Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019


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

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-one times; its first entry competed 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 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, 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 is the fourteenth edition of Söngvakeppnin, the music competition that selects Iceland's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format

Ten songs in total competed in Söngvakeppnin 2019, where the winner was determined after two semi-finals and a final. The two semi-finals took place at the Háskólabíó conference hall in Reykjavík on 9 and 16 February 2019, with five songs competing in each. The final took place at the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on 2 March 2019, where the top two songs from each semi-final competed. In addition to that, the Icelandic national broadcaster reserved a right to advance a wildcard act to the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals.

Competing entries

RÚV opened a submission period between 20 September 2018 and 22 October 2018 in order for interested parties to submit their entries. The submitted songs were not allowed to exceed three minutes. Songs have to contain lyrics in Icelandic for the performance in the semi-final, and be performed in the language they are intended to be performed at Eurovision in the final of Söngvakeppnin.

Shows

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 9 February 2019 and five of the competing acts performed. The top two entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 16 February 2019 and five of the competing acts performed. The top two entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.

Final

The final tookplace on 2 March 2019 with the 4 qualifiers from the semi-finals, and a wildcard entry selected by the producers. The top two entries based on a 50/50 combination of the votes from international juries and televoting advanced to the superfinal, where the winner was decided by aggregating the results from the first round to the televotes of the second.

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 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.
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.

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. While announcing the final result points, flags of Palestine were unveiled by the group.

Points awarded to Iceland

Points awarded by Iceland

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Icelandic jury: