Denmark was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1979 The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the Euro ...

with the song "Disco Tango", composed by

Tommy Seebach Tommy Seebach (14 September 1949 – 31 March 2003), born Tommy Seebach Mortensen in Copenhagen, Denmark, was a popular Danish singer, composer, organist, pianist and producer. He is best known as front man of Sir Henry and his Butlers and for n ...

, with lyrics by

Keld Heick Keld Heick (born 24 February 1946 in Frederiksberg) is a Danish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his contribution to the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, where he has submitted over 30 songs. In 1963 Heick formed the band ''Keld & th ...

, and performed by Seebach himself. The Danish participating broadcaster, (DR), organised the in order to select its entry for the contest. This was the first of Seebach's three Eurovision appearances for Denmark. The 1979 DMGP is notable for the participation of two of Denmark's three Eurovision winners,

Grethe Ingmann Grethe Ingmann (born Clemmensen; 17 June 1938 – 18 August 1990) was a Danish singer. She started her career at 17, when she temporarily performed as a singer of the Malihini Hawaiians pop quartet. Soon after she sang with the Danish guitarist J ...

and the

Olsen Brothers Olsen Brothers () were 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 first band, The Kids ...

Before Eurovision

(DR) held the on 3 February at

TV-Byen TV-Byen is the former headquarters of national Danish broadcaster DR, located in Gladsaxe, approximately 9 kilometres northwest of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The 207,000 m2 site has been redeveloped with a mixture of offices, housing and retail ...

Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Municipality () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 70,958 (2025). ...

, hosted by

Jørgen de Mylius Jørgen de Mylius (born 5 March 1946) is a Danish radio and TV personality that is best known for his work in connection with the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a host and commentator. Sometimes he is referred to as Jørgen Mylius or by his nicknam ...

. 17 songs took part with the winner being decided by votes from eight regional juries. The main voting resulted in a tie for first place between "Disco Tango" performed by

and "" performed by

and

Bjarne Liller Bjarne Bent Rønne Pedersen, known as Bjarne Liller (25 September 1935 – 6 September 1993), was a Danish jazz musician and singer-songwriter. Biography Liller was born on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. He got his breakthrough as a banjo The banjo ...

. The tie was resolved after a revote, which was won by "Disco Tango" performed by Tommy Seebach. Rasmus Lyberth performed in Greenlandic, and

Annika Hoydal Annika Hoydal (born 19 November 1945) is a Faroese singer and actress. Hoydal was a contestant for the 1979 Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and was nominated for the 2016 Faroese Music Awards. The Hoydal family The family name Hoydal takes name after ...

in Faroese.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Seebach performed 3rd in the running order, following and preceding . Among the backing singers was

Debbie Cameron Deborah (Debbie) Cameron (born September 14, 1958 in Miami, Florida) is a Danish-American singer of Bahamian descent who has had a career in music in Denmark. Her career started in 1976, when she was awarded the prize "Most promising student" ...

, with whom Seebach would perform as a duo in . At the close of voting "Disco Tango" had received 76 points, placing Denmark 6th of the 19 entries. The Danish jury awarded its 12 points to .

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1979

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979

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