Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Paper" written by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez and Lily Elise. The song was performed by Svala Björgvinsdóttir. The Icelandic entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine was selected through the national final Söngvakeppnin 2017, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið. The selection consisted of two semi-finals and a final, held on 25 February, 4 March and 11 March 2017 respectively. Six songs competed in each semi-final with the top three as selected by a public televote advancing to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting: the first involved a 50/50 combination of regional jury voting and public televoting, which reduced the six competing entries to two superfinalists and the second round selected the winner exclusively through public televoting. "Paper" performed by Svala emerged as the winner after gaining 62.51% of the public vote. Iceland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 13, "Paper" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty times since its first entry in 1986. 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 five times. In 2016, Iceland failed to qualify to the final with the song "Hear Them Calling" performed by Greta Salóme. RÚV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 22 August 2016. The Icelandic national broadcaster, Ríkisútvarpið, 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 2017 participation.
Before Eurovision
''Söngvakeppnin 2017''
Söngvakeppnin 2017 was the twelfth edition of Söngvakeppnin, the music competition that selects Iceland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Format
Twelve songs in total competed in Söngvakeppnin 2017 where the winner was determined after two semi-finals and a final. Six songs competed in each semi-final on 25 February 2017 and 4 March 2017. The top three songs from each semi-final, as determined by public televoting qualified to the final which took place on 11 February 2017. In addition to that, an online vote selected a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals. For the first time Iceland had an international jury members who are professionals in the music industry, together with Måns Zelmerlöw, Julia Zemiro, Bruno Berberes, Milica Fajgelj but also Icelandic members as: Snorri Helgason, Þórður Helgi Þórðarson and Andrea Gylfadóttir. 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 with 100% televoting.
Competing entries
RÚV opened a submission period between 20 September 2016 and 28 October 2016 in order for interested parties to submit their entries. The submitted songs were not allowed to exceed three minutes, but had to contain lyrics in Icelandic for the semi-final and were performed in the language they intend to perform the song in at Eurovision in the final. RÚV announced the selected acts on 20 January 2017 with both Icelandic and English versions of each competing entry.
Shows
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 25 February 2017 where six of the competing acts presented their songs to the public. The top three entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 4 March 2017 where six of the competing acts will present their songs to the public. The top three entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.
Final
The final took place on 11 March 2017 where the six entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals and an eliminated act who got a wildcard competed to become Iceland's Eurovision entry. The wildcard was given to Hildur with her song "Bammbramm" which was eliminated in semi-final 1. 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 within the Eurovision Song Contest. In the first round of voting, votes from a jury panel and public televoting determined the top two entries: "Is This Love?" performed by Daði Freyr Pétursson and "Paper" performed by Svala. The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Paper" performed by Svala, was determined solely by televoting.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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 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 31 January 2017, 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 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Points awarded to Iceland
Once all the competing songs for the 2017 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 Moldova and before the entry from the Czech Republic.
