Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was a good show. From what I saw of it. Given that DR made such a big deal about the fact that it could be seen outside Denmark this year (tusind tak før det, DR, it’s not like the whole point of the contest is for anything like a European song competition or anything…), the streaming quality was a stunning mess. Relying on Flash technology is annoying enough, but with no provision for using mobile devices, there were a lot of hot computers out there by the time the event was over. I had to watch on the lowest possible setting to avoid lag.

It’s 2012 – try harder.

In further ridiculousness, two of the performances are subject to a copyright claim, so they’re not on YouTube. If you want to see them, click here to go to the full show. You can click the little white lines to get to each song.

So, besides that, show was good, presenters didn’t outstay their welcome, everything was tight (if a bit flat at points) and even Alexander bloody Rybak didn’t spoil it (too much).

We started off well with fantastic Jesper Norstedt, who opened the show with absolute confidence in Take Our Hearts. As I said before, he’s appeared before a huge live audience at Parken stadium in X Factor, so he knows how to work a crowd, and it showed. The song itself isn’t actually up to much – there’s nothing really to hang it all off. Jesper worked it really well, though, and it was great.

Jesper, and everyone else, had their intro clips soundtracked with the studio versions of their songs. I’m not sure this was a great idea, and it did show up a lot of issues with some of the acts.

Aya’s Best Thing I Got was interesting. She’s got an unusual voice that seemed to get a bit lost in the large arena. And when the song itself is fairly flimsy, there’s not much you can do. Having Aya perform alone on such a big stage was also a mistake – she could have done with the support of a couple of back-up singers, at the very least.

It was fun listening to my friend Ole Tøpholm doing the voiceovers for the intros. I was mesmerised by the red shirt.

Kenneth Potempa’s Reach For The Sky should have been performance that was right up a Danish crowd’s street – full on pop-rock. He even descended from the stage and into the crowd. In fact, all of the performers displayed a confidence not too often seen in other competitions elsewhere. But it all just fell a bit flat. It wasn’t his singing, that was absolutely fine. I can’t pinpoint a reason. It was just a bit forgettable.

As “a typical schlagerfan”, as I was ‘dubbed’ this week (I’ll give him typical), Ditte Marie was always going to be my favourite. Overflow is everything I want – fun, fast, killer chorus, slightly unhinged woman in an ill-judged frock (or even a leotard with tassles – yes!), and Swedish. Unfortunately, this was the moment that DR’s stream decided to fail. Nice timing. Really nice. Watching the performance on playback, Ditte Marie was great. Managing to use the full length of the stage, she pulled off the key change with aplomb (even if her shout to the crowd almost made her miss a line from the song!). Shame she had to put up with that terrible acoustic-style ending. She deserved a top-three placing.

Remember when I raved about Philip Halloun and Emilia’s Baby Love Me? I was wrong. It’s amazing how a terrible performance can destroy something in minutes. It also demonstrates the perils of reviewing studio versions of songs that can sound very different on stage. This was a perfect example of that. Awful, awful, awful. Flat, sharp, all over the place. Hugely disappointing.

Oh, Suriya. You looked absolutely amazing. Leather frock, so much lippy on that your mouth was the 3D element of the show. You’ve said that Forever I B Young maybe wasn’t understood by the audience. You might have helped it along with your performance if you wanted. Barely audible vocals, retreating to the back of the stage for the dance break, and a look of utter boredom with the whole affair. Even your songwriters looked a bit perplexed at the end. Not the way to do it.

Interesting outfit on Karen Viuff – puff sleeves that appeared to be channeling the Michelin man. That was by far the most memorable moment of Universe, which was a very reluctant performance. The song itself is quite nice, but was never going to go anywhere, not for me, anyway.

Aye, aye, cap’n, schlagerfiasko right ahead? Who would’ve predicted that when Soluna Samay came on in her naval cap to do her lovely Should’ve Known Better that she’d walk away with first prize? She certainly wasn’t my winner of the evening (out of the top three, I’d have preferred Jesper), but looking back, it was actually one of the more thoughtful performances, making use of the huge stage space with musicians and back-up singers (sitting on a sofa…). Soluna’s vocal was also strong, and she was confident. Will this song get past the semi-finals of Eurovision when it’s up against some of the most ridiculous efforts Europe has to offer? Who knows, stranger things have happened, but I hope she makes it. It’s sad that some people are comparing her to Sweden’s Anna Bergendahl, who caused her own schlagerfiasko by not getting to the Eurovision final a couple of years back. Anna certainly deserved to be there, and it was not from lack of effort. Chin up, Soluna, I’m supporting you.

Finally, we had Danish-singing Christian Brøns teaming up with Swedish-singing Melodifestivalen veteran Patrik Isaksson. The song itself is pure boy-Eurovision. Singalong, strong chorus, arms in the air. Christian and Patrik Olsen. But then they started with their live vocal. Oops. Especially Christian, whose voice broke at the worst moment on his big note. It still came in third in the end – but maybe it would have done better if the performance had been sharper. They should’ve known better.

There are only nine songs in competition in Denmark this year, so I don’t feel as overdosed as I did with Finland and Norway at the end of the listen. A number of people in my various circles (for I have many, and none of them are on Google+) have expressed disappointment with the Danish selection this year, but I’m actually fine with it (for once). There’s a couple that I like less, shall we say – but overall, I’m fairly optimistic about what’s on offer.

Click on the song titles to get to clips of the songs.

Jesper Nohrstedt is a former X Factor contestant who made it all the way to the final (he competed as Jesper Boesgaard), so he’s definitely got an advantage in terms of live stadium performance, given that he’s performed at Parken. Take Our Hearts sounds a lot like the songs on Rasmus Seebach’s latest album – which is no bad thing, of course. This song doesn’t really go anywhere, though. It’s all set up for a great climax, but it doesn’t come.

Perhaps I should rephrase that.

Aya’s Best Thing I Got opens with a startling trumpet rattle – it’s a jolly, Motown-inspired track with some nice string backing and a solid chorus. Aya’s vocal sounds a bit like a higher-pitched Duffy, which might not be to everyone’s taste. And the ending is very clunky, almost as if they forgot it needs to be three minutes’ long. Oops.

Kenneth Potempa’s Reach For The Sky reminded me instantly of Take That’s Greatest Day. I don’t mean that as a criticism, either – Gary Barlow is a great inspiration. And a bit of Coldplay, though I’m rather less enthused with those moaners. This is an all right song, and it’s got mass appeal.

Last year’s 25 Hours A Day had us schlager fans obsessing over a ‘new’ band from Denmark called Le Freak. So it was a huge disappointment to discover that the rest of their repertoire was pure dansband. Lead singer Ditte Marie must have been aware of this, because she’s back with the fantastic electro-schlager (yep, I’m creating that term) Overflow (no YouTube link exists yet). Of course, the song has crossed the Øresund to get to her – Hanif Sabzevari wrote Ola’s Unstoppable, Mike Eriksson did Carola’s Genom allt (!), and Johnny Sanchez has produced Man Meadow. Obviously the one I want to win. And there’s a key-change.

Baby Love Me is a ballad performed by Philip Halloun and Emilia. A stunningly crafted song, Finnish Emilia’s soft vocal’s blend perfectly with Philip’s rockier tones. If you remember the Beautiful South, you’ll know what to expect. I really didn’t expect to like this that much, but I absolutely love it. Baby.

Suriya was one half of S.O.A.P., but now she’s solo on Forever I B Young. In terms of Melodi Grand Prix, this is as hard and grimy as it gets. A bit of a risk – it’ll be interesting to see if she can make anything of it in the show. But there’s a perfectly timed dance break that she’d better make the most of…

Karen Viuff’s Universe is a nice piece of bland commercial pop-rock. It doesn’t light up my world – perhaps if the chorus was a bit more ambitious it could hit home harder. I wouldn’t rule it out of a good placing, though – probably because it’s unchallenging – the polar opposite to Suriya’s song. This is another one with a clumsy ending, though.

If Karen Viuff has played it safe, Soluna Samay is going for it a bit more (just a bit) in Should’ve Known Better. She’s backed by well-known producers Chief 1 and Remee, as well as rapper Isam B (in a production role here), and all four have created a solid song that will appeal to a broad spectrum. It’s not setting the world alight, but it’s good.

The song that originally caused a stir in the schlager world (OK, village), Venter is a duet between Danish Christian Brøns and Swedish Patrik Isaksson. Although whenever Patrik competed in Melodifestivalen, I didn’t see much excitement from the fans, so it was interesting to see him become so relevant as soon as he went to Denmark. But enough of my carping. This is probably the song to beat. Patrik, perhaps wisely, opts to sing in Swedish rather than try to get his tongue around Danish vowels, but it only adds charm. You know what you’re getting – tight composing, guitars and a nice finish. And an English version if it gets to Baku!

So, I want Ditte Marie to win, though I won’t be surprised, or disappointed, if Christian and Patrik go all the way. And at the risk of being slapped down, I’d also like Philip and Emilia’s ballad to do well.

If you read the schlager TV guide recently, then you’ll know that Denmark’s annual Christmas show was on. And it featured A Friend In London from this year’s Eurovision doing a festive version of their song New Tomorrow.

And by festive, it wasn’t just with a few bells shoved on top. Great!

DRs Store Juleshow is unlikely to be available to watch online outside Denmark, unfortunately – but the showing on Sweden’s SVT should be online. It’ll be on on Christmas Eve, 20.00 (7pm UK), so available on SVTPlay shortly afterwards.