Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country	Iceland
National selection
Selection process	Söngvakeppnin 2022
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 26 February 2022 5 March 2022 Final: 12 March 2022
Selected entrant	Systur
Selected song	"Með hækkandi sól"
Selected songwriter(s)	Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022

Iceland is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Með hækkandi sól" performed by Systur. The Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) organised the national final Söngvakeppnin 2022 in order to select the Icelandic entry for the contest. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 26 February and 5 March 2022 and a final on 12 March 2022.

Background[]

Prior to the 2022 contest, Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its first entry 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 2021, Iceland placed fourth in the grand final with the song "10 Years" performed by Daði og Gagnamagnið.

The Icelandic national broadcaster, Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), broadcasts the event within Iceland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. From 2006 to 2020, Iceland's competitor has been selected by Söngvakeppnin, a televised national competition. Daði og Gagnamagnið won Söngvakeppnin 2020 with "Think About Things". The song was considered one of the favourites to win,^[2] however the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daði og Gagnamagnið were subsequently internally re-selected to compete in 2021 with the song "10 Years", finishing in fourth place with 378 points.

Before Eurovision[]

Söngvakeppnin 2022[]

Söngvakeppnin 2022 was the national final organised by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. It consisted of two semi-finals on 26 February and 5 March 2022 and a final on 12 March 2022.^[3] Contrary to previous editions, for which the host venues were the Háskólabíó conference hall and the Laugardalshöll for the semi-finals and final respectively, both located in the capital city Reykjavík, all shows of the 2022 edition were held at the RVK Studios, located also in the city of Reykjavík,^[4] and was hosted by  [is], Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir.^[5]

Competing entries[]

Between 3 September and 6 October 2021, RÚV opened the period for interested songwriters to submit their entries. Songwriters did not have any particular requirement to meet, and the process was open to all.^[6] At the close of submissions, 158 songs had been entered.^[4] A selection committee formed under consultation with the Association of Composers (FTT) and the Icelandic Musicians' Union (FÍH) selected the ten competing entries, all of which were revealed on 5 February 2022.^[3][6]

Shows[]

Semi-finals[]

Two semi-finals took place on 26 February 2022 and 5 March 2022. In each semi-final, five of the ten competing acts performed, and two entries determined solely by the viewing public through telephone voting progressed to the final. As per the rules of the competition, an additional optional qualifier could be selected by the contest organisers from among the non-qualifying acts, which would also progress to the final. This option was subsequently invoked by the organisers, meaning that a total of five acts qualified for the final.^[8]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, a number of guest performances also featured during the two shows. The first semi-final featured a performance from the Icelandic electronic rock band GusGus and Margrét Rán, who performed a rendition of the 2009 Icelandic Eurovision entry "Is It True?".^[9] The second semi-final featured a performance from Icelandic singer and actress GDRN, who performed the 2003 Icelandic Eurovision entry "Open Your Heart".^[10]

Final[]

The final took place on 12 March 2022 and featured the four qualifiers and the wildcard from the semi-finals. It was later revealed that the songs in the final would be performed in the language ​​they would be performing in case they represent the country in Eurovision. Thus, three of the finalists, namely Stefan Oli, Sigga, Beta and Elín, and Katla, decided to perform the Icelandic version of their entries, while Reykjavíkurdætur and Amarosis decided to perform their entries in English.^[14]

Two rounds of voting determined the winning song: in the first round, the votes of the viewing public through telephone voting and the votes of a seven-member international jury panel determined two entries which would progress to the second round. The public and jury each accounted for 50% of the result in the first round, with the rankings of each jury member being converted to match the total number of televotes cast by the public.^[15] In the second round a further round of televoting was held, with the winner determined by aggregating the results of the first round to the votes received in the second round. Following both rounds of the competition, "Með hækkandi sól" performed by Sigga, Beta and Elín, emerged the winner of Söngvakeppnin 2022 and was selected as Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with the group presented under the new name Systur.^[16]

In addition to the competing entries, the show was opened by Birgitta Haukdal, together with Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Guðjón Davíð Karlsson, Þórey Birgisdóttir,  [is], Jón Jónsson, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, and Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson. Moreover, Daði Freyr, who represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 together with Gagnamagnið, performed as an interval act.^[17] The 2021 Ukrainian representatives Go_A were set to feature as guest performers,^[5] however, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine resulting in the band's inability to travel to Iceland, the 2021 Swedish representative Tusse performed in the final instead.^[18][19] Both Freyr and Tusse were also part of the jury panel.^[20]

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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[21]

References[]