ESC 2024: Saba from Denmark did not reach the final

26-year-old Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæger won the 54th Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. With the title “Sand” she only reached the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö.

The pop song, a previous favorite, was performed by ESC veteran Melanie Wehbe (“Forever Love”, “Move On”), Jonas Thunder (“I've been waiting for tonight” “Bigger than us” “Amen”) and Bill Jepsen. Saba was born in Ethiopia with her twin sister Andrea, also a singer, and was adopted by Danish parents at eight months old. She suffers from bipolar disorder and met her partner in a group therapy course. Her song is about a failed relationship.

An outstanding cast with Bassem and Ora Dioni

Although the last three Danish ESC entries from… fire and flame, Ready and Reilly did not reach the final, and Danish television continued to rely on the tried and tested Melodi Grand Prix format in 2024, which at least meets all expectations in terms of ratings. The song selection was slightly modified, and in addition to the approximately 600 contributions made, direct contact was made with some big names in the Danish music scene. But this year also was not enough to reach the final. This is despite the fact that the national preliminary round was with the previous song contest participant Bassem and singer Ora Dione, who has also achieved great success in Germany, appear more prominently than they have for a long time.

Climate activists storm the initial decision stage

The selection process was also modified: between 10 and 16 February, the public was able to vote for the eight finalists using their own app. These votes have been added to the score for this evening's television broadcast. Given the poor results in recent years, the telecast was also supported by a jury of ten Danish experts and ten international experts of the Economic and Social Council, who had 50 percent of the votes. After a group of climate activists briefly stormed the stage holding banners, Saba's Super Final win against Bassem and Janos Wilberg put a final, conciliatory note on an event devoid of surprises.

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Saba competes for Denmark in the 2024 ESC Championship in “Sand”. Here is the official music video for the song. 3 minutes

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