Network operator Vodafone has confirmed that there were no issues recorded during the voting as the final of Söngvakeppnin 2018 took place.
The Icelandic national broadcaster has received confirmation from Vodafone that there were no technical issues with televoting during the final of Söngvakeppnin on Saturday evening. The broadcaster began investigating whether issues had taken place following reports on social media that people were having issues with voting during the competition.
Vodafone said in a statement that;
Both the SMS route and the dial-up function operated without interference. The telephone exchange used in the election is specially designed with telephone calls in mind, and has been used for the same purpose for years and without an issue.
The operator added that at Laugardalshöllin, the venue for the final there may have been additional strain on the network. This would have been a temporary issue.
Ari Ólafsson won the final of Iceland’s selection process with the song “Our Choice”, he received a total of 44,919 votes. Runner up Dagur Sigurðsson received 39,474 votes having previously topped both the jury and public vote during the first round of the final.
Source: RUV
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Iceland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986 and, aside from 2 years of relegation in 1998 and 2002, has participated every year since. The contest is incredibly popular in Iceland, regularly being one of the most watched programmes of the year. Iceland has yet to win the contest but has finished in 2nd on two occasions. In 1999, Selma missed out on victory in Jerusalem by 17 points, and in 2009 Yohanna became the most successful Icelandic entrant ever finishing 2nd in the final with the song “Is it True?”. She scored 218 points, yet still finished 169 points behind the runaway winner Norway.
I was so worried. 🙁 Either way, I’m happy Ari’s still competing at Eurovision. Hopefully he’ll break Iceland’s non-qualification streak. 🙂