According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The
European Broadcasting Union (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 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Denmark was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Denmark was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from
San Marino and before the entry from
Russia. The two semi-finals and final were broadcast on
DR1 with commentary by
Ole Tøpholm. The Danish spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Danish jury during the final, was
Ulla Essendrop.
Semi-final Rasmussen took part in technical rehearsals on 1 and 5 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Danish performance featured Rasmussen dressed in a black costume and performing with four backing vocalists. The stage colours were predominantly blue and white and white sails were located on both sides of the stage. During the final chorus of the song, one of the backing vocalists went to the back of the stage and waved a big white flag with several effects including snow and a wind machine. Following technical rehearsals, the Danish delegation requested a harsher snowfall effect as the snow provided by the Portuguese broadcaster was too light and fluffy for the song. This request was granted. The four backing vocalists that joined Rasmussen on stage were: Daniel Firth, Gustav Emil Bresler, Jesper Paasch and Mads Engelhardt. An additional off-stage backing vocalist was also featured: Anders Ørsager. 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 fifth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 204 points: 164 points from the televoting and 40 points from the juries.
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 which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Denmark was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Denmark was subsequently placed to perform in position 15, following the entry from the
Czech Republic and before the entry from
Australia. Rasmussen once again took part in dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Rasmussen performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 12 May. Denmark placed ninth in the final, scoring 226 points: 188 points from the televoting and 38 points from the juries.
Voting Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, 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. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Denmark and awarded by Denmark in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:
Points awarded to Denmark Points awarded by Denmark Detailed voting results The following members comprised the Danish jury: •
Brian Risberg Clausen (Bryan Rice; jury chairperson)singer •
Søs Fengersinger and songwriter •
Emmelie de Forestsinger, winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 •
Linda Andreasen (Linda Andrews)singer and songwriter • Lasse Melingsinger and songwriter == References ==