Anja Nissen fulfills her childhood dream

25 February 2017 at 23:30 CET

Denmark's entry for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is Anja Nissen performing the song Where I Am. The contest this year will be a special one for Denmark since 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the country's first participation in 1957.

The annual Danish selection, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, was held tonight in Jyske Bank Boxen in the city of Herning. TV host, journalist and singer Anette Heick presented the show alongside singer and actor Johannes Nymark who competed for Denmark in last year's Eurovision Song Contest as part of the band Lighthouse X.

When Anja Nissen was announced as the winner she thanked the crowd and said "I just want to say a thousand, thousand thanks to you all".

The arena was packed with people that cheered and danced throughout the show. In this way the broadcaster succeeded with their goal to make the show a party, both for the audience and the people at home.

Right before the second round of votes was announced the presenters sang a medley of former Melodi Grand Prix songs, that ended with a live performance with the Olsen Brothers, who won Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm in 2000 with the song Fly on the Wings of Love.

The show

In the first round of voting the top three advanced to a super-final based on the votes of the five-member jury and the public vote. Both jury and public had a 50/50 say in the result.

The top three:

Anja Nissen - Where I Am
Ida Una - One
Johanna Beijbom - A.S.A.P.

The jury and public votes also accounted for 50% each in the second round. After the final round of voting Anja Nissen emerged victorious with 64% of the votes and will fly the flag for Denmark in Kyiv.

About the winner

Anja finished second in Melodi Grand Prix last year but came back to make her childhood dream come true by representing Denmark in Eurovision Song Contest. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Australia, but both her parents are Danish and most of her relatives lives in Denmark. In 2014 she won the third season of The Voice Australia. Her song this year is called Where I Am.

The participants that competed against Anja in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2017

Ida Una - One

Ida Una was discovered through YouTube and this year she made her Melodi Grand Prix debut. She is nineteen years old and studies at Aarhus Academy.

Thomas Ring - Vesterbro

Thomas Ring won the Danish X Factor in 2010. After having released the gold-selling debut album Wrong Side of the Daylight and sequel Sideways in 2013, he decided to take a break and focus on his work as a teacher. Now he is back in the spotlight and makes his debut in Melodi Grand Prix this year.

Rikke Skytte - Color My Life

Eighteen-year-old Rikke Skytte is a relative newcomer. She was discovered on YouTube and last year she released her first single My Vibe on Spotify.

Calling Mercury - Big Little Lies

Calling Mercury make their Melodi Grand Prix debut this year. Members Jeppe Norup and Joel Peters are 25 years old and live in Copenhagen. Jeppe is studying visual culture and Joel studies digital concept development. Thomas Sardorf, Rune Braager and Martin Luke Brown wrote their song. Rune Bragger also wrote Albania's Eurovision entry in 2009.

Anthony - Smoke In My Eyes

Anthony, together with his co-member Jasmine, were the first group to win the The X Factor in Denmark in 2014. After winning X-factor their song topped the charts, but half a year later, the duo split up. Anthony grew up in Denmark, then moved to New York for a period and for the last year and a half he has been living in Miami. In the U.S. he has helped to start up a Danish boutique and café chain.

René Machon - Warriors

The 42-year-old singer René makes his comeback in Melodi Grand Prix in 2017. In 2015 he participated with duet partner Tina and the song Mi Amore, which reached seventh place. This year he returns with a grandiose pop song. He lives in Valby with his girlfriend and their four children, and works as a teacher.

Sada Vidoo - Northern Lights

Sada auditioned for the British edition of The X-Factor, where she charmed the judges with her unique look. Her audition clip has been viewed over 2,5 million times. She was invited to perform during the final of the X-Factor in Wembley, London in December. Sada dresses like a doll every day with full makeup and spectacular dresses. In 2014 she released her first album had already been known on the Danish music scene for several years.

Jeanette Bonde - Hurricane

Jeanette Bonde has been choir singer for many years but this year she's going solo. She lives in in Aarhus and works as a freelance musician full time. Jeanette has written her own songs since she was 12 years old and in 2014 she received her master's degree in singing, rhythmic choir and songwriting from the Royal Academy of Music. In parallel with these studies, she has been working with gospel music for the last ten years.

Johanna Beijbom - A.S.A.P.

Johanna has appeared in the Melodi Grand Prix as many as four times, but until this year, never has a solo artist. Johanna comes from Sweden and she was a part of Loreen's backing team when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 in Baku. She has also provided backing vocals for Malta in 2007, Georgia in 2013 and Denmark in 2015.

New rules for 2017

A record of 1115 entries were submitted to the MGP this year. These songs were then shortlisted to the final ten. In a change of format for 2017, Danish broadcaster DR invited regular viewers as well as members of the MGP and Eurovision fan club in Denmark, to select five of the ten finalists. The remaining five entries were chosen by producers. DR's Head of Entertainment, Jan Storage, explained; "In earlier years we used people from the music industry. They have definitely been competent, but by involving the fans, we have people who primarily had an eye for what will work in Eurovision".