Söngvakeppnin
GenreVarious
Location(s)Iceland
Years active7 March 1981–present
Founded byRíkisútvarpið (RÚV)
WebsiteOfficial website

Söngvakeppnin (known from 1986–1989 as Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsstöðva and in 1981, 1983 and 1990–2012 as Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsins, lit.'the Television's Song Contest') is an annual music competition organised by Icelandic public broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format

The contest was first organised in 1981, although neither it nor its subsequent 1983 edition were used to determine any representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest until Iceland made its debut in the 1986 contest. Since then, RÚV has used Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsins to select the Icelandic entry, but has also used an internal selection at times, between 1995 and 1999, and in 2004, 2005 and 2021.

Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsins has consisted of a multi-artist competition, with between five and ten songs competing. Most contests in the past have been a one-night event. Since 2006, the contest has consisted of a number of semi-finals aired before a final.

It was known for RÚV to change the performers for Eurovision. This can be seen in 1986, when winner Pálmi Gunnarsson was joined by Eiríkur Hauksson and Helga Möller to form ICY for Eurovision. In 1994, RÚV was not happy with the winning song, and so enlisted Frank McNamara to rearrange the entry and select a new singer.[1]

Songs at Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsins were previously only allowed to be performed in Icelandic. However, the winning songs were normally translated into English for Eurovision. This rule was abolished in 2008, when English-language songs were allowed to compete for the first time.

Winners

The first 33 winners of Söngvakeppnin have gone on to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest. Iceland has never won the contest (the only Nordic country never to do so), but it has finished second twice: in 1999 (when an internal selection was used), losing to Sweden, and in 2009, when it lost to Norway.

2020 was the first time in history where the winner of Söngvakeppnin, in this case Daði og Gagnamagnið, did not advance to Eurovision, as that event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, RÚV internally re-selected Daði og Gagnamagnið to represent the country in 2021, with the song also chosen internally.

Year City
Venue
Song Artist Songwriter(s) Result at Eurovision
1986 Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
"Gleðibankinn" Pálmi Gunnarsson Magnús Eiríksson 16th (as ICY)
1987 "Hægt og hljótt" Halla Margrét Árnadóttir Valgeir Guðjónsson 16th
1988 "Þú og þeir" Sverrir Stormsker
and Stefán Hilmarsson
Sverrir Stormsker 16th (as Beathoven)
1989 "Það sem enginn sér" Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson Valgeir Guðjónsson 22nd
1990 "Eitt lag enn" Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir
and Grétar Örvarsson
Hörður G. Ólafsson, Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson 4th (as Stjórnin)
1991 "Draumur um Nínu" Stefán Hilmarsson
and Eyjólfur Kristjánsson
Eyjólfur Kristjánsson 15th (as Stefán and Eyfi)
1992 Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
"Nei eða já" Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir
and Sigrún Eva Ármannsdottir
Friðrik Karlsson, Grétar Örvarsson, Stefán Hilmarsson 7th (as Heart 2 Heart)
1993 Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
"Þá veistu svarið" Ingibjörg Stefánsdóttir Jon Kjell Seljeseth, Friðrik Sturluson 13th (as Inga)
1994 "Nætur" Sigrún Eva Ármannsdóttir Friðrik Karlsson, Stefán Hilmarsson 12th (performed by
Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir as Sigga)
2000 Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
"Hvert sem er" Einar Ágúst Víðisson
and Telma Ágústsdóttir
Örlygur Smári, Sigurður Örn Jónsson 12th (August and Telma with "Tell Me!")
2001 Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
"Birta" Kristján Gíslason and Gunnar Ólason Einar Bárðarson, Magnús Þór Sigmundsson 22nd (Two Tricky with "Angel")
2003 Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
"Segðu mér allt" Birgitta Haukdal Hallgrímur Óskarsson, Birgitta Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir 8th (as "Open Your Heart")
2006 Reykjavík "Til hamingju Ísland" Silvía Nótt Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, Silvía Nótt SF: 13th (as "Congratulations")
2007 Reykjavík
Basecamp Studio
"Ég les í lófa þínum" Eiríkur Hauksson Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Kristján Hreinsson SF: 13th (as "Valentine Lost")
2008 Reykjavík "This Is My Life" Eurobandið Örlygur Smári, Paul Oscar, Peter Fenner 14th
2009 "Is It True?" Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Tinatin Japaridze, Chris Neil 2nd (as Yohanna)
2010 "Je ne sais quoi" Hera Björk Örlygur Smári, Hera Björk 19th
2011 "Aftur heim" Sigurjón's Friends Sigurjón Brink, Þórunn Erna Clausen 20th (as "Coming Home")
2012 "Mundu eftir mér" Greta Salóme and Jónsi Greta Salóme 20th (as "Never Forget")
2013 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
(final)
Reykjavík
Harpa
"Ég á líf" Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson Örlygur Smári, Pétur Örn Guðmundsson 17th
2014 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
(final)
Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
"No Prejudice" Pollapönk Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson, Haraldur F. Gíslason 15th
2015 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
(final)
Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
"Unbroken" María Ólafsdóttir Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson SF: 15th
2016 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
(final)
Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
"Hear Them Calling" Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir SF: 14th
2017 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
RÚV Studios
(final)
Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
"Paper" Svala Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, Lily Elise SF: 15th
2018 (Two semi-finals)
Reykjavík
Háskólabíó
(final)
Reykjavík
Laugardalshöll
"Our Choice" Ari Ólafsson Þórunn Erna Clausen SF: 19th
2019 "Hatrið mun sigra" Hatari Einar Hrafn Stefánsson, Klemens Nikulásson Hannigan, Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson 10th
2020 "Think About Things" Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið Daði Freyr Pétursson Contest cancelled
2022 Reykjavík
Gufunes - Söngvakeppnishöllin - RVK Studios
"Með hækkandi sól" Sigga, Beta and Elín Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir 23rd (as Systur)
2023 "Power" Diljá Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Diljá Pétursdóttir SF: 11th

See also

References

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