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Israelis are urging Icelanders to vote for Hera Björk instead of Bashar Murad!

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The Eurovision Song Contest is another venue where the crises and conflict in the Middle East are clearly reflected. An example of this is the debates over Israel‘s participation in this year’s event.

Iceland‘s participation this year has political ramifications as well. Palestinian-born artist Bashar Murad is one of the artists claiming to represent the country. Due to this circumstance, the artist is the clear favourite to represent the country and has concurrently boosted Iceland in the betting tables.

Given this, a significant number of Jews have opposed to this entry. Indeed, there have been calls for Icelandic citizens to boycott Murad’s participation in the “Israeli-Icelandic Conversation” Facebook page, which strives to promote relations between the two countries. A such example is the post made by Yogev Segal, the group manager, urging Icelanders to vote for Hera Björk, the country’s representative in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, in order to prevent Bashar Murad from winning.

In view of the above, developments over the next period are expected to be of particular interest.

Below you can watch the performances of Hera Björk and Bashar Murad:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the Eurovision 2o24 updates!

Source: Heimildin

Iceland: The decision about the country’s Eurovision 2024 participation will be made by RUV

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Iceland‘s public broadcaster RUV provided clarification in an official statement regarding some of the earlier reports about the country’s participation in Eurovision 2024. According to announcements made on RUV’s website, the winning artist at Söngvakeppnin is not the only one who will have the last say over whether or not Iceland will compete in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.

Iceland’s participation is still uncertain

The Söngvakeppnin finalists do not receive authority over the ultimate decision, RUV retains that authority. However, it is noted that they are unable to force someone to take part in the competition against their will.

Since many things may occur on the Gaza front, which naturally influences the decisions made by Icelandic public television, no decision has been made as of now.

It is very evident that RÚV, not the contestants, determines whether Iceland will compete in Eurovision. Naturally, the perspectives of the artists that will win the competition will be heard.

Furthermore, we don’t want to burn any bridges by, say, deciding to withdraw from Eurovision right away if things drastically shift in the middle of February or March, or something similar.

Iceland: A singer from Palestine among Söngvakeppnin 2024 contestants!

Icelandic reactions to Israel’s participation are intense

The backlash in Iceland has increased after the EBU announced last week that Israel’s public television satisfies all eligibility conditions to compete in the forthcoming competition.

The Composers’ and Creators’ Union, as well as regular Icelanders, are requesting that RUV exert pressure on the EBU to pull Israel out of the competition.

About 76 percent of respondents to an online poll by Prósent in December 2024 suggested that Israel should withdraw from Eurovision 2024, and about 60 percent argued that Iceland should not compete if Israel does.

No reaction from the rest of the Nordic countries

Should it ultimately be decided to pull out of the competition, RUV does not anticipate its decision will influence the decisions made by the other Nordic countries.

Based on the information I have, it appears that there is only conversation about Israel in Norway and to a lesser extent in Finland. For example, there is no indication of this in Denmark or Sweden. I have frequent contact with my colleagues in the Nordic region.

Voices in favor of Palestine won’t be silenced

RUV makes it abundantly evident that, as was the case with Hatari in 2019, the winner of Söngvakeppnin 2024 will not be prohibited from voicing his opinions on the matter of Palestine.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Eurovision 2024!

Source: RUV 

Eurovision 2024 Iceland: Submissions for Söngvakeppnin 2024 open today!

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Eurovision 2024 hopeful candidates are now able to submit their songs for the Icelandic National Final.Applicants can submit their entries until the 10th September.The songs will be assessed by experienced music professionals by FTT, FÍH και RÚV.

The 10 songs participating in Söngvakeppnin 2024 will be revealed in January. The shows are scheduled to take place in February and March 2024.
Iceland in Eurovision
Iceland debuted in 1986 and has yet to win the contest,achieving an all-time high 2nd place in 1999 and 2009.This year’s representative was Dilja with her song “Power” which did not manage to proceed in the Grand Final,achieving an 11th place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzlTcA0OC5s

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source:RUV

Iceland: Daði Freyr wants an end to pre-recorded backing vocals at Eurovision!

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Daði Freyr called for an end to the  pre-recorded vocals in the Eurovision Song Contest. The singer who represented Iceland in Rotterdam , made a post on Twitter to express his feelings.

In  the tweet , which you can see below, Daði Freyr commented on the use of pre-recorded vocals. Mentioning  that it is less interesting to use vocals on a backing tape, as he would prefer to listen all the vocals live on stage.

Several Twitter users pointed out that last year, Daði og Gagnamagnið themselves made the most use of pre-recorded vocals. ” 10 Years”  was accompanied by a large pre-recorded choir of fans.

The pre-recorded vocals

In 2021, the new Executive Supervisor, Martin Österdahl , announced that pre-recorded vocals will be used in Rotterdam’s competition. EBU took the measure to create smaller delegations amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. A smaller delegation would most likely ensure a safer contest, as less people would be on the ground in Rotterdam.

In addition, EBU said that as the music landscape evolves, this change will allow live shows to be even closer to their studio counterparts. Examples of songs that had to be adapted due to the previous set of rules include Poli Genova’s “If Love Was a Crime” and JOWST ‘s “Grab the Moment” .

Prior to the 2022 competition, the EBU decided that the pre-recorded vocals would remain for the competition in Turin. The information originally came from the Icelandic television network RÚV and in the end turned out to be true.

Daði & Gagnamagnið and the song “10 Years” , represented Iceland in 2021, winning 4th place with 378 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMhu-PrLME

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Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Eurovision 2023!

Source

Iceland: Söngvakeppnin 2022 is rescheduled!

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The newly imposed restrictions due to the rapidly spreading SARS-COV2, in several countries throughout the globe, have led to many events either getting cancelled or postponed.

This is exactly what has happened to Söngvakeppnin 2022, the national selection process of Iceland for Eurovision 2022.

In specific, the songs were initially planned to be released on January the 29th, the two Semi-Finals to be held on 19 and 26 of February, respectively and the Final to be held on March the 5th.

The decision

However, RUV, the public broadcaster of the country, has taken into account the decision of the health national authorities to actually postpone all the events held in the Country, consequently, Söngvakeppnin 2022 will be postponed as well, for a whole week.

The thoughts behind the rescheduling

The national final got postponed, aiming for it to be implemented in the most optimal way, also hoping to run this large-scale show at full capacity, by ensuring the safety of contestants, spectators and employees at the same time.

Iceland’s head of delegation, Rúnar Freyr Gíslason, said it would be better to postpone the national final even further, in order to increase the chances of it being held without any restrictions.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done, as the deadline for submitting Eurovision entries is set for March the 13th.

The detailed schedule of  Söngvakeppnin 2022 will be the following:

  • 5th of February – Announcement of artists and release of competing songs of Söngvakeppnin 2022
  • 26th of February – First Semi-Final
  • 5th of March – Second Semi-Final
  • 11th of March – Family Show (Jury Rehearsal)
  • 12th of March – Grand Final

10 songs will compete at Söngvakeppnin 2022, while the artists, composers and songs will be revealed at the RUV show called Lögin í Söngvakeppninn.

The songs have already been recorded and all the artists have already started rehearsing for their semi finals. The pre-sale of the tickets for the shows will also be announced soon.

Artists from Iceland have shown major interest in submitting their proposals for the Icelandic Eurovision 2022 entry, leading to a total of 160 song submissions, breaking a record of submissions for Iceland throughout the years. The songs have been judged by an expert committee, that decided which of those entries will eventually take part in the national final of the country.

In 2021, Iceland was represented by Daði og Gagnamagnið with their song “10 years” and managed to be ranked 4th. You can listen to the song below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORDK1XQToAY