Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

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Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country Iceland
National selection
Selection processSöngvakeppnin 2017
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
25 February 2017
4 March 2017
Final:
11 March 2017
Selected entrantSvala
Selected song"Paper"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (15th)
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Ríkisútvarpið
(RÚV). The selection consisted of two semi-finals and a final, held on 25 February, 4 March and 11 March 2017 respectively. Six songs competed in each semi-final with the top three as selected by a public televote alongside a jury wildcard advancing to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting: the first involved a 50/50 combination of jury voting and public televoting, which reduced the seven competing entries to two superfinalists and the second round selected the winner exclusively through public televoting. "Paper" performed by Svala emerged as the winner after gaining 62.51% of the public vote.

Iceland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 13, "Paper" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Iceland placed fifteenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 60 points.

Background

Main article: Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-nine times since its first entry in 1986.

1999 with the song "All Out of Luck" performed by Selma and in 2009 with the song "Is It True?" performed by Yohanna. Since the introduction of a semi-final to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Iceland has, to this point, only failed to qualify to the final five times. In 2016, Iceland failed to qualify to the final with the song "Hear Them Calling" performed by Greta Salóme
.

The Icelandic national broadcaster,

Ríkisútvarpið
(RÚV), broadcasts the event within Iceland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RÚV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 22 August 2016. Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that continued for their 2017 participation.

Before Eurovision

Söngvakeppnin 2017

Söngvakeppnin 2017 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The three shows in the competition were hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir and all took place in Reykjavík: the two semi-finals were held at the Háskólabíó venue and the final took place at the Laugardalshöll.[2] The semi-finals and final were broadcast on RÚV and online at the broadcaster's official website ruv.is.[3]

Format

Twelve songs in total competed in Söngvakeppnin 2017 where the winner was determined after two semi-finals and a final. Six songs competed in each semi-final on 25 February and 4 March 2017. The top three songs from each semi-final, as determined by public televoting qualified to the final which took place on 11 March 2017. A jury also selected a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals. The winning entry in the final was determined over two rounds of voting: the first to select the top two via 50/50 public televoting and jury voting and the second to determine the winner with 100% televoting. All songs were required to be performed in Icelandic during the semi-final portion of the competition. In the final, the song was required to be performed in the language that the artist intended to perform in at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv.[4] In addition to selecting the Icelandic entry for Eurovision, a monetary prize of 1 million Icelandic króna was awarded to the songwriters responsible for the winning entry.[5]

Competing entries

On 20 September 2016, RÚV opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 28 October 2016. Songwriters were required to be Icelandic, possess Icelandic citizenship or have permanent residency in Iceland between 1 September 2016 and 14 May 2017. However, exceptions would be made for minor collaborations with foreign songwriters as long as two-thirds of the composition and half of the lyrics are by Icelandic composers/lyricists. Composers had the right to submit up to two entries, while lyricists could contribute to an unlimited amount of entries. At the close of the submission deadline, over 200 entries were received. A seven-member selection committee was formed under consultation with the Association of Composers (FTT) and the Icelandic Musicians' Union (FÍH) in order to select the top twelve entries. The twelve competing artists and songs were revealed and presented by the broadcaster during the television programme Kynningarþáttur Söngvakeppninnar on 20 January 2017. All of the competing entries that later qualified to the final entered English versions of their songs for the competition.[4]

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Icelandic Title English Title
Arnar Jónsson and Rakel Pálsdóttir "Til mín" "Again" Hólmfríður Ósk Samúelsdóttir
Aron Brink "Þú hefur dáleitt mig" "Hypnotised" Þórunn Erna Clausen, Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Aron Brink
Aron Hannes Emilsson "Nótt" "Tonight" Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Ágúst Ibsen
Daði Freyr Pétursson "Hvað með það?" "Is This Love?" Daði Freyr Pétursson
Erna Mist Pétursdóttir "Skuggamynd" "I'll Be Gone" Erna Mist Pétursdóttir, Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir
Hildur "Bammbaramm" Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir
Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson and Þórdís Birna Borgarsdóttir "Heim til þín" "Get Back Home" Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson, Guðmundur Snorri Sigurðsson
Linda Hartmanns "Ástfangin" "Obvious Love" Linda Hartmanns, Erla Bolladóttir
Páll Rósinkranz and Kristina Bærendsen "Þú og ég" "You and I" Mark Brink
Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson "Mér við hlið" "Make Your Way Back Home" Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson
Sólveig Ásgeirsdóttir "Treystu á mig" "Trust In Me" Iðunn Ásgeirsdóttir, Ragnheiður Bjarnadóttir
Svala Björgvinsdóttir "Ég veit það" "Paper" Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, Lily Elise

Shows

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals took place on 25 February and 4 March 2017. In each semi-final six acts presented their entries, and the top three entries voted upon solely by public televoting proceeded to the final.[6] "Bammbaramm" performed by Hildur was awarded the jury wildcard and also proceeded to the final.[7]

The shows also featured guest performances by

1997 Icelandic Eurovision entry "Minn hinsti dans", while Sycamore Tree covered the 1976 Eurovision winning entry "Save Your Kisses for Me".[8][9]

Semi-final 1 – 25 February 2017
Draw Artist Song Televote Place Result
1 Hildur "Bammbaramm" 3,287 4 Wildcard
2 Erna Mist Pétursdóttir "Skuggamynd" 1,681 6 Eliminated
3 Arnar Jónsson and Rakel Pálsdótir "Til mín" 3,319 3 Advanced
4 Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson and Þórdís Birna Borgarsdóttir "Heim til þín" 3,150 5 Eliminated
5 Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson "Mér við hlið" 4,096 2 Advanced
6 Aron Hannes Emilsson "Nótt" 11,399 1 Advanced
Semi-final 2 – 4 March 2017
Draw Artist Song Televote Place Result
1 Linda Hartmanns "Ástfangin" 1,408 6 Eliminated
2 Daði Freyr Pétursson "Hvað með það?" 5,005 3 Advanced
3 Svala Björgvinsdóttir "Ég veit það" 12,789 1 Advanced
4 Páll Rósinkranz and Kristina Bærendsen "Þú og ég" 3,954 4 Eliminated
5 Sólveig Ásgeirsdóttir "Treystu á mig" 2,588 5 Eliminated
6 Aron Brink "Þú hefur dáleitt mig" 10,315 2 Advanced
Final

The final took place on 11 March 2017 where the seven entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed. In the semi-finals, all competing entries were required to be performed in Icelandic; however, entries competing in the final were required to be presented in the language they would compete with in the Eurovision Song Contest. All entries competed in English. In the first round of voting, votes from a seven-member international and Icelandic jury panel (50%) and public televoting (50%) determined the top two entries. The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Paper" performed by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, was determined solely by televoting.[10]

The jury panel that voted in the first round consisted of:[11]

In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the interval acts featured guest performances by 2009 Eurovision Song Contest winner Alexander Rybak, who won for Norway with the song "Fairytale", and Måns Zelmerlöw.[12]

Final – 11 March 2017
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Aron Hannes Emilsson "Tonight" 14,604 17,552 32,156 3
2 Arnar Jónsson and Rakel Pálsdóttir "Again" 18,095 4,816 22,911 5
3 Aron Brink "Hypnotised" 11,111 14,205 25,316 4
4 Hildur Kristin Stefánsdóttir "Bammbaramm" 11,111 2,977 14,088 7
5 Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson "Make Your Way Back Home" 13,650 5,545 19,195 6
6 Svala Björgvinsdóttir "Paper" 24,759 45,258 70,017 1
7 Daði Freyr Pétursson "Is This Love?" 22,219 25,195 47,414 2
Detailed jury votes
Draw Song Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Juror 6 Juror 7 Total
1 "Tonight" 1,905 1,587 2,540 2,222 2,540 1,270 2,540 14,604
2 "Again" 2,540 3,809 1,905 3,174 1,905 2,540 2,222 18,095
3 "Hypnotised" 1,587 1,905 1,270 1,587 1,587 1,905 1,270 11,111
4 "Bammbaramm" 1,270 1,270 2,222 1,270 1,270 2,222 1,587 11,111
5 "Make Your Way Back Home" 2,222 2,222 1,587 1,905 2,222 1,587 1,905 13,650
6 "Paper" 3,809 2,540 3,174 3,809 3,809 3,809 3,809 24,759
7 "Is This Love" 3,174 3,174 3,809 2,540 3,174 3,174 3,174 22,219
Superfinal – 11 March 2017
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Svala Björgvinsdóttir "Paper" 79,570 1
2 Daði Freyr Pétursson "Is This Love?" 47,722 2

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "

Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[13] On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Iceland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[14]

Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Iceland was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Moldova and before the entry from the Czech Republic.[15]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Iceland on

Iceland in 1995
.

Semi-final

Svala during a rehearsal before the first semi-final

Svala took part in technical rehearsals on 1 and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Icelandic performance featured Svala dressed in a white outfit with a floor-length cape. The LED screens displayed white, blue and green lines and shapes with strobe lighting used during the performance, which also featured the use of a wind machine.[16][17][18] Svala was joined by five off-stage backing vocalists: Anna Sigríður Snorradóttir, Fanny Kristín Tryggvadóttir, Hrönn Svansdóttir, Íris Guðmundsdóttir and Óskar Einarsson. All of them are members of the Reykjavík Gospel Company.[4]

At the end of the show, Iceland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.[19] It was later revealed that Iceland placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 60 points: 31 points from the televoting and 29 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Iceland and awarded by Iceland in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Iceland

Points awarded to Iceland (Semi-final 1)[20]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points
8 points  Latvia
7 points
6 points
5 points  Finland  Finland
4 points
3 points  Armenia
2 points  United Kingdom
1 point
 Spain

Points awarded by Iceland

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Icelandic jury:[22]

Detailed voting results from Iceland (Semi-final 1)[20]
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Möller H. Guðný Viddi P. Örn Stefanía Rank Points Rank Points
01  Sweden 5 3 4 8 5 3 8 2 10
02  Georgia 3 4 5 10 6 4 7 16
03  Australia 7 5 2 3 2 2 10 5 6
04  Albania 13 8 15 11 16 14 15
05  Belgium 6 9 12 4 12 9 2 4 7
06  Montenegro 16 16 17 17 13 16 9 2
07  Finland 8 11 11 2 11 8 3 8 3
08  Azerbaijan 2 6 10 5 10 5 6 14
09  Portugal 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 1 12
10  Greece 9 13 8 7 8 10 1 11
11  Poland 11 14 9 14 3 12 6 5
12  Moldova 12 10 6 13 9 11 3 8
13  Iceland
14  Czech Republic 4 2 3 12 14 6 5 13
15  Cyprus 10 7 7 6 7 7 4 7 4
16  Armenia 14 15 14 9 4 13 12
17  Slovenia 15 12 13 15 17 15 17
18  Latvia 17 17 16 16 15 17 10 1
Detailed voting results from Iceland (Final)[21]
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Möller H. Guðný Viddi P. Örn Stefanía Rank Points Rank Points
01  Israel 20 21 10 24 5 18 21
02  Poland 16 16 12 11 15 13 8 3
03  Belarus 17 12 11 19 19 17 15
04  Austria 9 9 19 7 16 11 18
05  Armenia 14 23 20 14 10 19 22
06  Netherlands 8 11 21 17 17 16 17
07  Moldova 19 13 7 12 13 12 5 6
08  Hungary 11 7 5 18 4 7 4 9 2
09  Italy 4 2 8 3 14 6 5 4 7
10  Denmark 3 15 9 16 7 8 3 12
11  Portugal 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 1 12
12  Azerbaijan 12 14 22 15 11 15 20
13  Croatia 26 26 17 26 23 25 19
14  Australia 6 4 2 4 3 2 10 11
15  Greece 18 19 15 13 18 20 24
16  Spain 22 17 25 22 26 23 23
17  Norway 7 18 14 9 12 10 1 10 1
18  United Kingdom 10 5 3 2 6 4 7 16
19  Cyprus 21 8 16 6 20 14 13
20  Romania 15 24 13 25 21 21 6 5
21  Germany 24 20 23 21 24 22 25
22  Ukraine 25 22 26 23 25 26 26
23  Belgium 13 10 18 8 9 9 2 2 10
24  Sweden 5 3 4 10 2 3 8 3 8
25  Bulgaria 2 6 6 5 8 5 6 7 4
26  France 23 25 24 20 22 24 14

References

  1. ^ "Iceland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. ^ "ICELANDIC NATIONAL FINAL 2017". Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Lagaröð og símanúmer í úrslitakeppninni". RÚV (in Icelandic). 7 March 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Eurovision 2017 - SVALA (Iceland)". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Opnað fyrir innsendingar í Söngvakeppnina 2018". RÚV (in Icelandic). 6 September 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ^ Granger, Anthony (30 January 2017). "ICELAND: SÖNGVAKEPPNIN SEMI FINAL DRAW COMPLETE". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  7. ^ Muldoon, Padraig (4 March 2017). "Söngvakeppnin 2017: Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Aron Brink and Daði Freyr Pétursson win second semi-final". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Iceland: Three qualifiers for the Songvakeppnin final". Eurovoix. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Sycamore Tree flytur "Save Your Kisses for Me"". RÚV (in Icelandic). 4 March 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Ítarleg úrslit Söngvakeppninnar birt". visir.is. Vísir. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Ný dómnefnd í Söngvakeppninni: Meirihlutinn erlendir fagmenn - Vísir". 3 October 2017.
  12. ^ Phelan, Jason (11 March 2017). "Iceland: Svala Björgvinsdóttir wins Söngvakeppnin 2017 with "Paper"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ^ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2017). "Semi-Final Allocation draw to take place in Kyiv". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  14. ^ Jordan, Paul (31 January 2017). "Results of the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  15. ^ Jordan, Paul (31 March 2017). "Semi-Final running order for Eurovision 2017 revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  16. ^ Cobb, Ryan (1 May 2017). "Day 2: Svala completes first rehearsal for Iceland – REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  17. ^ Cobb, Ryan (4 May 2017). "Day 5: Svala completes second rehearsal for Iceland – PREDICTION & REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  18. ^ Nilsson, Helena (1 May 2017). "Iceland's Svala directed her own performance for her song 'Paper'". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  19. ^ Kryvinchuk, Yullia (9 May 2017). "Ten acts qualified for the Grand Final in tonight's first Semi-Final!". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  20. ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  22. ^ Jordan, Paul (29 April 2017). "Who will be the expert jurors for Eurovision 2017?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 May 2017.

External links

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