Thursday night was one of drama for armchair fans flicking between channels simultaneously watching the Superliga and the Eurovision.
Stage vs stadium
Representing Denmark in Rotterdam, Fyr og Flamme were up last in the 17-strong second semi-final, needing a top ten finish to advance, and uncanny punters were expecting this to be an advantage.
Brøndby, meanwhile, were in Aarhus, a man down but holding onto a 1-1 draw with AGF – a ‘Waterloo’ that would take the destination of this year’s Superliga, scheduled to climax on Monday, out of their hands.
Frankly, it looked like the boys on the stage had better prospects than the ones in the stadium.
Rotten in Rotterdam
But despite Jesper Groth and Laurits Emanuel giving it all with their snazzy 1980s clothing and dance moves, they suffered a humiliating exit.
It looks like the choice to perform in Danish has backfired, with European public and juries preferring arguably weaker entries from the likes of Albania and Moldova. The results, once published after the final, will confirm how close Denmark came.
It is Denmark’s first failure to make the final for five years. To really rub it in, every other Nordic country made it through to the final this year.
“I’m not going to say I’m disappointed. It’s pretty wild. There has been a huge retro-kitsch-like movement at home at the bodegas and kiosks in Copenhagen, and it has been cool to see that something new has emerged,” said Groth after the contest had ended.
He should be disappointed, and so should Denmark for choosing the frightful song in the first place.
Commotion at Ceres Park
FC Midtjylland fans will know that feeling of disappointment this morning. For 60 minutes yesterday evening, they had every right to expect their side would be in the driving seat come Monday.
With the score 1-1, a solitary point for Brøndby would leave the Greater Copenhagen side a point behind FCM going into the final games.
But at Ceres Park, in front of the closest you can get to a capacity crowd these days, up stepped Mikael Uhre to write himself into the club’s history with an all-important winner less than 20 minutes from time – his second goal of the game.
On a night when they conceded two penalties and lost a man (Morten Frendrup) before half-time, Brøndby prevailed to put themselves within one victory of their first Superliga title since 2005 – so long ago that Michael Laudrup was the coach.
Beat FC Nordsjælland at home on Monday and the title is theirs.
