Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

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Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country Iceland
National selection
Selection processSöngvakeppnin 2019
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
9 February 2019
16 February 2019
Final:
2 March 2019
Selected entrantHatari
Selected song"Hatrið mun sigra"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Einar Hrafn Stefánsson
  • Klemens Nikulásson Hannigan
  • Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (3rd, 221 points)
Final result10th, 232 points
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with a song selected through the national final Söngvakeppnin 2019 organised by the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV.

Background[]

Main article: Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-one times; its first entry competed in 1986.[1] Iceland's best placing in the contest to this point was second, which it achieved on two occasions: in 1999 with the song "All Out of Luck" performed by Selma and in 2009 with the song "Is It True?" performed by Yohanna. Since the introduction of a semi-final to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Iceland has failed to qualify to the final seven times. In 2018, Iceland failed to qualify to the final with the song "Our Choice" performed by Ari Ólafsson.

The Icelandic national broadcaster, Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), broadcasts the event within Iceland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that has once again return for the selection of their 2019 participation.

Before Eurovision[]

Söngvakeppnin 2019[]

Söngvakeppnin 2019 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The three shows in the competition were hosted by Fannar Sveinsson and Benedikt Valsson and all took place in Reykjavík: the two semi-finals were held at the Háskólabíó venue and the final took place at the Laugardalshöll. The semi-finals and final were broadcast on RÚV 1 and online at the broadcaster's official website ruv.is.[2]

Format[]

Ten songs in total competed in Söngvakeppnin 2019 where the winner was determined after two semi-finals and a final. Five songs competed in each semi-final on 9 and 16 February 2019. The top two songs from each semi-final, as determined by public televoting qualified to the final which took place on 2 March 2019. The rules also stated that the competition producers would select a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals.[3] The winning entry in the final was determined over two rounds of voting: the first to select the top two via 50/50 public televoting and jury voting and the second to determine the winner by aggregating the combined results of the first round to the received televotes.[4] All songs were required to be performed in Icelandic during the semi-final portion of the competition. In the final, the song was required to be performed in the language that the artist intended to perform in at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. In addition to selecting the Icelandic entry for Eurovision, a monetary prize of 1 million Icelandic króna was awarded to the songwriters responsible for the winning entry.[5]

Competing entries[]

On 20 September 2018, RÚV opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 22 October 2018. Songwriters were required to be Icelandic, possess Icelandic citizenship or have permanent residency in Iceland between 1 September 2018 and 19 May 2019. However, exceptions would be made for minor collaborations with foreign songwriters as long as two-thirds of the composition and half of the lyrics are by Icelandic composers/lyricists. Composers had the right to submit up to two entries, while lyricists could contribute to an unlimited amount of entries. At the close of the submission deadline, 132 entries were received. A seven-member selection committee was formed under consultation with the Association of Composers (FTT) and the Icelandic Musicians' Union (FÍH) in order to select the top ten entries. The ten competing artists and songs were revealed and presented by the broadcaster during the television programme Kynningarþáttur Söngvakeppninnar on 26 January 2019. Among the competing artists are previous Icelandic Eurovision entrants Friðrik Ómar, who represented Iceland in 2008 as part of Euroband, and Hera Björk, who represented Iceland in 2010.[5] Three of the competing entries that later qualified to the final entered English versions of their songs for the competition.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Icelandic Title English Title
Daníel Óliver "Samt ekki" "Licky Licky" Daníel Óliver Svensson, Linus Emanuel Josefsson, Peter Henning Göransson von Arbin
Elli Grill, Skaði, Glymur "Jeijó, keyrum alla leið" N/A Barði Jóhannsson
Friðrik Ómar "Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" N/A Friðrik Ómar Hjörleifsson, Sveinbjörn I. Baldvinsson
Hatari "Hatrið mun sigra" N/A Einar Hrafn Stefánsson, Klemens Nikulásson Hannigan, Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson
Heiðrún Anna Björnsdóttir "Helgi" "Sunday Boy" Heiðrún Anna Björnsdóttir, Sævar Sigurgeirsson
Hera Björk "Eitt andartak" "Moving On" Örlygur Smári, Hera Björk Þórhallsdóttir, Valgeir Magnússon
Ívar Daníels "Þú bætir mig" "Make Me Whole" Stefán Þór Steindórsson, Richard Micallef, Nikos Sofis
Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen "Ég á mig sjálf" "Mama Said" Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Valgeir Magnússon
Tara Mobee "Betri án þín" "Fighting for Love" Andri Þór Jónsson, Eyþór Úlfar Þórisson, Tara Mobee
Þórdís Imsland "Nú og hér" "What Are You Waiting For?" Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Bjarki Ómarsson, Stefán Hilmarsson

Semi-finals[]

Two semi-finals took place on 9 and 16 February 2019. In each semi-final five acts presented their entries, and the top two entries voted upon solely by public televoting proceeded to the final. An additional jury wildcard was awarded to one of the eliminated acts, which also progressed to the final.

The second semi-final also featured a guest performance by Bríet who performed the 2012 Eurovision winning entry "Euphoria".[6]

Semi-final 1 – 9 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place Result
1 Hatari "Hatrið mun sigra" 12,069 1 Advanced
2 Þórdís Imsland "Nú og hér" 4,271 4 Eliminated
3 Daníel Óliver "Samt ekki" 2,198 5 Eliminated
4 Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen "Ég á mig sjálf" 4,779 3 Wildcard
5 Hera Björk "Eitt andartak" 8,408 2 Advanced
Semi-final 2 – 16 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place Result
1 Elli Grill, Skaði, Glymur "Jeijó, keyrum alla leið" 2,572 5 Eliminated
2 Ívar Daníels "Þú bætir mig" 3,519 3 Eliminated
3 Heiðrún Anna Björnsdóttir "Helgi" 2,772 4 Eliminated
4 Tara Mobee "Betri án þín" 3,819 2 Advanced
5 Friðrik Ómar "Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" 14,968 1 Advanced

Final[]

The final took place on 2 March 2019 where the four entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals and the wildcard competed. In the semi-finals, all competing entries were required to be performed in Icelandic; however, entries competing in the final were required to be presented in the language they would compete with in the Eurovision Song Contest. Two entries remained in Icelandic ("Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" performed by Friðrik Ómar and "Hatrið mun sigra" performed by Hatari), while the other three entries competed in English. In the first round of voting, votes from a jury panel (50%) and public televoting (50%) determined the top two entries: "Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" performed by Friðrik Ómar and "Hatrið mun sigra" performed by Hatari. Jury voting involved international jurors alongside Icelandic members. The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Hatrið mun sigra" performed by Hatari, was determined by aggregating the results of the first round to the televoting results of the second round.[7] In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the interval acts featured guest performances by 2018 Icelandic Eurovision entrant Ari Ólafsson and 2018 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up Eleni Foureira, who represented Cyprus with the song "Fuego".[8]

Final – 2 March 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
1 Friðrik Ómar "Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" 21,061 25,356 46,417 2 Superfinalist
2 Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen "Mama Said" 20,582 17,391 37,937 3 Eliminated
3 Tara Mobee "Fighting for Love" 16,274 3,170 19,444 5 Eliminated
4 Hera Björk "Moving On" 20,102 9,488 29,590 4 Eliminated
5 Hatari "Hatrið mun sigra" 24,891 47,513 72,404 1 Superfinalist
Superfinal – 2 March 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
First
Round 		Second
Round 		Total
1 Friðrik Ómar "Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?" 46,417 52,134 98,551 2
2 Hatari "Hatrið mun sigra" 72,404 62,088 134,492 1

At Eurovision[]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Iceland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[10]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Iceland was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Australia and preceding the entry from Estonia.[11]

Semi-final[]

Iceland performed thirteenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Australia and preceding the entry from Estonia. At the end of the show, they were announced as one of the ten countries to qualify for the grand final, the country's first qualification since 2014. Subsequently, at the semi-final winners' press conference, the qualifying contestants all drew to see which half of the final they would compete in. Iceland was drawn to compete in the second half. It was later revealed that Iceland placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 221 points: 151 points from the televoting and 70 points from the juries.

Voting[]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released during the grand final.[12] While announcing the final result points, Palestinian flags were unveiled by the group.

Points awarded to Iceland[]

Points awarded by Iceland[]

Detailed voting results[]

The following members comprised the Icelandic jury:[12]

Detailed voting results from Iceland (Semi-final 1)[13]
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Halldórsdóttir Ó. Einarsson M. Ólafsdóttir J. Hjörleifsson L. Árnadóttir Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus 12 12 4 13 4 10 1 11
02  Montenegro 11 15 13 15 16 15 16
03  Finland 13 9 10 14 14 13 9 2
04  Poland 7 11 12 6 7 12 3 8
05  Slovenia 8 4 5 10 3 6 5 6 5
06  Czech Republic 10 3 2 3 1 2 10 1 12
07  Hungary 9 6 8 11 6 11 8 3
08  Belarus 14 7 3 7 8 8 3 5 6
09  Serbia 6 8 6 1 11 5 6 14
10  Belgium 5 10 7 9 2 7 4 10 1
11  Georgia 16 13 14 12 13 14 15
12  Australia 4 2 1 2 5 1 12 2 10
13  Iceland
14  Estonia 1 5 11 5 10 4 7 4 7
15  Portugal 15 16 16 16 15 16 13
16  Greece 3 1 9 8 9 3 8 12
17  San Marino 2 14 15 4 12 9 2 7 4
Detailed voting results from Iceland (Final)[14]
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Halldórsdóttir Ó. Einarsson M. Ólafsdóttir J. Hjörleifsson L. Árnadóttir Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Malta 15 16 8 7 21 15 12
02  Albania 25 20 24 18 23 23 23
03  Czech Republic 10 10 3 2 9 5 6 9 2
04  Germany 14 24 5 22 16 17 22
05  Russia 9 6 12 24 17 14 18
06  Denmark 8 13 13 6 20 12 7 4
07  San Marino 19 23 25 20 25 24 10 1
08  North Macedonia 3 9 11 1 8 3 8 16
09  Sweden 2 1 1 4 3 1 12 3 8
10  Slovenia 16 19 15 15 5 16 15
11  Cyprus 23 17 9 19 12 18 19
12  Netherlands 7 3 4 17 4 4 7 6 5
13  Greece 22 21 21 23 18 22 21
14  Israel 24 25 23 14 24 21 25
15  Norway 17 5 14 8 13 11 1 12
16  United Kingdom 21 18 18 11 14 19 24
17  Iceland
18  Estonia 4 15 17 12 15 13 8 3
19  Belarus 18 14 16 21 19 20 17
20  Azerbaijan 5 7 10 9 6 7 4 13
21  France 11 11 6 13 7 10 1 14
22  Italy 12 8 20 16 1 8 3 5 6
23  Serbia 13 12 7 3 11 9 2 20
24   Switzerland 6 4 19 10 2 6 5 4 7
25  Australia 1 2 2 5 10 2 10 2 10
26  Spain 20 22 22 25 22 25 11

References[]

  1. ^ "Iceland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. ^ Agadellis, Stratos (2 March 2019). "Watch now: Iceland decides; Grand Final of Söngvakeppnin 2019". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. ^ Granger, Anthony. "Iceland: Jury Introduced to Semi-Finals of Söngvakeppnin". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  4. ^ Granger, Anthony. "Iceland: Songvakeppnin 2019 Final To Take Place On March 2nd". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Eurovision 2019 - HATARI (Iceland)". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ^ "SONG: BRÍET - 'DINO'". Scandipop.co.uk. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Hatari sigraði með yfirburðum". Morgunblaðið. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Iceland: Hatari Are Off To Eurovision 2019". Eurovoix. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Þau eru í dómnefnd Söngvakeppninnar". RÚV. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  10. ^ Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.

External links[]

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