Danmarks Radio (DR) held theDansk Melodi Grand Prix 1997 on 1 March 1997 at its television studios inCopenhagen, hosted by Hans Otto Bisgård. Ten songs competed in the contest and the winner was selected solely by a public televote, which led to the victory of "Stemmen i mit liv" performed byKølig Kaj. The song won by a relatively narrow margin over "Utopia" performedJette Torp, and was regarded as something of a risky choice as rap had only been tried once before at Eurovision (by theUnited Kingdom in 1995 with "Love City Groove"), without a great deal of success.[1] The show was watched by 1.1 million viewers in Denmark, making it the most popular show of the evening and third most popular show of the week.[2] The national final was also broadcast in Greenland'sKNR-TV on a delayed broadcast in 4 May.[3]
Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 19th out of the 25 entries.[4] On the night of the final Kølig Kaj performed 21st in the running order, followingRussia and precedingFrance. At the close of voting "Stemmen i mit liv " had received 25 points, placing Denmark 16th of the 25 entries.[5] The Danish jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners the United Kingdom.[6] The contest was watched by a total of 1 million viewers in Denmark.[7]
Denmark
