# Dansk Melodi Grand Prix

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (pronounced), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster DR since 1957, which determines its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and fourteen top-five placings.

## History

With the introduction of a semi-final at the 2004 contest, and due to Denmark's absence from the 2003 contest, Denmark's 2004 representative, Tomas Thordarson, had to take part in the semi-final. His song, "Shame on You" did not reach the final, finishing 13th in a field of 22 contestants.
In 2005, DR made a bold step for Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Artists were allowed, for the first time ever, to sing in a language other than Danish. Many of the entries that year were sung in English; however, against the odds, the winning song was sung in Danish. Jakob Sveistrup won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with his song "Tænder på dig". It was later re-written for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 to English as "Talking to You". Unlike the year before, Denmark secured a place in the final, finishing third in the semifinal. In the final he came 9th, guaranteeing Denmark a place in the final of the 2006 contest. A year later, Sidsel Ben Semmane sang "Twist of Love" in the final, but managed to finish 18th of 24 songs.
In 2007, after many poor results, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix adopted a semi-final format that had served well for the Swedish preselection, Melodifestivalen. Two semi-finals with 8 songs each were introduced, with the top 4 songs qualifying for the final. The 4 losing songs of each semi-final then took part in one of two wildcard rounds where the listeners of Danish radio stations P3 and P4 chose another two finalists. The winner under this new format, DQ with the song "Drama Queen" (a wildcard entrant), finished 18th in the semifinal, failing to qualify Denmark for the final again.
DR continued to use this format in the 2008 edition which was won by Simon Mathew and the song "All Night Long". At the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, Denmark as in 2005, finished 3rd in the semifinals, qualifying for the grand final. In the final, Mathew got 60 points, finishing 15th in a field of 25 songs.
For the 2009 of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, DR reverted to their one-night final, that was held on 31 January 2009. The final of 10 songs consisted of 6 songs from an open call of songs from the public, with 4 songs being invited by DR to compete.

## Winners

Almost all winners of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix have gone on to represent Denmark at Eurovision. Only two winning entries did not represent Denmark at Eurovision: the 1996 winner, "Kun med dig" by Dorte Andersen [dk] and Martin Loft [dk], which failed to qualify for the final from the pre-selection, and the 2020 winner, "Yes" by Ben and Tan, which was slated to be the country's entry before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Denmark has won Eurovision three times: in 1963, 2000 and 2013.
Table key :
| 1 | Winner |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| † | Upcoming |
| Year | Host city and venue | Date | Song | Artist | Songwriter(s) | Eurovision placing |
| 1957 | Copenhagen (Radiohuset) | 17 February | "Skibet skal sejle i nat" | Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler | Erik Fiehn, Poul Sørensen | 3 |
| 1958 | Copenhagen (Radiohuset) | 16 February | "Jeg rev et blad ud af min dagbog" | Raquel Rastenni | Sven Ulrik, Harry Jensen | 8 |
| 1959 | Copenhagen (Radiohuset) | 11 February | "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" | Birthe Wilke | Otto Lington, Carl Andersen | 5 |
| 1960 | Copenhagen (Radiohuset) | 4 March | "Det var en yndig tid" | Katy Bødtger | Vilfred Kjær, Sven Buemann | 10 |
| 1961 | Fredericia (Fredericia Teater) | 19 February | "Angelique" | Dario Campeotto | Aksel V. Rasmussen | 5 |
| 1962 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 9 February | "Vuggevise" | Ellen Winther | Kjeld Bonfils, Sejr Volmer-Sørensen | 10 |
| 1963 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 24 February | "Dansevise" | Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann | Otto Francker, Sejr Volmer-Sørensen | 1 |
| 1964 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 15 February | "Sangen om dig" | Bjørn Tidmand | Aksel V. Rasmussen, Mogens Dam | 9 |
| 1965 | Copenhagen (Radiohuset) (internal selection) | 18 February | "For din skyld" | Birgit Brüel | Jørgen Jersild, Poul Henningsen | 7 |
| 1966 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 6 February | "Stop - mens legen er go'" | Ulla Pia | Erik Kåre | 14 |
| 1978 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 25 February | "Boom Boom" | Mabel | Peter Nielsen, Andy Kulmbak, Michael Trempenau, Christian Have | 16 |
| 1979 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 3 February | "Disco Tango" | Tommy Seebach | Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick | 6 |
| 1980 | Copenhagen (Falkoner Center) | 29 March | "Tænker altid på dig" | Bamses Venner | Bjarne Gren Jensen, Flemming Jørgensen | 14 |
| 1981 | Copenhagen (Valencia) | 28 February | "Krøller eller ej" | Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron | Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick | 11 |
| 1982 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 13 March | "Video, Video" | Brixx | Jens Brixtofte | 17 |
| 1983 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 5 March | "Kloden drejer" | Gry Johansen | Flemming Gernyx, Lars Christensen, Christian Jacobsen, Billy Cross | 17 |
| 1984 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 18 February | "Det' lige det" | Kirsten and Søren | Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick | 4 |
| 1985 | Lyngby (ASA Filmudlejning) | 9 March | "Sku' du spørg' fra no'en?" | Kirsten and Søren | Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick | 11 |
| 1986 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 22 February | "Du er fuld af løgn" | Lise Haavik | John Hatting | 6 |
| 1987 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 28 February | "En lille melodi" | Anne-Cathrine Herdorf | Helge Engelbrecht, Jacob Jonia | 5 |
| 1988 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 27 February | "Ka' du se hva' jeg sa'?" | Kirsten and Søren | Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick | 3 |
| 1989 | Copenhagen (Bella Center) | 25 March | "Vi maler byen rød" | Birthe Kjær | Søren Bundgaard, Keld Heick | 3 |
| 1990 | Copenhagen (Tivolis Koncertsal) | 24 March | "Hallo Hallo" | Lonnie Devantier | John Hatting, Torben Lendager, Keld Heick | 8 |
| 1991 | Aarhus (Musikhuset) | 16 March | "Lige der hvor hjertet slår" | Anders Frandsen | Michael Elo | 19 |
| 1992 | Aalborg (Aalborghallen) | 29 February | "Alt det som ingen ser" | Kenny Lübcke and Lotte Nilsson | Carsten Warming | 12 |
| 1993 | Odense (Odense Kongrescenter) | 3 April | "Under stjernerne på himlen" | Tommy Seebach Band | Tommy Seebach, Keld Heick | 22 |
| 1995 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 25 March | "Fra Mols til Skagen" | Aud Wilken | Lise Cabble, Mette Mathiesen | 5 |
| 1996 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 9 March | "Kun med dig" | Dorte Andersen and Martin Loft | Jascha Richter, Keld Heick | DNQ X |
| 1997 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 1 March | "Stemmen i mit liv" | Kølig Kaj | Lars Pedersen, Thomas Lægård | 16 |
| 1999 | Søborg (TV-Byen) | 13 March | "Denne gang" | Michael Teschl and Trine Jepsen | Ebbe Ravn | 8 |
| 2000 | Copenhagen (Cirkusbygningen) | 19 February | "Smuk som et stjerneskud" | Olsen Brothers | Jørgen Olsen | 1 |
| 2001 | Herning (Messecenter Herning) | 17 February | "Der står et billede af dig på mit bord" | Rollo and King | Søren Poppe, Thomas Brekling, Stefan Teilmann Laub Nielsen | 2 |
| 2002 | Copenhagen (Cirkusbygningen) | 9 February | "Vis mig hvem du er" | Malene Mortensen | Michael Ronson | 24 ◁ |
| 2004 | Aarhus (Atletion) | 7 February | "Sig det' løgn" | Tomas Thordarson | Ivar Lind Greiner, Iben Plesner | DNQ |
| 2005 | Horsens (Forum Horsens) | 12 February | "Tænder på dig" | Jakob Sveistrup | Andreas Mørck, Jacob Launbjerg | 9 |
| 2006 | Aalborg (Gigantium) | 11 February | "Twist of Love" | Sidsel Ben Semmane | Niels Drevsholt | 18 |
| 2007 | Holstebro (Musikteatret; semi-final 1) Aalborg (Aalborghallen; semi-final 2) Horsens (Forum Horsens; final) | 10 February | "Drama Queen" | DQ | Simon Munk, Peter Andersen, Claus Christensen | DNQ |
| 2008 | Copenhagen (DR Byen; semi-finals) Horsens (Forum Horsens; final) | 2 February | "All Night Long" | Simon Mathew | Jacob Launbjerg, Svend Gudiksen, Nis Bøgvad | 15 |
| 2009 | Herning (Messecenter Herning) | 31 January | "Believe Again" | Niels Brinck | Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Møller Larsson, Ronan Keating | 13 |
| 2010 | Aalborg (Gigantium) | 6 February | "In a Moment Like This" | Chanée and N'evergreen | Thomas G:son, Henrik Sethsson, Erik Bernholmis | 4 |
| 2011 | Ballerup (Ballerup Super Arena) | 26 February | "New Tomorrow" | A Friend in London | Lise Cabble, Jakob Glæsner | 5 |
| 2012 | Aalborg (Gigantium) | 21 January | "Should've Known Better" | Soluna Samay | Remee, Chief 1, Amir Sulaiman, Isam Bachiri | 23 |
| 2013 | Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) | 26 January | "Only Teardrops" | Emmelie de Forest | Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, Thomas Stengaard | 1 |
| 2014 | Odense (Arena Fyn) | 8 March | "Cliché Love Song" | Basim | Lasse Lindorff, Kim Nowak-Zorde, Daniel Fält | 9 |
| 2015 | Aalborg (Gigantium) | 7 February | "The Way You Are" | Anti Social Media | Remee S. Jackman, Chief 1 | DNQ |
| 2016 | Horsens (Forum Horsens) | 13 February | "Soldiers of Love" | Lighthouse X | Sebastian F. Ovens, Daniel Lund Jørgensen, Katrine Klith Andersen, Søren Bregendal, Johannes Nymark, Martin Skriver | DNQ |
| 2017 | Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) | 25 February | "Where I Am" | Anja Nissen | Anja Nissen, Angel Tupai, Michael D'Arcy | 20 |
| 2018 | Aalborg (Gigantium) | 10 February | "Higher Ground" | Rasmussen | Niclas Arn, Karl Eurén | 9 |
| 2019 | Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) | 23 February | "Love Is Forever" | Leonora | Lise Cabble, Melanie Wehbe, Emil Lei | 12 |
| 2020 | Copenhagen (Royal Arena) | 7 March | "Yes" | Ben and Tan | Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, Linnea Deb | Cancelled X |
| 2021 | Copenhagen (DR Byen) | 6 March | "Øve os på hinanden" | Fyr & Flamme | Laurits Emanuel | DNQ |
| 2022 | Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) | 5 March | "The Show" | Reddi | Chief 1, Ihan Haydar, Julia Fabrin, Remee Jackman, Siggy Savery | DNQ |
| 2023 | Næstved (Næstved Arena) | 11 February | "Breaking My Heart" | Reiley | Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Hilda Stenmalm, Rani Petersen, Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet | DNQ |
| 2024 | Copenhagen (DR Koncerthuset) | 17 February | "Sand" | Saba | Jonas Thander, Melanie Wehbe, Pil Jeppesen | DNQ |
| 2025 | Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) | 1 March | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |

## Albums
### Main album series

| Year | Album | Peak positions | Weeks at #1 | Certification |
| Year | Album | DEN | Weeks at #1 | Certification |
| 2015 | Melodi Grand Prix 2015 | 7 | N/A | |

### Children's MGP album series

| Year | Album | Peak positions | Weeks at #1 | Certification |
| Year | Album | DEN | Weeks at #1 | Certification |
| 2001 | MGP 2001 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2002 | MGP 2002 | 1 | 7 | |
| 2003 | MGP 2003 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2004 | MGP 2004 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2005 | MGP 2005 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2006 | MGP 2006 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2007 | MGP 2007 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2008 | MGP 2008: Det er bare noget, vi leger! | 1 | 3 | |
| 2009 | MGP 2009 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2011 | MGP 2011 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2012 | MGP 2012 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2013 | MGP 2013 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2014 | MGP 2014 | 1 | 8 | |
| 2015 | MGP 2015 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2016 | MGP 2016 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2017 | MGP 2017 | 2 | — | |
| 2018 | MGP 2018 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2019 | MGP 2019 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2020 | MGP 2020 | 2 | — | |
| 2021 | MGP 2021 | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | MGP 2022 | 1 | — | |
| 2023 | MGP 2023 | 3 | — | |
| 2024 | MGP 2024 | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | MGP 2025 | 1 | — | |
De vindere series
| Year | Album | Peak positions |
| Year | Album | DEN |
| 2004 | MGP 2004 – De 3 vindere | 11 |
| 2005 | MGP 2005 – De 3 vindere | 12 |
| 2006 | MGP 2006 – De 3 vindere | 11 |
| 2007 | MGP 2006 – De 3 vindere | 24 |
| 2008 | MGP 2008 – Vinderne | 33 |
Others
| Year | Album | Peak positions |
| Year | Album | DEN |
| 2014 | MGP Jul | 7 |