Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV has today announced that they will not be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest for the upcoming 2027 edition in Burgas. The broadcaster withdrew from the Contest for the 2026 edition in Vienna, alongside those from Spain, Slovenia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
A second year of non-participation
Iceland’s continued boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest was confirmed when RÚV failed to appear on the list of countries confirmed to be taking part at the Contest for 2027. RÚV’s Director-General Stefán Eiríksson would later officially confirm the news, saying:
We have not announced our participation.
RÚV had previously said it was “highly unlikely” that Iceland would return to Eurovision 2027 due to Israel’s continued presence in the Contest. A meeting of the broadcaster’s Board of Directors found that 6 out of 9 members were in favour of continuing the boycott.
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.
VÆB represented Iceland in Basel in 2025 with their song “RÓA”. The duo qualified for the final, bringing Iceland back into the final for the first time since 2022. In the final, they would eventually finish in 25th place with 33 points; all of these were awarded by the televote. Following the 2025 EBU December General Assembly vote, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV withdrew from the Contest in protest of the continued participation of Israel.
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News source: RÚV
Image credits: RÚV
Tim J 
Rory Gannon