Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Balance sheet

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Broadcasting company

First participation

1986

Number of participations

32 (as of 2019)

Highest ranking

2 ( 1999 , 2009 )

Highest Score

232 ( 2019 )

Lowest Score

0 ( 1989 )

Points average (since first post)

58.66 (as of 2019)

Average points per voting country in the 12-point system

1.73 (as of 2019)

This article looks at Iceland's history as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Regularity of participation and successes in competition

Yohanna got Iceland’s best result to date in 2009

Iceland was only able to take part from 1986 onwards, as remote data transmission to the remote island was not technically feasible before. The 1986 debut was not very successful. The band ICY got a rather bad ranking with place 16 out of 20. But also in 1987 and 1988 only 16th place was reached, with which the country reached the same place three times in a row. In 1989 the worst placement in the competition followed. Daníel Ágúst ended up in last place and did not achieve a single point. The duo Stjórnin was correspondingly more successful in 1990. They reached 4th place and with 124 points Iceland's best result to date. After an average 15th place in 1991, the second place in the top ten followed in 1992. The band Heart 2 Heart finally reached number 7. From 1993 to 1997 Iceland had many average placements. In 1994 the Icelandic contribution landed in 12th place, in 1993 and 1996 in 13th place, in 1995 in 15th place and in 1997 finally in 20th place. Because of these rather weak placements, the country had to take out the competition for the first time in 1998. It was not until 1999 that the country was allowed to participate again.

In 1999 the return was very successful. Selma took almost Iceland's first victory with second place and with 146 points Iceland's best result in the competition so far. In 2000, however, 12th place was again only an average place. In 2001 Iceland finished last for the second time with a shared last place. As a result, the country had to suspend again in 2002. It was not until 2003 that the country was allowed to participate again and in the same year achieved another place in the top ten with place 8. In 2004, however, only a moderate result was achieved with 19th place. In 2005 Selma was sent again, who took second place in 1999. However, their second participation was not very successful. Selma did not reach the final in the semifinals with place 16 and was the first Icelandic interpreter who could not qualify for the final. However, the Icelandic interpreters in 2006 and 2007 also failed to reach the finals. Thus, Iceland was not represented in the final three times in a row for the first time. It wasn't until 2008 that Iceland got better in the competition.

In 2008 the duo Euroband then managed to qualify for the final, which was the first Icelandic entry in the final in four years. With 14th place, however, only an average result was achieved. Iceland's most successful contribution to date followed in 2009. Yohanna was able to win the semi-finals and was thus qualified for the final. There she took second place in Iceland, the best place in ten years. With 218 points, however, she got more points than Selma in 1999, with which she got Iceland's best result to date. Your score was also Iceland's highest score in the competition until then. In 2010, however, this success could not be repeated. Hera Björk reached 3rd place in the semifinals and thus qualified for the final, but was only able to reach 19th place and thus achieved another average placement for the country. In 2011 and 2012 the Icelandic interpreters got rather mediocre results with 20th place each. In 2013, Eythor Ingi again only achieved an average result with 17th place. In 2014 Pollapönk achieved the best result since 2009 with 15th place, but overall the place was only an average placement. In 2015, María Ólafs then failed in the semi-finals, making Iceland not represented in the final for the first time in eight years. With the third from last place, she also clearly failed in qualifying. Greta Salóme 2016, who already participated with Jónsi in 2012 and reached 20th place, was eliminated in the semifinals. Svala also failed to qualify for the final in 2017 and clearly failed to qualify with 15th place. The previous low point for Iceland at the ESC followed in 2018. Ari Ólafsson finished last in the semi-finals, making Iceland miss the final four times in a row for the first time. In addition, he received 0 points from the televoting and only 14 points from the jury. He also finished last overall, finishing 43rd, Iceland's worst placement in the competition. In 2019, however, the island made it to the finals again after four years, after the band Hatari took third place in the semifinals. In the finals, Iceland achieved 10th place, the best ranking in ten years. In addition, the country achieved a new high of 232 points in 2019.

In total, only eight of the 32 entries ended up in the left half of the table. In addition, the country has missed the final seven times and was last three times. Nevertheless, the country has already landed in second place twice so far. Overall, Iceland is one of the less successful countries in the competition. In addition, Iceland is the only Northern European country that has never won, while Sweden, Norway and Denmark have already won more than three wins and Finland has won once so far.

List of posts

Color legend: - 1st place. - 2nd place. - 3rd place. - Equal points with last place. - Eliminated in the semifinals / in the qualification / in the Eastern European preliminary decision. - no participation / not qualified. - Cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest.      

year	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	translation	final		Semi-final / qualification		National preliminary decision
					space	Points	space	Points
1986	ICY	Gleðibankinn M / T: Magnús Eiríksson	Icelandic	Freudenbank	16/20	19th	Direct participation		Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1986
1987	Halla Margrét	Hægt og hljótt M / T: Valgeir Guðjónsson	Icelandic	Slowly and quietly	16/22	28			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1987
1988	Beathoven	Þú og þeir (Sókrates) M / T: Sverrir Stormsker	Icelandic	You and her (Socrates)	16/21	20th			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1988
1989	Daníel Ágúst	Það sem enginn sér M / T: Valgeir Guðjónsson	Icelandic	What nobody sees	22/22	0			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1989
1990	Stjórnin	Eitt lay enn M: Hörður G. Ólafsson; T: Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson	Icelandic	One more song	4/22	124			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1990
1991	Stefán & Eyfi	Draumur to Nínu M / T: Eyjólfur Kristjánsson	Icelandic	The dream about Nina	15/22	26th			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1991
1992	Heart 2 Heart	Nei eða já M: Friðrik Karlsson, Grétar Örvarsson; T: Stefán Hilmarsson	Icelandic	No or yes	7/23	80			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1992
1993	Inga	Þá veistu svarið M: Jon Kjell Seljeseth; T: Friðrik Sturluson	Icelandic	Then you will know the answer	13/25	42			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1993
1994	Sigga	Nætur M: Friðrik Karlsson; T: Stefán Hilmarsson	Icelandic	nights	12/25	49	Qualified directly for the final		Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1994
1995	Bo Halldórsson	Núna M: Bo Halldórsson, Ed Welch; T: Jón Örn Marinósson	Icelandic	Now	15/23	31			internal selection
1996	Anna Mjöll	Sjúbídú M / T: Anna Mjöll Ólafsdóttir, Ólafur Gaukur Þórhallsson	Icelandic	Schubidu	13/23	51	10/29	49	internal selection
1997	Paul Oscar	Minn hinsti dans M: Paul Oscar, Trausti Haraldsson; T: Paul Oscar	Icelandic	My last dance	20/25	18th	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection
1998	Not qualified
1999	Selma	All Out of Luck M: Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, Sveinbjörn I. Baldvinsson, Selma Björnsdóttir; T: Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson	English	Forsaken by luck	2/23	146	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection
2000	August & Telma	Tell me! M: Örlygur Smári; T: Örlygur Smári, Sigurður Örn Jónsson	English	Tell me!	12/24	45			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2000
2001	Two tricky	Angel M: Einar Bárðarson, Magnús Þór Sigmundsson; T: Einar Bárðarson	English	Angel	22/23	3			Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2001
2002	Not qualified
2003	Birgitta	Open Your Heart M: Birgitta Haukdal; T: Hallgrímur Óskarsson	English	Open your heart	8/26	81	Qualified directly for the final		Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2003
2004	Jónsi	Heaven M: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson; T: Magnús Þór Sigmundsson	English	sky	19/24	16			internal selection
2005	Selma	If I Had Your Love M: Þ. Þorvaldsson, Vignir Vigfusson; T: Selma, Linda Thompson	English	If you would love me	Eliminated		16/25	52	internal selection
2006	Silvía Nótt	Congratulations M: Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson; T: Silvia Night	English	Congratulations	Eliminated		13/24	62	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006
2007	Eiríkur Hauksson	Valentine Lost M: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson; T: Peter Fenner	English	Lost Valentine's Day gift	Eliminated		13/28	77	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2007
2008	Euroband	This Is My Life M: Örlygur Smári; T: Paul Oscar, Peter Fenner	English	That is my life	14/25	64	8/19	68	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008
2009	Yohanna	Is It True? M / T: Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Chris Neil, Tinatin	English	Is it true?	2/25	218	1/18	174	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009
2010	Hera Bjork	Je ne sais quoi M / T: Örlygur Smári, Hera Björk	English, French	I do not know what	19/25	41	3/17	123	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2010
2011	Sjonni's Friends	Coming Home M: Sigurjón Brink; T: Þórunn Erna Clausen	English	Return home	20/25	61	4/19	100	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2011
2012	Greta Salóme & Jónsi	Never Forget M / T: Greta Salóme	English	Never forget	20/26	46	8/18	75	Söngvakeppnin 2012
2013	Eyþór Ingi	Ég á Líf M / T: Örlygur Smári, Pétur Örn Gudmundsson	Icelandic	I have a life	17/26	47	6/17	72	Söngvakeppnin 2013
2014	Pollapönk	No Prejudice M: Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson ; T: Heidar Orn Kristjansson , Haraldur Freyr Gislason , John Grant	English	No prejudices	15/26	58	8/16	61	Söngvakeppnin 2014
2015	María Ólafsdóttir	Unbroken M: Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson; T: Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson, María Ólafsdóttir	English	Unbroken	Eliminated		15/17	14th	Söngvakeppnin 2015
2016	Greta Salome	Hear Them Calling M / T: Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir	English	Hear them calling	Eliminated		14/18	51	Söngvakeppnin 2016
2017	Svala	Paper M: Svala Björgvinsdóttir , Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, Lily Elise; T: Svala Björgvinsdóttir , Lily Elise	English	paper	Eliminated		15/18	60	Söngvakeppnin 2017
2018	Ari Ólafsson	Our Choice M / T: Þórunn Erna Clausen	English	Our choice	Eliminated		19/19	15th	Söngvakeppnin 2018
2019	Hatari	Hatrið mun sigra M / T: Hatari	Icelandic	Hatred will prevail	10/26	232	3/17	221	Söngvakeppnin 2019
2020	Daði & Gagnamagnið	Think About Things M / T: Daði Freyr	English	Think about things	Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the EBU				Söngvakeppnin 2020

National preliminary decisions

→ Main article : Söngvakeppnin

Up to and including 1994, all Icelandic entries were selected in a national preliminary decision, and in 1990 there were also two semi-finals. Often the selection was changed after the decision: in 1986 the contribution was originally only presented by Pálmi Gunnarsson, the Icy group was formed later. In 1994 the television broadcaster RUV was dissatisfied and on the one hand replaced the singer Sigrún Eva Ármannsdóttir with Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir (with whom she had sung two years earlier in the group Heart2Heart) and on the other hand the song Nætur was rearranged by Frank McNamara.

In the phase 1995 up to and including 1999, all contributions were selected internally, before a preliminary decision based on the old concept was introduced again by 2003, which, however, had to give way to the internal selection again in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 a new preliminary decision mode was introduced, which included three semi-finals with eight titles each. The concept achieved high ratings, so it was carried out again in 2007.

A new mode was introduced in 2008. At that time there were eleven quarter-finals with three songs each, one of which was directly voted on. A jury selected three entries from the other songs for a twelfth quarter-final. The twelve winners were divided into four semifinals. Of three songs, two each were voted into the final by telephone. In the final, too, it was only the audience who decided on the winner. In 2009 this complicated system was slimmed down. Since then there have been no more quarter-finals, only two semi-finals and a final. The decision about the finalists and the winner is still made by telephone voting.

languages

Iceland stayed true to its national language up to and including 1998. From 1986 to 1997, the Icelandic contributions were performed in the national language in accordance with the rules, even if an English version was recorded for all songs. After the fall of the language rule, the picture changed, since then, except for 2013 and 2019, all contributions have been sung completely in English (2010: French-language title line). In the years in which a national preliminary decision took place, all contributions had to be presented in Icelandic, so that Icelandic versions also exist in these years (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and since 2011). In 2013 Iceland participated for the first time with a contribution in the national language, without the rules requiring it. In 2019 Iceland sang in Icelandic for the second time without the rules dictating it.

Scoring

The following countries received the most points from or awarded the most points to Iceland (as of 2019):

Most of the points awarded in the final space country Points 1  Sweden 220 2  Denmark 198 3  Norway 150 4th  France 103 5  Finland 081

Most in the final received points space country Points 1  Sweden 120 2  Norway 118 3  Denmark 106 4th  United Kingdom 080 5  Portugal 061

Most of the points awarded space country Points 1  Sweden 288 2  Denmark 248 3  Norway 202 4th  Finland 164 5  Portugal 115

Most total obtained points space country Points 1  Sweden 190 2  Finland 169 3  Norway 167 4th  Denmark 161 5  Spain 122

Award of the highest rating

Since 1986 Iceland has given the highest number of points in the final in 16 different countries, eight of them to Denmark. In the semi-finals, Iceland gave the highest number of points to 13 different countries, including three times to Finland.

Highest rating (final) year country Place (final) 1986  Sweden 5 1987  Germany 2 1988  Yugoslavia 6th 1989  Cyprus 11 1990  France 2 1991  Sweden 1 1992  Switzerland 15th 1993  United Kingdom 2 1994  Ireland 1 1995  Norway 1 1996  Estonia 5 1997  Cyprus 5 1998 Not qualified 1999  Denmark 8th 2000  Denmark 1 2001  Denmark 2 2002 Not qualified 2003  Norway 4th 2004  Ukraine 1 2005  Norway 9 2006  Finland 1 2007  Finland 17th 2008  Denmark 15th 2009  Norway 1 2010  Denmark 4th 2011  Denmark 5 2012  Sweden 1 2013  Denmark 1 2014  Netherlands 2 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Netherlands (J) 11  Sweden (T) 5 2017  Portugal (J&T) 1 2018  Austria (J) 3  Denmark (T) 9 2019  Sweden (J) 5  Norway (T) 6th 2020 Competition canceled

Highest rating (semi-finals) year country Place (semifinals) 2004  Denmark 13 2005  Norway 6th 2006  Finland 1 2007  Hungary 2 2008  Denmark 3 2009  Finland 12 2010  Belgium 1 2011  Finland 3 2012  Cyprus 7th 2013  Norway 3 2014  Netherlands 1 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Netherlands (J) 11  Russia (T) 3 2017  Portugal (J&T) 1 2018  Albania (J) 8th  Czech Republic (T) 3 2019  Australia (J) 1  Czech Republic (T) 2 2020 Competition canceled

various

• The English versions of both the 1987 and 1990 contributions are called One More Song .
• Before he was selected internally as a representative in 1995, Bo Halldórsson had already participated in the Icelandic preliminary round six times.
• Iceland has given Denmark the most points on average since it first participated - at least 10.7. On the other hand, Iceland also got the most points from Denmark - an average of 7.9.
• In the studio version of the contribution from 2006, which is also included on the compilation CD of the Eurovision Song Contest, the line “I'll fucking win” is included. It is the first and so far only time that a “ dirty word ” has appeared an official CD of the competition is included. In the live version, Silvia Night replaced the line after threats from the EBU to disqualify her with the similar sounding “I'll freaking win”. She had previously insisted on the original version during rehearsals.
• Some contributions were presented in Icelandic in the national preliminary round, but were performed in English in the international competition . This has been the case every year since 1999 except for 2013 and 2019.
• In 2019 , when the points were announced, the participants held Hatari Palestinian banners into the camera. This is against the rules of the competition. It is still unknown whether the EBU had any effects or sanctions.

Impressions

• 

  Eirikur Hauksson 2007

• 

  Euroband 2008

• 

  Yohanna 2009

• 

  Hera Björk 2010

• 

  Eythor Ingi 2013

• 

  Pollapönk 2014

• 

  María Ólafsdóttir 2015

• 

  Greta Salóme 2016

• 

  Svala 2017

• 

  Ari Ólafsson 2018

• 

  Hatari 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ geocities.ws
2. ↑ natfinals.50webs.com
3. ↑ natfinals.50webs.com
4. ↑ diggiloo.net
5. ↑ Iceland: Videoclip released - entry to be performed in Icelandic . esctoday.com