Prior to the 2018 Contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty four 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 six times. In 2017, Iceland failed to qualify to the final with the song "Paper" performed by Svala. 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 2018 participation.
Before Eurovision
''Söngvakeppnin 2018''
Söngvakeppnin 2018 was the thirteenth edition of Söngvakeppnin, the music competition that selects Iceland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Format
Twelve songs in total competed in Söngvakeppnin 2018, where the winner was determined after two semi-finals and a final. The two semi-finals that took place at the Háskólabíó conference hall in Reykjavík on 10 and 17 February 2018, with six songs competing in each, and the final took place at the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on 3 March 2018, where top three songs from each semi-final competed. In addition to that, a special jury panel selected a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals.
Competing entries
RÚV opened a submission period between 6 September 2017 and 20 October 2017 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 to be performed in the same language as they are to be performed at the Eurovision final. RÚV announced the selected acts on 20 January 2018 with both Icelandic and English versions of each competing entry. On 5 February, Guðmundur Þórarinsson and Þórir & Gyða swapped semi-finals, because of Þórarinsson's involvement in a cup match for IFK Norrköping.
Shows
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 10 February 2018 and six of the competing acts performed. The top three entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 17 February 2018 and six of the competing acts performed. The top three entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.
Final
The final took place on 3 March 2018 where the six entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed to become Iceland's Eurovision entry. 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: "Our Choice" performed by Ari Ólafsson and "Í stormi" performed by Dagur Sigurðsson. The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Our Choice" performed by Ari Ólafsson, 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 29 January 2018, 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 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2018 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 2, following the entry from Azerbaijan and preceding the entry from Albania. It was later revealed that Iceland placed last in the semi-final, receiving a total of 15 points: 0 points from the televoting and 15 points from the juries.
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Icelandic jury:
