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Iceland: With Hera Björk and Scared of Heights in Malmö!

Τhe grand final of Söngvakeppnin 2024, the national process through which the representative of the island of ice and fire in the Eurovision Song Contest is sworn took place tonight. This year, however, the country’s participation is not considered certain, as the issue of the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine and the participation of the former in the competition is a point of friction in the public sphere of Iceland. The grand final of Söngvakeppnin 2024 took place in Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík.

As in the previous two semi-finals, the grand final was presented by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, Sigurður Þorri Gunnarsson and Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson.

The show started with a tribute to Selma and Iceland’s 1999 entry that finished in 2nd place. Selma herself opened the final night with a live performance of Out of Luck!

The contestants

Five artists participated in the grand final where they performed their entries in English apart from the Væb who chose to keep their song in Icelandic. At this point we remind you that the rules allow the artists to choose the language of their preference.

The artists of the first round of the final performed as per below:

With the end of the competitive part of the first round, the telephone lines were opened for the voting of the televoters.

First Round results

In the first round the two artists who advanced to the second round resulted from the combination of the votes of the television audience and the jury.

The two artists who made it to the second round were:

  1. Hera Björk – “Scared of Heights”
  2. Bashar Murad – “Wild West

Second Round results

In the second round of the final the two aforementioned artists performed their entries again where the result was decided only by the vote of the television audience.

Before the announcement of the results, last year’s representative of Iceland, Diljá, took the stage.

After the end of the voting, the winner was Hera Björk with Scared of Heights!

Hera Björk with Scared of Heights and Iceland, in case RÚV does not decline the participation in the Contest, is scheduled to take part in the second half of the first semi-final of 7th of May claiming one of the ten tickets for the grand final of Saturday 11th of May.

This is going to be the second time Hera Björk represents Iceland after 2010 when she finished 19th in the final.

What do you think of the results of the Icelandic final? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Iceland: Bashar Murad’s video for “Wild West” available now!

Iceland is close to selecting their Eurovision representative for their national final Söngvakeppnin.  As in other national finals, the current political climate has been the elephant in the room.  The public has scrutinized the broadcaster’s stance in the Israel-Palestina conflict.  It is therefore, no surprise that a competitor in particular has caused controversy.  Palestinian singer  Bashar Murad is among the competing acts to represent Iceland.  Bashar had previously collaborated with 2019 representative Hatari who waved a Palestine flag as a protest during the night of the Grand Final.

Bashar’s identity has sparked both support and controversy among fans making him a favorite to represent the country.  Moreover, Iceland has climbed the betting odds based on the significance of this possible selection.

Today, Bashar Murad released the Video Clip for his Söngvakeppnin song, “Wild West” .

Bashar Murad gained recognition in Iceland after collaborating with  Hatari  in 2019, after the end of that year’s contest. However, in an interview with RUV, Bashar Murad denied the accusations that his participation was a political stunt.  Additionally he said that he is not sure whether he will finally participate in Eurovision 2024, if he ends up winning Söngvakeppnin.

The Grand Final of Söngvakeppnin  takes place next SaturdayMarch 2.  Five artists  will perform on the stage to represent Iceland in Malmö !

The running order will be:

  1. VÆB  “Bíómynd
  2. Hera Björk –  “Scared of Heights”
  3. ANITA –  “Downfall
  4. Bashar Murad –  “Wild West
  5. Sigga Ózk  –  “Into The Atmosphere”

The result of the Grand Final, will consists on  two rounds of voting.  Firstly, he Icelandic public and an  international jury will decide the best two acts who will advance to a  second round. After that, the public will vote once again.  However, this time only the televote will decide the winner.  Finally, the vote of the public in the second round will be added to the votes of the first round and will determine the winner of Söngvakeppnin.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for more news about Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024!


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Norway: New Nordic party in Oslo! | Big names already confirmed!

The Nordic Music Celebration started back in February 2023 as a collaboration between OGAE Norway, ESC Norge, and Eurovision Norway, in close collaboration with professional partners in the music industry. The initiative started with the idea of having a concert where we can showcase the best of the Nordic acts from both national selections and representatives in Eurovision together on one stage, where we invite fans to honour their icons. And also, with our wide network we have many connections to similar events and Eurovision artists in Europe, we want to invite some of the iconic Eurovision artists from countries outside the Nordics to perform for their fans here in Norway. This is a great way to gather the Eurovision loving fan-community together in a Nordic celebration.

What can you expect in Oslo?

Håkon Røssum has been leading the work with the project since the start with the rest of the teams from ESC Norge and OGAE Norway, as well as key players from the Netherlands and says:

“Fans have been wanting a pre-party for Eurovision here for a long time, especially since we have a high level on our acts and this year top 3 televote favourites were all from the Nordics (Finland, Sweden and Norway). We want to honour the artists, new and iconic in time, all together on one stage. We really hope to see some of the next years Eurovision artists visiting Oslo as well on the end of their promo tour, just three weeks before the final in Malmø”

Former winners of the Eurovision Song Contest are already set to perform in April 2024

The first performers that are ready to take the stage is Alexander Rybak (Norway, 2009 winner, 2018), Bettan (Norway, 1985 winner, 1994, 1996 and Sweden 1982), Emmelie de Forest (Denmark, 2013 winner), Jone (MGP, 2023), Subwoolfer, (Norway, 2022 representatives), Hera Björk (Iceland 2010)  and Luke Black (Serbia, 2023).

Tickets already went on sale this Friday, today at 10:00 AM (CET) on Ticketmaster.no https://www.ticketmaster.no/event/732975

A ticket for the event will be NOK 850 for an early entrance and NOK 640 for an ordinary ticket. The Nordic Music Celebration is available for individuals aged 18 years and above due to venue regulations.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding Eurostars, pre-parties and the Eurovision Song Contest!

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