Review: “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024” (Denmark)

Denmark will choose an artist and a song for Eurovision 2024 via “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024″.
8 artists will compete in the show, which will be held on Saturday (the 17th of February 2024).
The results will be determined by a combination of public and international jury votes.
In the second round, the top 3 acts will face another public vote.
In this post, I will review the competing songs.

#1. Saba – Sand

• It is a pop song with influences of the 1990’s music.
• The song starts with keyboard playing, while we can hear the backing vocalists humming.
• The first verse is based on slower keyboards playing. The production is minimal, and the emphasis is on Saba’s voice.
• Later on, we get a short transition part which sounds like the one from the intro, but this time the singer performs in parallel.
• The pre-chorus is more energetic and powerful. Vocally, she gives much more, and the melody is also based on drum playing.
• The first chorus follows, and features the “Ooh ooh” part from the intro. She sings this part with a slightly lower tone of voice.
• The second verse goes in a different direction, where the atmosphere is a bit more mysterious. The melody is based on drum beat, soft electro beat and electric guitar playing.
• The second pre-chorus continues along the same line. Vocally, we get a bold singing with some manners, while she is accompanied by backing vocalists.
• The humming is brought back and we are getting the 2nd chorus. The rate is higher, as the beat is more intense. We can hear some effects over her singing.
• The bridge brings a dramatic atmosphere to the composition. The production is held back. She sings in a lower tone of voice, while the melody is based on orchestral string elements (like violin), and the electronic are added back slowly.
• The song ends with one last chorus, where we can heat the backing vocalists as well.
• Overall, the song is quite catchy. There’s something uplifting about the message of the song. The “ooh ohh” humming creates a continuous framing along the song.
• Saba’s voice adds to the general appeal of the song and makes it a very nice song. I’m interested to see how this song will be staged.

#2. Stella – Sign Here

• It is a mid-tempo country pop song.
• The song starts with keyboards playing, the intro includes singing by the backing vocalists.
• The first verse relies on slower keyboard playing. Stella sings this part in a half-smokey voice in a mid-low tone of voice. As the first verse progresses, the keyboards playing becomes faster.
• The pre-chorus is short, she sings this softer and it sounds like we have some effects over her singing.
• The chorus mainly repeats the same phrase “Sign Here”. The melody is based on a mid-tempo drum beat and bass, and later on the keyboard playing from the beginning is brought again.
• The drum beat continues into the 2nd verse. She sings it in a different color of voice, and with some manners. The rate is faster compared to the first part of the song.
• The second pre-chorus comes with the keyboard playing. Thereater, we get the chorus which is slightly shorter. This part is followed by the bridge which is an extended pre-chorus.
• The last chorus is “upgraded” with electric guitars, electric keyboards and more.
• Is this song listenable? Yes. Do we have a good vocalist here? Yes. However, I feel like this song stayed in the level of unfinished demo/sketch. The potential exists, but is not fully utilized.

#3. Chu Chu – The Chase (Zoom Zoom)

• It is a hip-hop song, with electro and K-pop influences.
• The song opens with speaking. The intro (which is the refrain) continues to a cheerful singing, with noticeable presence of backing vocalists. The melody is based on drums and bass.
• The first verse is more melodical. The melody is based on keyboards playing. It gives us a chance to learn more about her voice. The rate is slower than the one in the introduction. As this part prioresses, the beat is carefully built by a cyclic keyboard loop and soft drum beat.
• The chorus goes in a more electronic direction. The melody features an electronic creak loop.
• The refrain brings us another twist. The singing is more of K-pop related, mixed with mid rate rapping. The backing vocals are an integral part of the melody.
• The second verse comes with a bolder production. The melody is based on electronic keyboards, alongside a soft drum beat. In addition, we can hear secondary voices.
• The second chorus is longer. The production is electronic, and we can even hear some effects over her singing. In the second half of this part, she sings in a higher tone of voice. The melody explodes and then we get a short break with a speaking part.
• An additional chorus follows with a drum beat and a more upbeat tempo. The singing was made by the backing vocalists.
• Thereafter, we are getting an instrumental part, composed of electronic keyboards, while we can hear humming in the background. Slowly, the singing is brought back. The flow of the song is completely electronic. In the middle she stops to ask for more beats, and we get an additional chorus.
• On the positive side, I can say that song isn’t boring and develops during this almost 3 minutes. However, I felt like the changes from one part to another were sometimes too sharp. I’m not sure what the real identity of this song is, as we get a number of genres, with non-uniform production. But at least it isn’t a generic one.

#4. Basim – Johnny

• It is a mid-tempo country-pop ballad.
• The song opens with an intro. Basim immediately sings in a high tone of voice. The melody is based on acoustic guitar playing.
• The mid beat is slowly built, as the first verse commences. The melody is based on guitar and keyboards playing. There’s a use of backing vocals as well. The general atmosphere of this part is quite cheerful and even uplifting and positive.
• The first pre-chorus comes with a different melody. The accompanying beat is gone, and the melody is based on orchestral string elements and piano. Basim uses some vibrato in his singing. The rate is slower and the singing is emotional.
• However, the first chorus comes after and brings the positive wind back to the composition. The backing vocals have a greater presence. The chorus is built from 2 equal parts.
• The post-chorus focuses on Johnny. This part includes humming, some vocal effects and voice trilling.
• The second verse sounds a bit more contemporary, the melody is based on a faster keyboard made beat. The lines rhyme, and ironically the melody brings positive vibes. Vocally, he gives more in this verse.
• The second pre-chorus breaks the melody into a more emotional one. At this time. the violin takes over the melody. Something in the production of this part is more intimate.
• The second chorus is quite similar to the first one. At this time, the post-chorus is longer.
• I appreciate the chosen topic, which isn’t a typical one in national finals. I do prefer this song over his Eurovision 2014 song. However, it is more radio-friendly and less competitive. I think the intro and the chorus are stronger than the verses.

#5. RoseeLu – Real Love

• It is a mid-tempo pop song.
• The song starts with a short introduction, featuring guitar playing and humming.
• The first verse relies on angelic mid tone of voice singing and a beat that’s composed of monotonous guitar playing.
• The first pre-chorus continues in the same line. RoseeLu suggests a unique color of voice which elevates the performance.
• The chorus has a slightly different flow, it is more catchy and she better expresses herself vocally. The melody is also based on string elements and keyboard playing and features a mid-tempo beat.
• The same mid-tempo continues to the second verse.
• The second chorus features a different beat, a slow dance beat that combines quite well in the mix.
• The bridge is more fragile as the production is held back and the melody is based on guitar playing.
• The song ends with a final chorus, which is richer in backing vocals. Thereafter, we get half verse, which closes the song in a cyclic way. Vocal wisely, she reminds of the early days of Sia.
• Overall, it is a quite standard radio-friendly pop, but she has the ability to elevate it. The introduction captivates the listener.

#6. UBLU – Planetary Hearts

• It is a
• The song opens with futuristic introduction, where we can hear robotic processed vocals with electronic sound and space-related track.
• The first verse begins, and I couldn’t help but hear how similar in the melody to the one of “Don’t Be Shy” By Imany.
• The first verse is based on a constant electro beat, mixed with percussion made beat and synth elements. The lead singer perform in a breathy mid-tone of voice.
• The pre-chorus is less electro-oriented. The melody is based on keyboards. The lead singer sings in a higher tone of voice.
• The chorus let me down. I expected to a build-up, and a more electronic sound. But we get something flat: The beat is a mediocre electronic one. They melody is based on constant chords obtained by keyboard playing.
• The second verse is similar to the first one. However, this time the synth elements are bolder, mixed with electric guitar and percussion elements.
• The second pre-chorus sounds like a 1990’s piece, with keyboards based melody.
• The second chorus is similar to the first one.
• Thereafter, we get a spoken word part which indicates the bridge. Once again, the space influenced melody takes over the production.
• The song continues with another pre-chorus, and thereafter another chorus nixed with the intro.
• I have hard times with this song. On one hand, it isn’t another radio-friendly song. On the other hand, it sounds like each part of it was written by someone else and later on they made a big effort connecting it together. Not to mention the non-originality here.

#7. Janus Wiberg – I Need Your Love

• It is a song-songwriter soft rock ballad.
• The song starts with the first verse, based on slow piano playing. Janus has a pleasant voice and he sings accurately.
• The pre-chorus is also based on cello playing. He rephrases some of the words and his warm voice wraps the melody.
• The chorus leans more towards the orchestral arrangement, while Janus performs in a more raspy voice. He lengthens some of the words, and we caמ distinguish the emotions he pours in.
• The second verse has a faster rate, the singing is closer to speaking, but from time to time he decorates it vocally.
• The second pre-chorus is based on string elements, and he sings it in a higher tone of voice.
• The chorus is based on violin, piano and additional string elements. For some reason, it gives the vibes of a Disney ballad.
• The bridge includes the “I’m ready” phrase several times. He sings it with a soft measure of a raspy voice. This part comes with a significant backing vocals support.
• The chorus ends with one final chorus, where we can hear some beautiful vocals trilling.
• I can’t say this song is a special one. But I can say Janus gives it all to make it the best possible. The production is on point.

#8.Aura Dione – Mirrorball of Hope

• It is a disco-pop song.
• The song starts with humming and keyboards playing. Later on, it will be clear that this is part of the chorus.
• The first verse, is based on keyboards playing and Aura’s distinctive voice. The rate is quite slow.
• The refrain comes after, and acoustic guitar is added to the composition. The rate is a little bit faster, as she connects some words together.
• The pre-chorus is more melodical. She sings it i a higher tone of voice. The melody swirls a bit, based on an increasing dance beat and drums beat.
• The first chorus follows. it is mostly based on humming of “Hey-yeah, yeah-ah-ooh”.
• I feel like the chorus could have been richer on the lyrical side (and not mainly based on “Hey-yeah, yeah-ah-ooh”). This is the part where we can hear trumpet added to the composition.
• The post-chorus comes after, continuing the same trumpet line. Another motive is kind of tribal drums. The whole thing sounds like a Latin-pop influenced song from 15-20 years ago.
• The second verse is based on keyboards playing and the beat is quite laid down.
• The second pre-chorus follows, it is based on some orchestral elements and she sings it more emotionally. This part is finalized with a drum beat.
• The bridge starts with a kind of an operatic singing. Thereafter, she gives us a short anon unessential part of spoken word. The song ends with one last chorus, with a greater presence of string elements, drum beat and trumpet.
• It is one of the cases, where the singer is bigger than the song. Aura Dione is well known in the Danish industry for her hits from 12-14 years ago. I guess her popularity can play a role here, will it help her to win the whole thing?

Personal Ranking

1. Saba – Sand
2. RoseeLu – Real Love
3. Janus Wiberg – I Need Your Love
4. Stella – Sign Here
5. Basim – Johnny
6. Chu Chu – The Chase (Zoom Zoom)
7. Aura Dione – Mirrorball of Hope
8. UBLU – Planetary Hearts

Prediction

To begin with I must say that the level of “Dasnk Melodi Grand Prix” is still unsatisfying.
There’s an improvement from last year, but it still looks like the aim is creating the next radio-hit, and not the next Eurovision song.
At the moment, it looks like Saba and Aura Dione will be the leading acts to represent Denmark at Eurovision 2024.
However, I do this this selection as an open one.

Which song is your favorite one?
Who will represent Denmark at Eurovision 2024?

Eurovision 2024 will be held in Malmö, Sweden.
The semi-finals will be held on the 7th and 9th of May 2024, and the grand final will be held on the 11th of May 2024.
Denmark will compete in the first half of semi-final 2.

Don’t forget to visit our Eurovision 2024 homepage