Now Eurovision 2026 is firmly behind us and we’ve had a chance to properly digest the wild ride of Vienna, it’s now time to discuss What Went Right. We’ve all had a chance to mull over the results of the contest. The Eurovision 2026 final saw some very dramatic results, but 3 acts in particular had some historically good results.
We’ve spent a long time discussing what went wrong for most of the countries this year, so why not end this Eurovision year on a positive not and discuss what went right for 3 countries who has historically good successes this year: Romania, Denmark, and Bulgaria.
Who is Søren Torpegaard Lund?
Søren Torpegaard Lund is a 27-year-old singer and actor born in the Danish town of Gudme. He showed an interest in music and the arts at a young age, training in theatre, dance and music, before being accepted to the Danish Stage Arts School at the age of 17. After this, he has starred in several musical productions – including West Side Story and Kinky Boots. He has already dabbled in Eurovision, having competed in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023, but failed to make the top 3.
His song for Eurovision 2026 – “Før vi går hjem” – was written by Søren himself, as well as Clara Sofie Fabricius, Thomas Meilstrup and Valdemar Littauer Bendixen.
Did you expect Denmark to do as well as they did?
Samantha : To be honest, I expected them to do better! I felt like Soren was absolutely deserving of a potential win. The staging didn’t need changing from DMGP, as it worked perfectly well at Eurovision. The song was fun and catchy. It was a different kind of entry for Denmark, which was nice to see. So whilst I’m happy that Denmark did well, I definitely came away thinking they deserved more.
Tom: I feel like Denmark could’ve placed higher if two things were different. Firstly, if they didn’t open the Grand Final. That’s a hard slot for anyone, and I think it worked against Søren. Secondly, if the DMGP performance wasn’t as good and as memorable as it was, because to me, the Eurovision version of the performance was not quite as good as the national final. Either way, I’m so glad Søren got his flowers and Denmark kept up their new qualification streak!
Kittens: I think everyone knows that this was my fave this year, and this generally makes me dubious of success because I rarely like songs that do well (she says, having loved both ‘Wasted Love’ and ‘The Code’… We’ll say these are exceptions). So I was very pleasantly surprised to see it so so well and especially in Danish.
What worked well from their selections?
Samantha : DMGP 2026 was arguably the best edition we’ve seen in years. Risks were taken that were worth it and paid off. With that being said, the top three were predictable so I would like to see all the acts at DMGP be competitive rather than just two or three. DR also really elevated their approach to staging, which I think was hugely important because you could already visualise how these songs and artists would translate onto the Eurovision stage. Basically, DR needs to keep doing what they’re doing: take more risks, continue improving the staging, and attract more quality artists. I really hope Sissal and Søren have inspired some of the artists who were previously put off from competing at DMGP to give it another chance, because I think Denmark could really benefit from having more established and ambitious artists involved.
Tom: The fact someone like Sissal wanted to come back immediately after representing Denmark and compete in DMGP again, shows they are doing something right in the Danish delegation in my opinion. The national final itself could be tweaked and improved, I’m not keen on the superfinal format for Denmark for example, but overall DR are on a good track at the moment. They seem to be able to get young, talented and impressive musicians involved relatively easily recently and thats a great sign.
Kittens: Honestly I am going to disagree, i don’t think this was a great National Final. I do think it was strong compared to previous years, but as previous years were kinda meh I don’t think this shows off that DMGP are doing something particularly right this year. It feels more like luck than an actual concerted effort. I would really like to see DMGP go further and push at the edges – I just don’t think they’ve got it in a way we can solidly say yep, that’s a great NF and will be a great NF every year.
What made this entry different from the previous attempts?
Samantha : It felt fresh without being basic or sounding like something you could hear on any random Spotify playlist. The staging complimented the song perfectly, and it was so unexpected for Denmark that I think a lot of people were genuinely taken aback. There was just something about the whole package that worked. It didn’t feel like Denmark was trying to copy what had worked for someone else; it felt like they were doing something that actually suited the artist and the song. I only really have one word for this entry: SLAY.
Tom: I actually think it’s a perfect follow up to “Hallucination”. I’m a huge, huge fan of Sissal, and while I adore both her and that song, it was great to have a song in Danish in this year’s Contest. This was a great track, and improved on Sissal’s score last year hugely. That’s got to be down to the authenticity of Søren, as well as the outlandish performance. Conceptually, it was just pretty perfect for me!
Kittens: I feel like when it came out, i quickly picked up on this song as showing promise, but i fully expected it to be consigned to ‘NF songs that never made it’ part of my playlist. What made it special is the performance and the staging, which is quite frankly way more than I would ever expect from DMGP normally. (Look, they did well with Sissal but that wasn’t based on the very basic girlybop staging.) I was absolutely stunned as to how much work had gone into the staging, and I think it did a great job of storytelling, which has been a problem for so many acts this year. It’s refreshing to see so much vision here and it just shows that it can be done – shame that the rest of DMGP hasn’t caught up.
Do you think these results can be replicated?
Samantha : See, this is where I’m on the fence, because why do I have the feeling that Denmark is going to go straight back to their old ways and we’ll look back on this as a one-off? I really hope DR continues taking risks with DMGP and, more importantly, continues attracting quality artists who might previously have been hesitant to compete. If they can maintain the standard we saw this year, then I don’t see any reason why Denmark couldn’t replicate — or even improve on — this result. The worst thing DR could do now is see this success and decide that they’ve figured out a formula, because I think the whole reason it worked was that they didn’t play it safe.
Tom: I think so. I hope the varied results of Saba, Sissal and then Søren shows that Denmark are constantly learning and improving. I’d like to believe the national final can produce another great entry. For me personally, any of Sissal, Søren, Ericka or Sander could have taken the win at DMGP this year and had potential to qualify, so it is clearly on a good path. I’d like to see Sander Sanchez or Ericka Jane have another go in the near future, but there’s so much Danish talent that could deliver a great entry at the Contest that DR need to keep on carrying on.
Kittens: Oh it all depends on what they learn from this. And like Mello, I don’t have any faith that they will learn the right lesson from this year. I really am rooting for you Denmark, but what you should be learning is that an exemplary artist (of any genre) who has the stamina to deliver and keep delivering and has an outstanding artistic vision behind them is what you need. But I feel like in a distracted boyfriend meme style, instead they will pick some mid pop songs and hope they will save you. DR, prove me wrong. Please.
What can other countries learn from this result?
Samantha : I don’t think anyone expected Denmark to produce this much quality, but that’s what happens when you take a risk and, more importantly, have an artist who is completely comfortable with what they’re doing and what they’re singing. Soren felt natural in the entry, and I think that authenticity really showed. Countries that play it safe, pick an artist, and then give them something completely different from what they would normally do really need to look at Denmark and take note. You can’t just throw different elements together and hope they somehow make a Eurovision entry. You need the whole package : the artist, the song, the staging and the identity all need to make sense together. Denmark showed that when you get those things right, taking a risk can pay off massively.
Tom: I guess first of all, other countries could learn not to be afraid of sending a song in their own language. There really seems to be a push for music in native tongue at Eurovision recently, and I’m so glad it seems to be working for those that do it well. Other takeaways from this performance would have to include the staging. It was simple, yet creative. It was loud and impressive, without being overwhelming. Lots of delegations could learn from that!
Kittens: I’m going to agree with Tom here and echo that Language! Is! Not! A! Problem!…as long as you keep up your STORYTELLING! You’ve got something here where the staging really helped move this from a relatively low key but catchy song to an outstanding performance with a story to tell. And thanks to the English remix we know this wouldn’t have been clunky in English, but we did not need it. This performance as a package stayed memorable enough to keep going from the first place in the running order. I’d hope anyone hoping to replicate looks beyond the box and sees what was special here – it’s the whole package, not just one thing.
Watch the accompanying discussion video here:
Demmark’s Eurovision Journey
Denmark first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1957 and notched up their first win in 1963 with Grethe and Jørgan Ingmann’s “Dansevise”. Denmark later earned two third-place finishes in 1988 and 1989 but was then relegated three times in 1994, 1996, and 1998. They finally achieved their second victory in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers’ “Fly on the Wings of Love”, and have missed the Grand Final eight times since the introduction of the semi-finals. A six-year qualification streak from 2008 culminated in its third win in 2013 with Emmelie de Forrest’s “Only Teardrops”.
Søren Torpegaard Lund represented Denmark in 2026 with “Før vi går hjem”. He qualified for the final and would eventually finish in 7th place, earning a total of 243 points. Of these 165 came from juries, while 78 came from the televote.
What do think about our thoughts? Why do you think Denmark did so well? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2027!
Source: That Eurovision Site
Image Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU