In their Melodi Grand Prix national final, Denmark chose Sissal’s song “Hallucination.” Sissal will be performing 11th in the second semifinal.

[CW: This music video and this blog post have flashing lights]

Denmark chose a classic dance pop song – dare we say perhaps the most basic pop song of this year’s competition? It’s pleasant and enjoyable to listen to, but nothing in the song or staging elevates it. In fact, we have a lot of questions about the choices they made for the Danish national final staging. What is with those masked back-up dancers? Why all of the sudden blinding flashes of white lights – are they trying to give the audience seizures so they start hallucinating? How much wind machine is too much wind machine? What is with the hand choreography? 

Also, you know how if you repeat a single word over and over again it starts to sound like a completely fake word? Sissal sings “Hallucination” for more than 40 seconds of the song punctuated with occasional hallu-uu-uu-s. And honestly, I think that’s the only lyric that has stuck in either of our heads

“Hallucination” is a fine song. Its strength is definitely Sissal’s voice. She has amazing voice control and stays solid on the long high notes even after multiple hair flips. So at least we aren’t worried about that aspect of this performance. 

As a tangent, Sissal is from the Faroe Islands which is a pretty cool looking Danish territory.

Overall, this entry is pretty solid and pretty standard. However, we hope that for Sissal’s sake, they completely revamp the staging. The song could be stronger with just her and her voice and a lot less flashing lights. We will have to see if highlighting its strengths will be enough to get this song through to the final!