Denmark: Melodi Grand Prix 2024 – It's Saba with "Sand"
Denmark's Melodi Grand Prix 2024 was held tonight with eight songs fighting for the throne. The Danish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will be Saba with the song "Sand"
Denmark held its national selection Melodi Grand Prix 2024 tonight in DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen.
After more than 2 hours and eight songs, all the focus was on the winner Saba and the song "Sand," which will compete for Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, just 20 kilometers from DR Koncerthuset.
Three songs from the eight competing acts advanced to the Superfinal, determined by a jury and the public viewers via app/SMS throughout the week and during the show: Saba, Basim, and Janus Wiberg. In the Superfinal, the voting was reset and the Danish viewers and the jury selected Saba as the winner of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024.
"Sand" was written by Jonas Thander, Melanie Wehbe, and Pil Kalinka Nygaard Jeppesen.
Melodi Grand Prix 2024
First round
Superfinal
Saba
Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæger (26) is a singer, actor, entrepreneur, model, and freelancer.
When Saba was eight months old she and her identical twin sister, Andrea Lykke Oehlenschlæger, were adopted by a family from Ringkøbing, Denmark, after they were left as lost children in Ethiopia.
Her twin sister Andrea has been on the music stage with huge success, but now Saba is ready to take over:
– It's great to stand on my own two feet as an artist and have a song that is mine. It feels good and I am proud of the song, says Saba.
In 2023, she sang the lead part in the musical "Hair" at Copenhagen's Østre Gasværk Theatre, replacing her twin sister Andrea, who had become pregnant.
Saba has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she's an ambassador for the Danish Depression Association.
The Danish DR documentary "My Insane Twin" portrayed Saba and her identical twin sister, Andrea, in which Saba candidly discussed her own battle with mental illness, as well as the adoption of her and her sister.
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2024 was broadcast on Saturday 17 February live from DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen.
The voting had already started five days before the show. From Monday, 12 February to Friday, 16 February people could cast one vote on each song every day on the official DR Grand Prix app. The votes were added to the votes received during Saturday's show (app/SMS), and combined with a jury's votes. The top three songs (Saba, Basim, and Janus Wiberg) went on to the Superfinal. There, the votes were reset and a new vote among the three superfinalists decided the Danish song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
While the votings were cast we saw a tribute to Dario Campeotto, who passed away last year. He represented Denmark at Eurovision 1961 with the song "Angelique" and has been competing in various editions of Melodi Grand Prix in the '60s and '80s.
This year's Danish national final was hosted by Sara Bro and Stéphanie Surrugue.
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
Denmark has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 51 times. Since its debut in 1957, Denmark has won the contest 3 times:
Their worst result came in 2002 (last). Since the introduction of the Semi-finals in Eurovision in 2004, Denmark has qualified for the Grand Final 12 out of 19 times.
