Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Iceland | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Member station | RÚV |
| National selection events |
National final
Internal Selection
|
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 28 (24 finals) |
| First appearance | 1986 |
| Best result | 2nd: 1999, 2009 |
| Worst result |
Last: 1989, 2001 Nul points: 1989 |
| External links | |
| Iceland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 29 times since its debut in 1986, missing only two contests since then, in 1998 and 2002, when prevented from competing due to finishing outside qualification places the preceding years. The country's best result is two second-place finishes, with Selma in 1999 and Yohanna in 2009. As of 2015, Iceland is the only Northern European country that has yet to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
History
Iceland's best position at the contest is second place, which they have achieved twice: in 1999 when Selma represented Iceland with the song "All Out of Luck", and came second to Sweden's Charlotte Nilsson and in 2009 when Iceland returned to second place, where Yohanna came second to Norway's Alexander Rybak with the ballad "Is It True?".
In contrast Iceland's worst result is last place, which has been achieved twice to date: In 1989 gave Iceland its first last place, when Daníel Ágúst got nul points for his entry "Það sem enginn sér" and in 2001 when Two Tricky came last for Iceland, receiving just 3 points for their performance of "Angel".
With the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Iceland automatically qualified for the final that year due to Birgitta's 8th place the previous year. In 2008, Iceland reached the final for the first time since then, when Euroband sang "This Is My Life". Since the two semi-final system was introduced in 2008, Iceland has failed to qualify only once, in 2015.
Despite these mixed fortunes, Iceland is the second most successful country never to win the contest (behind only Malta).
Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir has participated four times (as a member of a group in 1990 and 1992, as a solo artist in 1994, and as a background vocalist in 2007). Hera Björk has participated four times (as background vocalist in 2008, 2009 and 2015 and as solo artist in 2010). Stefán Hilmarsson has participated twice (as a member of a group in 1988 and as a member of a duo 1991), as have Selma Björnsdóttir (1999 and 2005), Eiríkur Hauksson (as a member of a group in 1986 and as a solo artist in 2007), Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson (as a solo artist in 2004 and member of a duo in 2012) and Gréta Salóme Stefánsdóttir (as member of a duo in 2012 and solo artist in 2016).
The Icelandic broadcaster for the contest is Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV).
Contestants
- Table key
- NOTE: If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.
Voting history
As of 2015, Iceland's voting history is as follows:
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commentators and spokespersons
Iceland has broadcast the show since 1970. The first to be broadcast live was the 1983 edition after the plan to broadcast the 1982 contest failed. Since 1985, RÚV has broadcast the contest on the radio using same commentator for TV and radio and the Internet broadcast since early 2000s.
| Year(s) | Commentators | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | No commentator | Iceland did not participate |
| 1971 | Unknown | |
| 1972 | Björn Mattíhason | |
| 1973 | Jón O. Edwald | |
| 1974 | Unknown | |
| 1975 | Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir | |
| 1976 | Jón Skaptason | |
| 1977 | No commentator | |
| 1978 | Ragna Ragnars | |
| 1979 | Unknown | |
| 1980 | ||
| 1981 | ||
| 1982 | ||
| 1983 | ||
| 1984 | ||
| 1985 | Hinrik Bjarnason | |
| 1986 | Þorgeir Ástvaldsson | Guðrún Skúladóttir |
| 1987 | Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir | |
| 1988 | Hermann Gunnarsson | |
| 1989 | Arthúr Björgvin Bollason | Erla Björk Skúladóttir |
| 1990 | Árni Snævarr | |
| 1991 | Sigríður Pétursdóttir | |
| 1992 | Árni Snævarr | Guðrún Skúladóttir |
| 1993 | Jakob Frímann Magnússon | |
| 1994 | Sigríður Arnardóttir | |
| 1995 | Áslaug Dóra Eyjólfsdóttir | |
| 1996 | Svanhildur Konráðsdóttir | |
| 1997 | ||
| 1998 | Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson | Iceland did not participate |
| 1999 | Gísli Marteinn Baldursson | Áslaug Dóra Eyjólfsdóttir |
| 2000 | Ragnheiður Elín Clausen | |
| 2001 | Eva María Jónsdóttir | |
| 2002 | Logi Bergmann Eiðsson | Iceland did not participate |
| 2003 | Gísli Marteinn Baldursson | Eva María Jónsdóttir |
| 2004 | Sigrún Ósk Kristjánsdóttir | |
| 2005 | Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir | |
| 2006 | Sigmar Guðmundsson | |
| 2007 | ||
| 2008 | Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir | |
| 2009 | Þóra Tómasdóttir | |
| 2010 | Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir | |
| 2011 | Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir | Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir |
| 2012 | Matthías Matthíasson | |
| 2013 | Felix Bergsson | María Sigrún Hilmarsdóttir |
| 2014 | Benedikt Valsson | |
| 2015 | Sigríður Halldórsdóttir | |
| 2016 | Gísli Marteinn Baldursson | TBA |
Photogallery
-
Eiríkur Hauksson at Helsinki (2007)
-
.jpg)
Eythor Ingi at Malmö (2013)
-
María Ólafs at Vienna (2015)
References
External links
- Points to and from Iceland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
- Iceland 2011 Tirydou Finales Nationales
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
