Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "All Night Long", written by Jacob Launbjerg, Svend Gudiksen, and Nis Bøgvad, and 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.

Background

Prior to the 2008 contest, (DR) had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

representing Denmark thirty-six times since its first entry in 1957. It had won the contest, to this point, on two occasions: in with the song "" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, and in with the song " Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers. In , "Drama Queen" performed by DQ failed to qualify to the final. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, DR organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2008 contest on 4 February 2007. DR has selected all of its Eurovision entries through the national final . Along with its participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced that would be organised in order to select its entry for the 2008 contest.

Before Eurovision

was the 38th edition of , the music competition organised by DR to select its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event included two semi-finals held on 12 and 19 January 2008, a radio wildcard selection between 21 and 25 February 2008 followed by a final held on 2 February 2008. All shows in the competition were hosted by Camilla Ottesen and Adam Duvå Hall and televised on DR1 as well as streamed online at the official DR website.

Format

Sixteen songs competed in the competition which consisted of two semi-finals and a final. Eight songs competed in each semi-final and the top four as determined exclusively by a public televote qualified to the final. The remaining non-qualifying songs proceeded to a wildcard selection where they were split into two groups. A public vote by listeners of

DR P3 DR P3 (referred to in Denmark simply as P3) is a Danish current-based hit music radio station operated by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. It is broadcast on FM radio, DAB, and Internet radio. History It commenced broadcasting on 1 January 1 ...

and DR P4 each selected two wildcards for the final from four songs competing in their groups. The winner in the final was determined again exclusively by a public vote. Viewers were able to vote via SMS during all shows.

Competing entries

DR opened a submission period between 24 August 2007 and 10 October 2007 for composers to submit their entries. All composers and lyricists were required to be Danish citizens or have a strong connection to Denmark. The broadcaster received 443 entries during the submission period. A selection committee selected sixteen songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster, while the artists of the selected entries were chosen by DR in consultation with their composers. DR held a press meet and greet at the DR Byen in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

on 7 December 2007 where the competing artists and songs were announced and officially presented.

Shows

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 12 and 19 January 2008 at the DR Studio 5 in Copenhagen. The top four of each semi-final advanced to the final based on a public televote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Aura and The Loft performed as the interval acts during the first semi-final, while Hej Matematik and Juanes performed as the interval acts during the second semi-final.

Wildcard selection

Listeners of DR P3 and DR P4 were able to vote for the songs competing in their respective groups via televoting between 21 and 25 January 2008. The song with the most votes in each group that advanced to the final were announced on 25 January 2008.

Final

The final took place on 2 February 2008 at the Forum Horsens in Horsens. The running order was determined by DR and announced on 24 January 2008. The winner, "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.Anna David as well as Jamie Scott and the Town performed as the interval acts.

Ratings

At Eurovision

It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008. 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; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(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 28 January 2008, 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 22 May 2008. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and as one of the six wildcard countries, Denmark chose to perform in position 13, following the entry from and before the entry from . The two semi-finals and final were broadcast on DR1 with commentary by Nikolaj Molbech. DR appointed Lise Rønne as its spokesperson to announce the Danish votes during the final.

Semi-final

Simon Mathew took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. The Danish performance featured Simon Mathew dressed in a white shirt, braces and a vintage hat and performing with two guitar players, a keyboard player, a drummer and a backing vocalist. The LED screens displayed fireworks in blue, white and purple colours. The musicians that joined Simon Mathew were: Anders Øhrstrøm, Kim Nowak-Zorde, Morten Hellmann and Oliver McEwan, while the backing vocalist was Mette Dahl Trudslev. At the end of the show, Denmark was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Denmark placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 112 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 of 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 16, following the entry from and before the entry from Georgia. Simon Mathew once again took part in dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May before the final. Simon Mathew performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 24 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Denmark finished in fifteenth place with 60 points. The final of the contest was watched by a total of 965 thousand viewers in Denmark.

Voting

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 Sweden in the semi-final and to in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Denmark

Points awarded by Denmark

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Eurovision Eurovision