and sixth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Denmark scored 40 points, while with the jury vote, Denmark scored 120 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Denmark and awarded by Denmark in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Norway in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Denmark

Points awarded by Denmark

Detailed voting results

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2009

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...