The 10 national finalist hopefuls for 'Söngvakeppnin 2020' have been narrowed down to 1. After 2 semi-final rounds and 2 rounds of voting in the final tonight, Daði & Gagnamagnið was chosen to represent the country in Rotterdam with the song 'Gagnamagnið (Think About Things)'.

The Show

Hosted by Björg Magnúsdóttir, Fannar Sveinsson and Benedikt Valsson, tonight's Icelandic national final took place at the Laugardalshöll Arena in Reykjavik.

Stage 1

The show consisted of 2 stages; in the first round, all 5 acts performed on stage and the top 2 candidates were chosen for the next stage based on a verdict of mixed jury and public televotes. The running order of the 5 acts were:

Ísold and Helga - Klukkan tifar

Daði & Gagnamagnið – Gagnamagnið (Think About Things)

Nína – Ekkó

Iva - Oculis Videre

DIMMA - Almyrkvi

It was Daði & Gagnamagnið and DIMMA that moved on to the superfinal round.

Stage 2

In the second stage, the 2 superfinalists performed again and voting was reopened. This time the decision was entirely in the hands of the Icelandic public, and it was Daði & Gagnamagnið who received the country's ticket to Rotterdam.

Gagnamagnið (Think About Things) was written and composed by Daði Freyr.

The finalists

Icelandic broadcaster RÚV presented the 10 hopefuls in January; 2 of the 5 that competed in the first semi-final in Reykjavík on Saturday 8 February, Ísold & Helga and DIMMA, and 2 from the second semi-final, Daði & Gagnamagnið and Iva, moved on to the final. The addition of the producer-chosen wildcard, Nina, made up the 5 artists who took the stage tonight.

The interval

The show's interval acts included Iceland's infamous award-winning, anti-capitalist, BDSM, techno-dystopian, performance art collective Hatari, who represented the country in Tel Aviv last year, Norway's 2019 representatives KEiiNO and Iceland's 1990 act, Stórnin.

About Dadi

This is the second time Daði has participated in Söngvakeppnin; he came in second place with the song Is This Love in 2017.

Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Iceland made its Eurovision debut in 1986 and has yet to win the contest. In 1999, Selma finished second with her song All Out Of Luck and ten years later 2009, Yohanna equalled this success with her ballad Is It True? Last year, Hatari represented the country in Tel Aviv, coming 10th with 232 points.

What do you think of Iceland's choice in 2020? Let us know!

===

Posted 15 February 2020 at 22:20 CET

Daði & Gagnamagnið, Iva and Nína move on to the Icelandic final

After Ísold & Helga and DIMMA moved on to the Icelandic final last week, it is Daði & Gagnamagnið, Iva and Nína who will go to the last round after tonight’s second semi-final.

Broadcast live from Häskólabíó, the following 5 artists competed for the 2 originally available spots (winners in bold):

Daði & Gagnamagnið – Gagnamagnið (LISTEN)

Hildur Vala – Fellibylur (LISTEN)

Iva - Oculis Videre (LISTEN)

Nína – Ekkó (LISTEN)

Matti Matt – Dreyma (LISTEN)

After Daði & Gagnamagnið and Iva were announced as finalists. producers of the show used their right to add one extra act that didn't qualify as a wildcard. Nína was announced as the winner of the wildcard and will, therefore, participate in the final on 29 February as well.

The original result was determined by a mixture of public and jury votes.

Watch the winning performances below:

Iva - Oculis Videre

Daði & Gagnamagnið

Nína – Ekkó

The final of Söngvakeppnin will take place on Saturday 29 February.

Who do you think should represent Iceland this year? Let us know in the comments.

===

Posted 08 February 2020 at 22:08 CET

Ísold & Helga and DIMMA go on to Iceland's final

Iceland will pick their Eurovision 2020 participant via the country's national selection show 'Söngvakeppnin'. During the first semi-final, DIMMA and Ísold and Helga received the most votes from the Icelandic audience. This means that both acts are still in the running for Iceland's ticket to Rotterdam.

Broadcast live from Háskólabíó, the following 5 artists competed for the 2 coveted spots in the final:

Kid Isak - Ævintýri (LISTEN)

Elísabet - Elta þig (LISTEN)

Brynja Mary - Augun þín (LISTEN)

Ísold and Helga - Klukkan tifar [QUALIFIER]

DIMMA - Almyrkvi [QUALIFIER]

Watch the winning 2 performances below.

Ísold and Helga - Klukkan tifar

DIMMA - Almyrkvi

Tune in to RÚV 1 on Saturday 15 February to find out who the next 2 acts for the Söngvakeppnin 2020 final will be.

===

Posted 18 January 2020 at 18:17 CET

Iceland reveals 10 national finalist hopefuls for Söngvakeppnin 2020

Finalists Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Icelandic broadcaster RÚV has presented the 10 artists and their songs that have been selected to take part in the national selection 'Söngvakeppnin 2020'. 5 songs will compete in the first semi-final in Reykjavík on Saturday 8 February, and 5 more in the second semi-final a week later on 15 February.

From each semi-final, the 2 songs that secure the most votes from the public will secure a place in the grand final on 29 February. From the grand final's top 4, the winner will become Iceland’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

If the organizers of Söngvakeppnin wish to do so, they have the option to use a wildcard and add a 5th song to the grand final.

The international public will be able to watch both semi-finals and the grand final, as they will also be broadcast online on RÚV 1.

Icelandic versus English

All songs in the semi-finals will be sung in Icelandic due to the competition's rules, these state that songs in the semi-finals must be performed in the national language. However, in the grand final, the acts can decide whether to perform in Icelandic or a different language.

In this year's competition, 4 of the 10 acts have decided to keep their songs in Icelandic if they manage to qualify: Kid Isak, DIMMA, Hildur Vala and Matti Mat. The other 6 plan to perform their song in English in the grand final: Brynja Mary, Elísabet, Ísold and Helga, Daði and Gagnamagnið, Iva and Nína.

Artists of the first semi-final

Kid Isak - Ævintýri

Music: Þormóður Eiríksson, Kristinn Óli Haraldsson, Jóhannes Damian Patreksson

Lyrics: Þormóður Eiríksson and Kristinn Óli Haraldsson

Kid Isak, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Brynja Mary - Augun þín (In Your Eyes)

Music: Brynja Mary Sverrisdóttir and Lasse Qvist

Lyrics: Kristján Hreinsson

English lyrics: Brynja Mary Sverrisdóttir

Brynja Mary, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

DIMMA - Almyrkvi

Music: DIMMA

Lyrics: Ingó Geirdal

DIMMA, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Elísabet - Elta þig (Haunting)

Music: Elísabet Ormslev and Zoe Ruth Erwin

Lyrics: Daði Freyr

English lyrics: Zoe Ruth Erwin

Elísabet, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Ísold and Helga - Klukkan tifar (Meet Me Halfway)

Music: Birgir Steinn Stefánsson and Ragnar Már Jónsson

Lyrics: Stefán Hilmarsson

English lyrics: Birgir Steinn Stefánsson, Ragnar Már Jónsson and Stefán Hilmarsson

Ísold and Helga, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Second semi-final artists

Daði and Gagnamagnið - Gagnamagnið (Think About Things)

Music, Icelandic and English lyric: Daði Freyr

Finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Hildur Vala - Fellibylur

Music: Hildur Vala and Jón Ólafsson

Lyric: Bragi Valdimar Skúlason

Hildur Vala, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Iva - Oculis Videre

Music and Icelandic lyric: Íva Marín Adrichem and Richard Cameron

English lyric: Richard Cameron

Iva, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Matti Matt - Dreyma

Music: Birgir Steinn Stefánsson and Ragnar Már Jónsson

Lyric: Matthías Matthíasson

Matti Matt, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Nína - Ekkó (Echo)

Music: Þórhallur Halldórsson and Sanna Martinez

Lyric: Þórhallur Halldórsson and Einar Bárðarson

English lyric: Þórhallur Halldórsson, Christoph Baer, Donal Ryan and Sanna Martinez

Nína, finalist Söngvakeppnin 2020, Iceland's national selection RÚV

Who do you think should qualify for the grand final of Söngvakeppnin 2020? Let us know in the comments!