Herning to host biggest Danish final ever

Last year, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was held in the city of Aalborg where Soluna Samay earned the right to represent her country in Azerbaijan. For next year's show, broadcaster DR have just announced that the long-standing competition will take place in the town of Herning in Jutland on the 26th of January.

The competition has previously been hosted there in 2001 and 2009 where on both those occasions it was held at the Messecenter. Next year, however, DR have decided to up the stakes and are making the 2013 edition of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix the biggest show in its history. This is mainly due to the fact that the show will be broadcast from the Boxen arena with space for up to 15,000 people. Opened in 2010, it is one of the biggest venues in the country and has has previously hosted the final of X-Factor as well as concerts by huge stars such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Rammstein, Britney Spears and Andrea Bocelli.

"The longest-running TV program in Denmark"

The Danish commentator at the Eurovision Song Contest, Ole Tøpholm is definitely looking forward to the competition returning to Herning and this new, larger arena. "Dansk Melodi Grand Prix is the longest-running TV program in Denmark. It is older than the national news so we have to look after it. Therefore it is completely appropriate to pay homage to the music in surroundings where a record number of Danes can gain access to experience the show live", he says.

As 2013 is shaping up to be the year of records, this announcement comes hot on the heels of the news that a total of 692 songs were submitted to the Danish national selection. A record breaking number.

We can expect big things from this, one of Europe's most established national selections next year when the show kicks off on the 26th of January from the Boxen arena in Herning.

Denmark will take part in one of the Semi-Finals of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest to be held on the 14th, 16th and 18th of May at the Malmö Arena in Malmö Sweden.