The first two acts who will compete in the Grand Final of Söngvakeppnin 2019 have been selected this evening in Iceland.
Iceland has selected the first two singers who will compete in the Grand Final of Söngvakeppnin 2019. The two acts were selected by a combination of public vote and jury voting. Jury voting has been introduced in to the semi-finals this year, among a number of changes implemented by RUV
The singers taking to the stage this evening were as follows (Qualifiers in bold):
- Hatari – Hatrið mun sigra
- Hera Björk – Eitt andartak
- Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen – Ég á mig sjálf
- Þórdís Imsland – Nú og hér
- Daníel Óliver – Samt ekki
The semi-finals continue next weekend in Iceland, with five more acts taking to the stage. Another two singers will qualify from the semi-final and go on to compete in the Grand Final.
The final will feature up to five artists, with RÚV reserving the right to add one additional song in to the show after both semi-finals have taken place.
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.
