The ten songs competing in Söngvakeppnin 2020 have leaked on Spotify ahead of tonight’s reveal show on RUV.
Ahead of tonight’s reveal show the ten acts and songs competing in Söngvakeppnin have been released on streaming services. The release of the shows album on Spotify has leaked the artists and songs competing to represent Iceland in Rotterdam.
The ten acts and songs are:
- Brynja Mary – Augun þín (Your eyes) / In Your Eyes
- Daði Freyr – Gagnamagnið (The amount of data) / Think About Things
- DIMMA – Almyrkvi
- Elísabet – Elta þig (Chasing you) / Haunting
- Hildur Vala – Fellibylur (Hurricane)
- Iva – Oculis Videre (The eye sees) / Oculis Videre
- Ísold & Helga – Klukkan tifar (The clock is ticking) / Meet Me Halfway
- Kid Isak – Ævintýri (Adventure)
- Matti Matt – Dreyma (Dreaming)
- Nína – Ekkó – Echo
Of note is that six of the entries have English versions recorded for the final, while four have opted to stay entirely in Icelandic. In the semi-finals, all songs must be performed in Icelandic but in the final, all songs must be performed in the language that the artist intends to perform the song in at Eurovision if they are selected.
Ten songs will compete over two semi-finals on February 8 and 15 at the Háskólabíó Conference Hall in Reykjavík. Two songs from each semi-final will advance to the final on February 29 in Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík. RÚV also reserve the right to choose one of the non-qualifying entries as a wildcard for the final.
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.