The dates for Iceland’s Eurovision selection show Songvakeppnin have been revealed.
Icelandic broadcaster RÚV has revealed that the semi-finals of Songvakeppnin 2019 will take place on 9th and 16th of February, with the final taking place on March 2nd. Songs can be submitted to the contest as of today, and the submissions window will close on October 22nd.
Slight changes will be made to the 2019 edition of the contest, as only ten artists will be competing, as opposed to the usual 12. RÚV has also hired British choreographer Lee Proud as an Artistic Director for the contest.
RÚV Assistant Program Manager, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, has said:
“The contest is expanding from year to year and we have been hugely pleased with its development. This year we decided to change the arrangement and we think it offers more varied, fun and even better laws”
This year, Iceland was represented at Eurovision in Lisbon 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: RÚV
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.