VÆB have won Söngvakeppnin 2025 and will represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song “RÓA”.
The final of Söngvakeppnin 2025 took place in the RVK Studios in Reykjavík. The show was presented by Benedikt Valsson, Fannar Sveinsson, and Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir. Following two semi-finals, the six finalists competed for the Icelandic ticket to Basel. After performing their entries in Icelandic during the semi-finals, all artists were free to choose the language they wanted to perform in for the final, so long as it was how they would perform the entry if selected for Eurovision.
Alongside the competing artists, there were also guest performances by Herra Hnetusmjör, Hera Björk (Iceland 2010 and 2024), and Käärijä (Finland 2023) together with Hooja.
For the first time since 2012, there was no superfinal round. The results were decided over one round of voting by seven international jurors (50%) and public voting (50%).
The international jurors were:
- Sietse Bakker – Executive Producer of Eurovision 2021 – Netherlands
- Niamh Kavanagh – Eurovision 1993 winner and Eurovision 2010 participant – Ireland
- Ersin Parlak – Music Agent and Head of Press for San Marino at Eurovision – Turkey
- Saba – Eurovision 2024 participant – Denmark
- Peter Fenner – Eurovision expert – United Kingdom
- Maria Sur – Participant in Melodifestivalen 2023 and 2024 – Ukraine
- Damir Kedžo – Eurovision 2020 participant – Croatia
The results were as follows (jury + public voting):
- Ágúst – “Like You” 68 points (45 + 23) 6th
- Bjarni Arason – “Aðeins lengur” (A little longer) 83 points (44 + 39) 4th
- Júlí & Dísa – “Fire” 137 points (63 +74) 3rd
- VÆB – “RÓA” (CALM) 167 points (74 +93) 1st
- Tinna – “Words” 75 points (53 + 22) 5th
- Stebbi JAK – “Set Me Free” 142 points (57 + 85) 2nd
VÆB will perform in the first half of the first semi-final on May 13.
Image Source: VÆB
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 programs 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.
