Iceland will choose their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 on March 3rd 2018.
RÚV have confirmed that Iceland will choose their Eurovision 2018 representative through the Söngvakeppnin format again next year, with the semi-finals to take place on February 17th and 24th, and the final on March 3rd. The Icelandic delegation has said that RÚV will release more details in the upcoming weeks.
Söngvakeppnin has been used to select the icelandic participant for all but six of their entries since their debut in 1986. Following a few internal selections in the 90s and early 00s, the “Söngvakeppnin” format has been used to select Iceland’s entry each year since 2006, and has brought the nation varying success in the contest. Whilst Iceland secured a place in the final for 7 years running from 2008 to 2014 under this format, even managing to reach 2nd place in the grand final in 2009 with Yohanna’s “Is It True?”, the country has failed to qualify for the past 3 years running. Their last appearance in the final was in Copenhagen in 2014, when Pollapönk finished in 15th place with “No Prejudice”.
This year in Kyiv, Iceland were represented by Svala with the song “Paper”. The song finished in 15th place in it’s semi-final with 60 points, and so it is probable that RÚV will be hoping to return to the grand final in Lisbon, which will take place on 12th May.
Source: RÚV
[tw-accordion class=””]
[tw-accordion-section title=”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 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.
[/tw-accordion-section]
[/tw-accordion]
