Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006


Iceland was represented by the fictional character Silvía Night in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Congratulations". The song tells the story of how Silvía will win the Eurovision Song Contest and how she is better than everyone else. The song was considered a strong favourite from the moment the competing songs were announced. It was written by Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Gaukur Úlfarsson and composed by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson.
Silvía Nótt is a fictional character in Sjáumst með Silvíu Nótt, an extremely popular Icelandic semi-reality show on the TV channel Skjár 1. Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, singer for band Ske and an actress, and Gaukur Úlfarsson decided to invent a character that brought out all the worst things in human behaviour in modern society. Silvía's personality is highly affected by narcissism and she sees herself as the most famous and talented person in the world.

Before Eurovision

Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006

Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006 was the music competition that selected Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

Format

Twenty-four songs in total competed in Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006, where the winner was determined after three semi-finals and a final. The three semi-finals took place at the Fiskislóð 45 in Reykjavík on 21 January, 28 January and 4 February 2006, with eight songs competing in each. The final once again took place at the Fiskislóð 45 in Reykjavík on 18 February 2006, where the top four songs from each semi-final competed. In addition to that, the Icelandic national broadcaster reserved a right to advance a number of wildcard acts to the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals.

Competing entries

RÚV opened a submission period in order for interested parties to submit their entries. From all 226 songs submitted to RÚV, 24 songs were selected for the competition, with the selected entries being announced on 13 December 2005.
ArtistSong 'Composer
Ardís Ólöf"Eldur nýr" 'Örlygur Smári, Niclas Kings, Daniella Vecchia
Birgitta Haukdal"Mynd af þér" 'Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Kristján Hreinsson
Bjartmar Þórðarson"Á ég?" 'Örlygur Smari, Sigurdur Örn Jonsson
Davíð Olgeirsson"Strengjadans" 'Davíð Olgeirsson
Dísella Lárusdóttir"Útópía" 'Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Kristján Hreinsson
Edgar Smári Atlason & Þóra Gísladóttir"Stundin – staðurinn" 'Ómar Þ. Ragnarsson
Eyjólfur Kristjánsson & Bergsveinn Arilíusson"Lífið" 'Eyjólfur Kristjánsson
Fanney Óskarsdóttir"Hamingjusöm" 'Fanney Óskarsdóttir
Friðrik Ómar"Það sem verður" 'Hallgrímur Óskarsson, Lára Unnur Ægisdóttir
Geir Ólafsson"Dagurinn í dag" 'Friðrik Hjörleifsson, Kristján Hreinsson
Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir"Andvaka" 'Trausti Bjarnason
Gunnar Ólason"María" 'Roland Hartwell, Birgir S. Klingenberg
Gunnar Ólason"Það var lagið" 'Roland Hartwell, Birgir S. Klingenberg
Heiða"100% hamingja" 'Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Kristján Hreinsson
Íris Kristinsdóttir"Ég sé" 'Iris Kristinsdottir
Katy Þóra Winter"Meðan hjartað slær" 'Tómas Hermannsson, Ragnheiður Gröndal
Magni Ásgeirsson"Flottur karl, Sæmi rokk" 'Sævar Benediktsson
Maríanna Másdóttir"Í faðmi þér" 'Ingvi Þór Kormáksson, Valgeir Skagfjörð
Matthías Matthíasson"Sést það ekki á mér?" 'Sigurdur Örn Jonsson
Regína Ósk"Þér við hlið" 'Trausti Bjarnason, Magnús Þór Sigmundsson
Rúna Stefánsdóttir & Brynjar Már Valdimarsson"100%"Hördur G. Olafsson
Sigurjón Brink"Hjartaþrá" 'Bryndís Sunna Valdimarsdóttir, Þórir Úlfarsson
Silvía Nótt"Til hamingju Ísland" 'Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, Silvía Nótt
Sólveig Samúelsdóttir"Mig langar að hafa þig hér" 'Hallgrímur Óskarsson

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 21 January 2006 and eight of the competing acts performed. The top four entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 28 January 2006 and eight of the competing acts performed. The top four entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final took place on 4 February 2006 and eight of the competing acts performed. The top four entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.
As Silvía Nótt's song was available to download on the internet shortly before the third semi-final, it was decided that the top 5 songs in the third semi-final would qualify for the final.

Final

The final took place on 18 February 2006 with the 15 qualifiers from the semi-finals competing. The winner was decided solely by televoting, and only the top 3 were announced.

Controversy

The English version of the song caused some controversy as the preview video for the song contained a swear word, even though this was not included in the official version of the lyrics. The European Broadcasting Union threatened to disqualify the entry if the offending word was included in the live performance , and although Silvía used it in the rehearsals, she dropped it for the live performance.

At Eurovision

In Athens, Iceland was eliminated in the semifinal, finishing in 13th place with 62 points and Silvía Night was booed off the stage.

Points awarded by Iceland

Semi final

Final

Points awarded to Iceland