In the spotlight: Ben & Tan

29 April 2020 at 10:11 CEST

In the spotlight: Ben & Tan Agnete Schlichtkrull

With their song, 'YES', Ben & Tan were chosen to represent Denmark in 2020. In light of the unfortunate cancellation of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, we wish to highlight the impressive acts that were set to appear. This is 'In the spotlight', our feature honouring the artists that would have made up this year's edition of the world's largest live music event.

The duo Ben & Tan and their song YES, were chosen to represent Denmark for Eurovision 2020. The national final took place at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen on Saturday 7 March without its usual audience of 10,000 people. This decision was a first for the country. Danish public broadcaster, DR, came to this conclusion after Danish authorities ordered organizations to postpone or cancel all events with more than 1000 visitors.

The show, hosted by Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2020 presenters Hella Joof and Rasmus Bjerg, involved 10 performances and 2 rounds of voting. The first vote eliminated 7 competitors with just Emil, Ben & Tan, and Sander Sanchez remaining. The 3 entrants had to fight it out and perform again for the super final, after which Ben & Tan were victorious.

Who are Ben & Tan?

Benjamin Tsimalona Rosenbom, who makes up one half of the duo, is a 17-year-old singer born in Berlin to his German mother and Malagasy father. Tanne Amanda Balcells, the other half of the duo, is a 22-year-old singer born in Barcelona to her Danish mother and Spanish father.

The multicultural Danish ensemble met during X Factor Denmark in 2019. Despite competing against each other in the competition, they bonded backstage over jam sessions to Ed Sheeran songs.

Ben & Tan were set to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020 Frederik Højfeldt Nielsen © Dr

READ MORE: Ben & Tan's participant profile

Their upbeat and happy song, YES, hopes to encourage everyone to say yes to life and love even in hard times. The songwriters behind the positive tune include prolific Swedish composer and former Melodifestivalen act, Jimmy Jansson, Linnea Deb, who co-wrote Sweden's Eurovision 2015 winning song Heroes, and Emil Lei who co-wrote and produced last year's Danish entry Love is Forever.

Ben & Tan reminisced about their time performing at the Danish national selection on their Instagram page with a post titled: "Throwback to Saturday night and the amazing stage," which also included a stunning light show.

You can follow Ben & Tan on Instagram.

LISTEN: Stream YES and other Eurovision 2020 songs on Spotify

Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest

In 1957, Denmark debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest with their entry Skibet Skal Sejle performed by Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler who finished in 3rd place. The country won for the first time in 1963 in London with Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann and the song Dansevise. However, after a poor placing in 1966, when Denmark's Ulla Pia competed with the song Stop, Ja Stop - Ja Stop, Mens Legen Er Go, the country withdrew from the competition only to reemerge again in 1978 in Paris.

The Scandinavian nation saw gold again in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers and the song Fly On The Wings Of Love, and most recently in 2013 with Emmelie de Forest’s Only Teardrops.

In 2001, the Contest was held in the capital of Copenhagen which saw the biggest crowd ever at the time, with 35,000 people attending the Grand Final in the city’s Parken Stadium. That same year, Denmark came in 2nd place with Rollo and King. However, the following year the country finished last.