The Head of Programming at the Icelandic national broadcaster has stated that they expect to take part in next years Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.
Speaking to Iceland Monitor, Skarphéðinn Guðmundsson has stated that the Icelandic broadcaster expects to take part in next years competition in Israel. Mr Guðmundsson’s comments came after the Icelandic publication asked whether the broadcaster would be boycotting the competition if the contest was to be held in Jerusalem.
He explained that;
At this stage we are looking at the matter, location of the contest and the cost of taking part and other factors. But unless something changes we are looking to taking part in next year’s contest.
Questions have arisen in the media around whether nations will be boycotting next years contest in Israel, should Jerusalem be selected as the host city for the 2019 edition of the competition.
This year, Iceland was represented by Ari Ólafsson with Our Choice. Iceland finished last in the first semi-final scoring just 15 points, this included 0 points from the public vote.
Source: Iceland Monitor
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.
