Iceland’s public broadcaster RÚV have announced more details about this year’s edition of Söngvakeppnin; the Nordic country’s longstanding selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest.
No Super final Dual
RÚV have revealed that for the upcoming edition, the super final will be removed. The super final typically consisted of a televote-only dual between the top two acts of the final, but had been beset by voting issues in recent years. Further changes have been made with acts qualifying, with instead of the final being made up of five songs, instead it will consist of 6 songs, with 3 qualifying from each.
The upcoming contest will consist of two semi finals and a final, with a total of 10 participants. The 10 acts are yet to be announced, and have been narrowed down from a total of 110 submissions. The overall act will be decided by an equally weighted international jury and televote.
What’s still to come?
- 17th of January – Acts to be revealed
- 8th of February – Semi Final One
- 15th of February – Semi Final Two
- 2nd of March – Grand Final
What is Söngvakeppnin?
Usually one of the later national finals in the calendar, Iceland’s selection Söngvakeppnin has taken place since 1981, and since 2006 has been in a format of semi finals leading towards a final. Under current competition rules, all semi-final songs must be in Icelandic, with the option there to translate the song to English should they reach the final, since the current rules were adopted in 2015, all but two winners of the selection chose to do this.
Iceland’s Eurovision Journey
Iceland made its debut on the Eurovision stage in 1986, finishing 16th with the song “Gleðibankinn” (Bank of Fun) by ICY. In their 35 appearances, Iceland has finished in top 10 an impressive 7 times. Their best result to date is second place, which they have achieved twice. The first time was in 1999, where Selma Björnsdóttir received 146 points for her performance of “All Out of Luck”. The second time was in 2009, with Yohanna singing “Is It True” and receiving 218 points.
2010 returnee Hera Björk represented Iceland with “Scared of Heights” at the 2024 contest. She placed last in the first semi-final, scoring only three points.
What do you think of the changes to Söngvakeppnin? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
Photo Credit: RÚV
Source: RÚV
Giwrgos Oiko 
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