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Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Með hækkandi sól" performed by Systur. The Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) organised the national final Söngvakeppnin 2022 in order to select the Icelandic entry for the contest. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 26 February and 5 March 2022 and a final on 12 March 2022.

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country Iceland
National selection
Selection processSöngvakeppnin 2022
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
26 February 2022
5 March 2022
Final:
12 March 2022
Selected artist(s)Systur
Selected song"Með hækkandi sól"
Selected songwriter(s)Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (10th, 103 points)
Final result23rd, 20 points
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022 • 2023►

Iceland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2022. Performing during the show in position 14, "Með hækkandi sól" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. In the final, Iceland placed 23rd with 20 points. It was later revealed that the country placed 10th in the semi-final with 103 points.

Background

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Main article: Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2022 contest, Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its first entry in 1986.[1] 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 2021, Iceland placed fourth in the grand final with the song "10 Years" performed by Daði og Gagnamagnið.

The Icelandic national broadcaster, Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), broadcasts the event within Iceland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. From 2006 to 2020, Iceland's competitor has been selected by Söngvakeppnin, a televised national competition. Daði og Gagnamagnið won Söngvakeppnin 2020 with "Think About Things". The song was considered one of the favourites to win,[2] however the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daði og Gagnamagnið were subsequently internally re-selected to compete in 2021 with the song "10 Years", finishing in fourth place with 378 points.

Before Eurovision

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Söngvakeppnin 2022

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Söngvakeppnin 2022 was the national final organised by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. It consisted of two semi-finals on 26 February and 5 March 2022 and a final on 12 March 2022.[3] The shows took place in the RVK Studios in Gufunes,[4] hosted by Björg Magnúsdóttir [is], Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir.[5]

Format

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In each semi-final, five of the ten competing acts performed, and two entries determined solely by the viewing public through telephone voting progressed to the final. As per the rules of the competition, an additional optional qualifier could be selected by the contest organisers from among the non-qualifying acts, which would also progress to the final. This option was subsequently invoked by the organisers, meaning that a total of five acts qualified for the final.[6]

In the final, two rounds of voting determined the winning song: in the first round, the votes of the viewing public through telephone voting and the votes of a seven-member international jury panel determined two entries which would progress to the second round. The public and jury each accounted for 50% of the result in the first round, with the rankings of each jury member being converted to match the total number of televotes cast by the public.[7] In the second round a further round of televoting was held, with the winner determined by aggregating the results of the first round to the votes received in the second round.

Competing entries

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Between 3 September and 6 October 2021, RÚV opened the period for interested songwriters to submit their entries. Songwriters did not have any particular requirement to meet, and the process was open to all.[8] At the close of submissions, 158 songs had been entered.[4] A selection committee formed under consultation with the Association of Composers (FTT) and the Icelandic Musicians' Union (FÍH) selected the ten competing entries, all of which were revealed on 5 February 2022.[3][8]

Söngvakeppnin 2022 – Competing entries[9]
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Icelandic title English title
Amarosis — "Don't You Know" Már Gunnarsson, Ísold Wilberg
Haffi Haff [af] "Gía" "Volcano" Hafsteinn Þór Guðjónsson, Steinar Jónsson, Sigurður Ásgeir Árnason
Hanna Mia and The Astrotourists "Séns með þér" "Gemini" Hanna Mia Brekkan, Sakaris Emil Joensen [fo], Nína Richter
Katla "Þaðan af" "Then Again" Jóhannes Damian Patreksson, Kristinn Óli S. Haraldsson, Hafsteinn Þráinsson, Snorri Beck
Markéta Irglová "Mögulegt" "Possible" Markéta Irglová, Sturla Mio Þórisson
Reykjavíkurdætur (Daughters of Reykjavík) "Tökum af stað" "Turn This Around" Ragnhildur Jónasdóttir, Salka Valsdóttir, Steinunn Jónsdóttir, Þuríður Blær Jóhannsdóttir, Þuríður Kr Kristleifsdóttir
Sigga, Beta and Elín "Með hækkandi sól" — Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir
Stefán Óli "Ljósið" "All I Know" Andri Þór Jónsson, Birgir Steinn Stefánsson, Stefán Hilmarsson
Stefanía Svavarsdóttir "Hjartað mitt" "Heart of Mine" Halldór Gunnar Pálsson, Magnús Þór Sigmundsson [is]
Suncity and Sanna "Hækkum í botn" "Keep It Cool" Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Valgeir Magnússon, Davíð Guðbrandsson, Sanna Martinez, Anders Eriksson, Mark Caplice

Semi-finals

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Two semi-finals took place on 26 February 2022 and 5 March 2022. In each semi-final, five of the ten competing acts performed, and two entries determined solely by the viewing public through telephone voting progressed to the final. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, a number of guest performances also featured during the two shows. The first semi-final featured a performance from the Icelandic electronic rock band GusGus and Margrét Rán, who performed a rendition of the 2009 Icelandic Eurovision entry "Is It True?".[10] The second semi-final featured a performance from Icelandic singer and actress GDRN, who performed the 2003 Icelandic Eurovision entry "Open Your Heart".[11] In addition, an optional qualifier was selected by the contest organisers from among the non-qualifying acts, which also progressed to the final.

Semi-final 1 – 26 February 2022[12][13]
Draw Artist Song Votes Place Result
1 Amarosis "Don’t You Know" 7,006 3 Wildcard
2 Stefán Óli "Ljósið" 7,017 2 Finalist
3 Haffi Haff "Gía" 4,828 5 Eliminated
4 Stefanía Svavarsdóttir "Hjartað mitt" 5,613 4 Eliminated
5 Sigga, Beta and Elín "Með hækkandi sól" 10,788 1 Finalist
Semi-final 2 – 5 March 2022[13][14]
Draw Artist Song Votes Place Result
1 Markéta Irglová "Mögulegt" 3,251 4 Eliminated
2 Suncity and Sanna "Hækkum í botn" 4,170 3 Eliminated
3 Reykjavíkurdætur "Tökum af stað" 13,137 1 Finalist
4 Katla "Þaðan af" 5,251 2 Finalist
5 Hanna Mia and The Astrotourists "Séns með þér" 3,197 5 Eliminated

Final

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The final took place on 12 March 2022 and featured the four qualifiers and the wildcard from the semi-finals. It was later revealed that the songs in the final would be performed in the language they would be performing in case they represent the country in Eurovision. Thus, three of the finalists, namely Stefan Oli, Sigga, Beta and Elín, and Katla, decided to perform the Icelandic version of their entries, while Reykjavíkurdætur performed a bilingual version of their entry in both English and Icelandic, and Amarosis decided to perform their entry in English.[15] In addition to the competing entries, the show was opened by Birgitta Haukdal, together with Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Guðjón Davíð Karlsson, Þórey Birgisdóttir, Björg Magnúsdóttir [is], Jón Jónsson, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, and Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson. Moreover, Daði Freyr, who represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 together with Gagnamagnið, performed as an interval act.[16] The 2021 Ukrainian representatives Go_A were set to feature as guest performers,[5] however, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulting in the band's inability to travel to Iceland, the 2021 Swedish representative Tusse performed in the final instead.[17][18] Both Freyr and Tusse were also part of the jury panel.[19]

Final – First round – 12 March 2022[13]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
1 Katla "Þaðan af" 15,031 5,972 21,003 5 Eliminated
2 Amarosis "Don't You Know" 11,921 12,506 24,427 3 Eliminated
3 Reykjavíkurdætur "Turn This Around" 19,437 26,320 45,757 1 Advanced
4 Stefán Óli "Ljósið" 13,476 9,126 22,602 4 Eliminated
5 Sigga, Beta and Elín "Með hækkandi sól" 18,141 24,083 42,224 2 Advanced
Detailed jury votes[13]
Draw Song Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Juror 6 Juror 7 Total
1 "Þaðan af" 2,591 1,814 1,814 2,591 1,555 2,073 2,591 15,031
2 "Don't You Know" 1,555 2,073 1,555 1,555 1,814 1,814 1,555 11,921
3 "Turn This Around" 1,814 3,110 3,110 2,073 3,110 3,110 3,110 19,437
4 "Ljósið" 2,073 1,555 2,073 1,814 2,591 1,555 1,814 13,476
5 "Með hækkandi sól" 3,110 2,591 2,591 3,110 2,073 2,591 2,073 18,141
Jury members (sorted by country)[19]
Final – Second round – 12 March 2022[13]
Draw Artist Song Votes Place
Round 1 Round 2 Total
1 Reykjavíkurdætur "Turn This Around" 45,757 23,470 69,227 2
2 Sigga, Beta and Elín "Með hækkandi sól" 42,224 35,156 77,380 1

At Eurovision

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A video postcard introduced the trio's performance in the first semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The postcard was filmed in the Italian commune of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Province of Belluno and featured virtual projections of Systur across the location.

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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 (EBU) 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 25 January 2022, an 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, which was held on 10 May 2022, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[20]

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 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 14, following the entry from the Austria and before the entry from Greece.[21] Immediately after the close of the first semi-final, a press conference was held in which each of the artists drew the half of the final of which they would perform in. Iceland was drawn into the second half of the final and was later selected by the EBU to perform in position number 18, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Moldova.

In Iceland, all shows were broadcast on RÚV and RÚV 2, with commentary by Gísli Marteinn Baldursson.[22][23] The Icelandic spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Icelandic jury during the final, was Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir, who previously represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 as a part of Daði og Gagnamagnið.

Semi-final

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Systur took part in technical rehearsals on 1 and 5 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Icelandic performance featured Systur and a backing piano singer who happened to be the brother of the three frontwomen. The performance remained intimate and similar to that of the national final, with all three sisters static throughout the song with guitars. Towards the end of the performance, LED light screens in the background grew golden from white.

At the end of the show, Iceland was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the third consecutive qualification to the final for Iceland. It was later revealed that Systur placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 103 points: 39 points from the televoting and 64 points from the juries.

Final

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Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Iceland was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Iceland was subsequently placed to perform in position 18, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Moldova.

Systur once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. They performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Iceland placed twenty-third in the final, scoring 20 points: 10 points from the televoting and 10 points from the juries.

Voting

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See also: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Iceland during the first semi-final and final. 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.[24] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form.[25][26] The Icelandic jury consisted of Erna, Kristján Gíslason, Lydía Grétarsdóttir, Stefán Hjörleifsson, and Sóley.[25][26] In the first semi-final, Iceland finished in tenth place out of seventeen entries, marking Iceland's third consecutive qualification to the grand final. Over the course of the contest, Iceland awarded its 12 points to Norway (jury) and Ukraine (televote) in the first semi-final and Sweden (jury) and Ukraine (televote) in the final.[27][28]

Points awarded to Iceland

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Points awarded by Iceland

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the Icelandic jury:[25][26]

  • Erna – Singer-songwriter
  • Kristján Gíslason – Music producer, singer, represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001
  • Lydía Grétarsdóttir – Singer-songwriter
  • Stefán Hjörleifsson – Musician, stage director
  • Sóley – Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, producer
Detailed voting results from Iceland (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Rank Points Rank Points
01   Albania 8 15 10 14 16 14 16
02   Latvia 5 3 14 9 8 7 4 11
03   Lithuania 11 8 3 1 3 3 8 6 5
04    Switzerland 15 4 5 5 9 6 5 10 1
05   Slovenia 16 16 12 15 15 16 15
06   Ukraine 3 2 2 2 4 2 10 1 12
07   Bulgaria 14 12 8 13 12 13 12
08   Netherlands 1 6 7 6 5 4 7 3 8
09   Moldova 10 13 16 16 11 15 4 7
10   Portugal 7 7 6 3 2 5 6 9 2
11   Croatia 12 10 9 11 13 12 14
12   Denmark 13 9 13 8 7 10 1 5 6
13   Austria 6 11 15 10 14 11 7 4
14   Iceland
15   Greece 4 14 11 7 6 9 2 13
16   Norway 2 1 1 4 1 1 12 2 10
17   Armenia 9 5 4 12 10 8 3 8 3
Detailed voting results from Iceland (Final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Rank Points Rank Points
01   Czech Republic 2 10 15 21 15 9 2 20
02   Romania 19 21 16 16 23 21 18
03   Portugal 11 5 11 8 2 6 5 14
04   Finland 13 14 18 13 24 20 16
05    Switzerland 23 8 12 12 14 14 15
06   France 14 20 23 14 11 18 21
07   Norway 5 4 1 4 4 3 8 2 10
08   Armenia 15 9 14 15 12 15 22
09   Italy 9 6 4 2 16 5 6 12
10   Spain 4 12 10 7 20 8 3 8 3
11   Netherlands 6 7 8 9 6 7 4 6 5
12   Ukraine 3 3 9 1 1 2 10 1 12
13   Germany 21 17 22 20 19 22 19
14   Lithuania 16 11 6 11 7 10 1 9 2
15   Azerbaijan 20 23 19 22 21 23 24
16   Belgium 17 18 20 6 18 16 13
17   Greece 10 15 13 19 8 13 23
18   Iceland
19   Moldova 24 22 24 17 22 24 5 6
20   Sweden 1 2 2 5 3 1 12 3 8
21   Australia 18 19 5 10 9 11 17
22   United Kingdom 8 1 3 3 5 4 7 4 7
23   Poland 22 13 7 18 10 12 7 4
24   Serbia 7 24 21 23 17 17 10 1
25   Estonia 12 16 17 24 13 19 11

References

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  1. ^ "Iceland Country Profile". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. ^ Hendryk, Tom (10 March 2020). "Eurovision 2020 Odds: Bulgaria Favourite To Win". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Söngvakeppninni á RÚV frestað um eina viku" [Söngvakeppnin on RÚV postponed by one week]. ruv.is (in Icelandic). RÚV. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Söngvakeppnin haldin í kvikmyndaverinu í Gufunesi". ruv.is (in Icelandic). RÚV. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b Granger, Anthony (16 February 2022). "🇮🇸 Iceland: Go_A to Perform in Söngvakeppnin 2022 Final". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  6. ^ Kristiansen, Wivian Renee (5 March 2022). "Two more qualifiers and a wildcard qualify for the final of Söngvakeppnin". ESCXtra. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  7. ^ Gestsson, Davíð Kjartan (12 March 2022). "Sigga, Beta og Elín fara alla leið í Eurovision". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Nú er hægt að senda lög í Söngvakeppnina 2022". ruv.is (in Icelandic). RÚV. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Iceland: 'Söngvakeppnin' 2022 songs revealed 🇮🇸". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 5 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. ^ Einarsdóttir, Júlía Margrét (27 February 2022). "Mögnuð ábreiða hjá Gus Gus á laginu Is it true". RÚV (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  11. ^ Björnsdóttir, Anna María (27 February 2022). "Frábær ábreiða GDRN á Open your heart". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  12. ^ Terry, Connor (26 February 2022). "The first semi-final of Iceland's Söngvakeppnin has concluded, two artists off to the final on March 12th". ESCUnited. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Systurnar unnu einvígið með nokkrum yfirburðum". RÚV (in Icelandic). 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  14. ^ Terry, Connor (5 March 2022). "The second semi-final of Söngvakeppnin concludes with Daughters of Reykjavík and Katla advancing to the final!". ESCUnited. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Iceland: What to expect from the 'Söngvakeppnin' final 🇮🇸". Eurovision.tv. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Daði Freyr með nýtt lag á Söngvakeppninni". RÚV (in Icelandic). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Go_A unable to make it to the Iceland, Tusse to perform at the Söngvakeppnin 2022 final". ESCXTRA.com. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Tilfinningarík framkoma Tusse á Söngvakeppninni". RÚV (in Icelandic). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Alþjóðleg dómnefnd í Söngvakeppninni tilkynnt". RÚV (in Icelandic). 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Eurovision 2022: Which Semi-Final is your country performing in? 🇮🇹". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  22. ^ Granger, Anthony (5 April 2022). "Iceland: Gísli Marteinn Baldursson Confirmed as Commentator For Eurovision 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Dagskrá". RÚV (in Icelandic).
  24. ^ "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  25. ^ a b c "Juries in the First Semi-Final of Turin 2022". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  26. ^ a b c "Juries in the Grand Final of Turin 2022". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  27. ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Turin 2022". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  28. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Turin 2022". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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