Denmark was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "Hallucination", written by Chris Rohde-Frisk, Line Spangsberg, Linnea Deb, Malthe Johansen, Marcus Winther-John [da], Melanie Wehbe, and Sissal Jóhanna Norðberg Niclasen, and performed by Sissal herself. The Danish participating broadcaster, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2025 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Prior to the 2025 contest, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Denmark fifty-one times since its first entry in 1957.[1] It had won the contest, to this point, on three occasions: in 1963 with the song "Dansevise" performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, in 2000 with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by Olsen Brothers, and in 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest. Since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, it had failed to qualify to the final eight times, including in 2024, when the song "Sand" performed by Saba placed 12th in the second semi-final.[1]
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 had selected all of its Eurovision entries thus far through the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. DR confirmed its intention to participate at the 2025 contest on 6 May 2024, announcing that Dansk Melodi Grand Prix would again be organised in order to select its entry for the contest.[2]
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2025 was the 55th edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (DMGP), the music competition that selects Denmark's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 1 March 2025 at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, hosted by Sara Bro [da] and Stéphanie Surrugue [da] and televised on DR1 as well as streamed online at DRTV.[3][4] The national final was watched by 736,443 viewers in Denmark with a market share of 59.9%.[5]
Eight songs competed in one show where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three songs based on the combination of votes from a public vote and a 20-member jury panel qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, the winner was determined again by the votes of the jury and public. The jury panel was composed of 10 international members and 10 Danish members, while viewers were able to vote via SMS or a mobile application specifically designed for the competition.[6][7][8] Prior to the show, the public was provided with one free vote on the app to cast a vote each day between 24 and 28 February 2025, while viewers using the app during the show were also provided with one free vote.[9][10] The live orchestra, present since the 2020 edition, was not used for this year.
DR opened a submission period between 16 September 2024 and 27 October 2024 for artists and composers to submit their entries.[12][13] At least one of the lyricists, composers or artists must be a citizen of Denmark, the Faroe Islands or Greenland, or have a strong connection to Denmark in order to qualify to compete.[14] A selection committee selected four songs from the entries submitted to the broadcaster, while an additional four songs were created in songwriting camps that featured Danish and international songwriters invited by DR to compete. The music producer of DMGP, Erik Struve Hansen, stated that the broadcaster had sought out "songs that both do well in DMGP and have potential in Eurovision".[15] DR held a press meet and greet at the DR Byen in Copenhagen on 6 February 2025 where the competing artists and songs were announced and officially presented. Among the artists was Tim Schou who represented Denmark in 2011 as a member of A Friend in London.[16][17]
The final took place on 1 March 2025. In the first round of voting the top three advanced to the superfinal based on the votes of a 20-member jury (50%) and a public vote (50%). In the superfinal, the winner, "Hallucination" performed by Sissal, was selected by the public and jury vote.[18] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Birthe Kjær and Saba, who won DMGP and represented Denmark in 1989 and 2024, respectively, performed as the interval act.[19]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and will consist of two semi-finals to be held on the respective dates of 13 and 15 May and the final on 17 May 2025.[20] During the allocation draw held on 28 January 2025, Denmark was drawn to compete in the second semi-final, performing in the second half of the show.[21] Sissal was later drawn to perform 11th, ahead of Georgia's Mariam Shengelia and before Czechia's Adonxs.[22] Denmark qualified for the final.[23]
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[25] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Danish jury:[26]