DR scraps Grand Prix winner's stage show after harsh criticism: 'We've started completely from scratch.
Grand Prix winner Sissal will have a completely new stage show when she represents Denmark at Eurovision in May.
"Please, please, please do a new show for Eurovision!". That's just one of the many comments that have poured into singer Sissal's social media in recent days. This weekend she won the Danish Melodi Grand Prix 2025 with her song 'Hallucination', and since then her inbox has been red-hot with messages from viewers and new fans.
They praise her vocals. They praise the song. But one point of criticism comes up again and again: Sissal's stage show.
- I've received hundreds of messages from people who are so upset that my stage show doesn't live up to their expectations. They write: "This song deserves a good performance and a real chance to do well at Eurovision," Sissal tells dr.dk.
Although she was happy with her performance at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, she understands the criticism of her show.
- There was perhaps a common thread missing in my performance, and it perhaps felt a bit empty. Fortunately, the show was good enough to win in Denmark, but it is not enough for Eurovision.
Here at dr.dk, several Grand Prix experts have also stated that Denmark's stage show needs an overhaul. And DR have listened to the criticism.
That is why they've started making a completely new stage show that Sissal will bring with her when she represents Denmark at Eurovision in Switzerland in May.
- We have started completely from scratch. We have scrapped everything we had in Herning and started fresh, says Sissal, when dr.dk meets her at DR's secret stage rehearsals in DR Byen.
Gets a new stage show and new costume
The new stage show is still in development and in fact so new that the people behind it would rather not reveal too much of what exactly will happen on stage.
Sissal does give a little hint, however:
- In Herning it was just me and two dancers, but for Eurovision the plan is that there will be an extra element that will help symbolize the song's message, says the 30-year-old singer – somewhat cryptically.
At Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, Sissal was dressed in a green, shiny suit. But the stage costume will also change for Eurovision, she reveals.
- I think my suit was really cool and beautiful – I loved it! – but I can see why some might think it "just" looked like a swimsuit, she says and continues:
- So yes, my outfit will change. We are going to create a coherent package where the clothes, the show, the colors on the stage and the theme of the song are more connected.
DR boss: Stage show must be able to stand the distance for Eurovision
DR's Grand Prix boss, Erik Struve Hansen, is also happy that Sissal will get a new and larger stage show for Eurovision.
- Sissal's performance at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was not quite what we, the team behind it, had hoped for. It can sometimes be difficult to see until you see the whole package on stage, he explains, and says that the criticism from viewers and fans has not gone unnoticed by DR.
- We, ourselves, have had the feeling that this show needed something more to stand the distance for Eurovision – and that feeling is of course only reinforced when you get so many and strong reactions from outside people.
He confirms that Sissal's stage show has been completely rethought from scratch, and that the show that people will see at Eurovision is completely different from what viewers saw at Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.
- There may still be small parts from what we saw in Herning, but the basic idea is completely new. It is a completely new show, he says and continues:
- The message to the creative people behind the show has been: "Make the coolest show possible, and don't think about what it costs". So the ideas have been given free rein, and then we've looked at what can be done practically with the money we have available. But there's a high (*spending) ceiling.
Sissal believes in a Danish final spot for Eurovision
After Saturday's Grand Prix final, Erik Struve Hansen told dr.dk that the deadline for submitting the finished stage show was so tight that they couldn't recreate Sissal's stage show from scratch.
But it's happened.
- Because people have worked so hard and worked around the clock, we've still managed to create something completely new. And I'm really happy about it, says the Grand Prix manager.
It is a very important performance that Sissal will deliver on the Eurovision stage in May. She'll try to sing Denmark through to the final for the first time since 2019.
And Sissal believes that the mission can be successful with the new stage show.
- I feel that the song has a good chance of making it to the final if we upgrade the stage show. And the people I work with are insanely talented, so I trust them.
Erik Struve Hansen also reassures the Grand Prix fans who are nervous that the stage show will hinder Denmark's chances of reaching the Eurovision final for the first time in six years.
- People should be scared. We are going to put on a super strong and super beautiful show. The message to the team behind it has been that they have to put on the best possible show for Eurovision, and we will.
*Danish saying, so hard to translate.
This is a translation of this article:
DR skrotter Grand Prix-vinders sceneshow efter hård kritik.