Denmark DENMARK 2023 - Reiley - Breaking My Heart

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Ezio]

Denmark has fallen behind, but I also don't think that Norway or Sweden are still contemporary enough. iceland thinks out of the box from time and time, and Finland is on the fast pace to the Nordic king of queens.

they just get it right, they are loud, exciting, fresh, unconvential. they are serving and we keep eating it up.

 

[MooseShoes]

Denmark has fallen behind, but I also don't think that Norway or Sweden are still contemporary enough. iceland thinks out of the box from time and time, and Finland is on the fast pace to the Nordic king of queens.

they just get it right, they are loud, exciting, fresh, unconvential. they are serving and we keep eating it up.

When it comes to ESC, I'm personally not too bothered about whether something is contemporary or not, it's authenticity I'm looking for. That's where both Sweden and Norway often fall down for me (in terms of songs chosen and their national finals). The three Danish songs I mentioned before felt authentic and genuine to me.

If course, if what you fancy is a bit of well-produced pop, that's up to you.

 

[jatojo]

The three Danish songs I mentioned before felt authentic and genuine to me.

If course, if what you fancy is a bit of well-produced pop, that's up to you.

I liked "Lige Her" too, and at the rehearsals I got the impression that this was one of the songs people reacted most positively to.

Still, I think it's a fact that Denmark hasn't improved the overall level in recent years, and it's okay to criticize that, since the Danish broadcaster has acknowledged several times that qualifying is important.

 

[Betwixt Tales]

As far as I know, only the lyrics of Satellite were written by a Dane. That song would probably have won even with "Will be better way" and "Thing is known" ...

The problem is: There are very few talented young Danish composers (at least within genres relevant for Eurovision). In the last 20 years, the successes at Eurovision have overwhelmingly been about songs written by Swedes or by Lise Cabble.

I think that kind of mindset is debilitating. In my view, there's no such thing as "genres relevant for Eurovision". I think the contest has proven that over the last couple of years.

I could see Andreas Odbjerg, Carl Emil Petersen, or Malte Ebert writing songs for ESC. Why not someone like Thomas Troelsen, Jonas Bjerre, or Kira Skov? We have such a vast and varied music pool in Denmark, it's just about DR making it worth it for the songwriting industry, because let's be real, they don't exactly do a whole lot to promote the songs and artists prior to MGP.

 

[jatojo]

I think that kind of mindset is debilitating. In my view, there's no such thing as "genres relevant for Eurovision". I think the contest has proven that over the last couple of years.

I could see Andreas Odbjerg, Carl Emil Petersen, or Malte Ebert writing songs for ESC. Why not someone like Thomas Troelsen, Jonas Bjerre, or Kira Skov? We have such a vast and varied music pool in Denmark, it's just about DR making it worth it for the songwriting industry, because let's be real, they don't exactly do a whole lot to promote the songs and artists prior to MGP.

DR has for some reason made the decision that Eurovision is not for younger people. Thus, there is plenty of air time for Melodi Grand Prix songs on P4, but not on P3. That in itself makes Eurovision less interesting for songwriters and talented singers.

I agree that Malte Ebert has potential as a songwriter - and artist -, but the others ... look at what Denmark is up against in comparison to the other Nordic countries. Sweden and Norway have constantly loads of singers and songwriters with international success. Denmark has very few. Writing a song that becomes a hit in Denmark is a totally different thing than breaking through internationally.

Could Denmark win Eurovision next year? Sure. There is always a chance of a lucky strike. But in the last couple of years, the selection of songs has been inferior to those of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

 

[gingerale]

Only people who think that Heartstopper is the best show ever will vote for Denmark.

 

[AndroZeus]

Only people who think that Heartstopper is the best show ever will vote for Denmark.

That's a very unkind comment to make about Heartstopper.

 

[I bims]

Only people who think that Heartstopper is the best show ever will vote for Denmark.

How dare you

 

[gingerale]

That's a very unkind comment to make about Heartstopper.

Hi

How dare you

Hi

 

[I bims]

Hi



Hi

Hi

 

[gingerale]

Hi

Hi. Can someone send "Rodeo" by Bimini to Eurovision? Thanks.

 

[Betwixt Tales]

DR has for some reason made the decision that Eurovision is not for younger people. Thus, there is plenty of air time for Melodi Grand Prix songs on P4, but not on P3. That in itself makes Eurovision less interesting for songwriters and talented singers.

I agree that Malte Ebert has potential as a songwriter - and artist -, but the others ... look at what Denmark is up against in comparison to the other Nordic countries. Sweden and Norway have constantly loads of singers and songwriters with international success. Denmark has very few. Writing a song that becomes a hit in Denmark is a totally different thing than breaking through internationally.

Could Denmark win Eurovision next year? Sure. There is always a chance of a lucky strike. But in the last couple of years, the selection of songs has been inferior to those of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

If we were looking for someone international to represent us, international success might have mattered.
(I could see someone like Jada and Drew Sycamore going international. And we have seen artists like Lukas Graham and MØ breaking through internationally these past years, so it's not like we don't have examples from active artists.)

But if we're hellbent on talking about what has international success, songs in Danish –though popular here at home– will, of course, not have the same worldwide draw as songs written in English. But does international success really matter when it comes to ESC? Look at the past couple of winning songs: 2022; national language. 2021; national language. 2017; national language. 2016; part national language. Finland, who is one of the favorites to win this year; national language.

It's some false idea that seems to persist in the Danish mentality that songs in Danish can't succeed at ESC, to which I say BS. Fyr og Flamme would have qualified if it weren't for the juries as the televoters had it at 7th place.

Personally, I would love it if we sent more songs in Danish to ESC, and Andreas Odbjerg, Carl Emil Petersen, and Malte Ebert all write beautiful successful songs in Danish that I don't see any reason why couldn't have been great successes at ESC too.

 

[Iker]

The vocoder really does not work live.

 

[AndroZeus]

The vocoder really does not work live.

Yeah, not for this guy at least. It works for people like Imogen Heap, Jacob Collier and Bon Iver, but it requires a lot of skill to pull off in a way that sounds good.

 

[I bims]

Yeah, not for this guy at least. It works for people like Imogen Heap, Jacob Collier and Bon Iver, but it requires a lot of skill to pull off in a way that sounds good.

I think the issue is that the vocoder is not directly on his vocals but it has to be on the backing track. That's why it sounds off and doesn't really work that well.

 

[simori95]

I actually think it works fine when he sings in his normal voice, it’s just that his vocals sometimes get drowned out when he’s in his headvoice, as the volume goes down quite a bit. I really don’t think it’s overall as bad as a lot of people seem to think. However, I might be biased there because I really enjoy the song and I don’t even like Heartstopper.

 

[AndroZeus]

I actually think it works fine when he sings in his normal voice, it’s just that his vocals sometimes get drowned out when he’s in his headvoice, as the volume goes down quite a bit. I really don’t think it’s overall as bad as a lot of people seem to think. However, I might be biased there because I really enjoy the song and I don’t even like Heartstopper.

I'm opposite, I absolutely love Heartstopper (the comic, I haven't seen the show), and every time I hear a snippet of Breaking My Heart (in top 37s and the like), I am not just bored, but also annoyed.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

I don't know much about Reiley but I have seen comments online implying he has a big Tiktok following. Is this true and would it be enough of a following to get him the votes he'd need to qualify?

 

[AndroZeus]

I don't know much about Reiley but I have seen comments online implying he has a big Tiktok following. Is this true and would it be enough of a following to get him the votes he'd need to qualify?

As far as I know, he has 11 million TikTok followers, but almost all of them are based in East Asia, so it won't affect much. He also played Breaking My Heart at a concert in South Korea some time last year, way before it was allowed, but the EBU was chill with it because it wasn't in Europe.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

As far as I know, he has 11 million TikTok followers, but almost all of them are based in East Asia, so it won't affect much. He also played Breaking My Heart at a concert in South Korea some time last year, way before it was allowed, but the EBU was chill with it because it wasn't in Europe.

I see, thanks. Do you think he will get a 'youth vote'? Personally the song and performance does nothing for me