Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Iceland
Member station	RÚV
National selection events	National final Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1986–1994 2000–2001 2003 2006–present Internal Selection 1995–1997 1999 2004–2005
Appearances
Appearances	29 (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
For the most recent participation see Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

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 2016, 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 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 when Daníel Ágúst got nul points for his entry "Það sem enginn sér" and in 2001 when Two Tricky received 3 points for their performance of "Angel".

With the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Iceland automatically qualified for the final that year thanks 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 on two occasions, in 2015 and in 2016.

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

  Winner

  Second place

  Third place

  Last place

Year	Artist	Language	Title	Final	Points	Semi	Points
1986	ICY	Icelandic	"Gleðibankinn"	16	19	No semi-finals
1987	Halla Margrét	Icelandic	"Hægt og hljótt"	16	28
1988	Beathoven	Icelandic	"Þú og þeir (Sókrates)"	16	20
1989	Daníel Ágúst	Icelandic	"Það sem enginn sér"	22	0
1990	Stjórnin	Icelandic	"Eitt lag enn"	4	124
1991	Stefán & Eyfi	Icelandic	"Draumur um Nínu"	15	26
1992	Heart 2 Heart	Icelandic	"Nei eða já"	7	80
1993	Inga	Icelandic	"Þá veistu svarið"	13	42
1994	Sigga	Icelandic	"Nætur"	12	49
1995	Bo Halldórsson	Icelandic	"Núna"	15	31
1996	Anna Mjöll	Icelandic	"Sjúbídú"	13	51	10	49
1997	Paul Oscar	Icelandic	"Minn hinsti dans"	20	18	No semi-finals
1998	Did not participate
1999	Selma	English	"All Out of Luck"	2	146
2000	August & Telma	English	"Tell Me!"	12	45
2001	Two Tricky	English	"Angel"	22	3
2002	Did not participate
2003	Birgitta	English	"Open Your Heart"	8	81
2004	Jónsi	English	"Heaven"	19	16	Top 11 Previous Year
2005	Selma	English	"If I Had Your Love"	Failed to qualify		16	52
2006	Silvía Night	English	"Congratulations"			13	62
2007	Eiríkur Hauksson	English	"Valentine Lost"			13	77
2008	Euroband	English	"This Is My Life"	14	64	8	68
2009	Yohanna	English	"Is It True?"	2	218	1	174
2010	Hera Björk	English	"Je ne sais quoi"	19	41	3	123
2011	Sjonni's Friends	English	"Coming Home"	20	61	4	100
2012	Greta Salóme & Jónsi	English	"Never Forget"	20	46	8	75
2013	Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson	Icelandic	"Ég á líf"	17	47	6	72
2014	Pollapönk	English	"No Prejudice"	15	58	8	61
2015	María Ólafsdóttir	English	"Unbroken"	Failed to qualify		15	14
2016	Greta Salóme	English	"Hear Them Calling"			14	51
2017

• 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 2016, Iceland's voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Denmark 179 2  Sweden 177 3  Norway 133 4  France 93 5  Finland 78 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Sweden 112 2  Norway 108 3  Denmark 102 4  United Kingdom 72 5  Portugal 58

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Denmark 229 2  Sweden 227 3  Norway 184 4  Finland 139 5  Netherlands 96 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Sweden 173 2  Denmark 157  Norway 157 4  Finland 131 5  Spain 101

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	Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson
2017	TBA	TBA

Photogallery

• 

  Eiríkur Hauksson at Helsinki (2007)

• 

  Euroband at Belgrade (2008)

• 

  Eythor Ingi at Malmö (2013)

• 

  Pollapönk at Copenhagen (2014)

• 

  María Ólafs at Vienna (2015)

• 

  Greta Salóme at Stockholm (2016)

References

External links

• Points to and from Iceland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
• Iceland 2011 Tirydou Finales Nationales