#ESC2016: ICELAND DECIDES ON 20TH FEBRUARY

Iceland will celebrate 30 years of participating in Eurovision next year and so will naturally be looking for a decent result in Stockholm. Some rules regarding the upcoming Icelandic national selection have been released. 12 artists in total will participate where six will qualify, plus one wildcard, meaning seven acts will battle it out in the final for the Icelandic ticket. Söngvakeppni will take place on the following days:

Semi Final 1 – February 6

Semi Final 2 – February 13

Final – February 20

All songs must be sung in Icelandic during the semi finals, although acts can perform English or bilingual versions of their entries in the final.

Iceland: Three acts qualify to Söngvakeppnin final!

Iceland selected the first three songs for their final last night. Stefanía Svavarsdóttir and Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir shockingly weren't among the qualifies.

• Björn and friends – Piltur og stúlka
• Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir – Í kvöld
• Friðrik Dór – Í síðasta skipti

Another six acts will sing next week and three more plus a wildcard will make the grand finale, meaning a total of seven participants will battle it out for the Icelandic ticket on 14th February.

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #2!

A number of shows will be held over the weekend; including two national finals from Switzerland and Cyprus. We also have shows from Lithuania, Iceland, Latvia and Hungary.

SWITZERLAND 
Six acts are aiming to represent Switzerland in Vienna. The main favourite appears to be Timebelle - and they are closely followed by The Voice winner Tiziana. This blogger would be shocked if one of them didn't win. I would love to see Deborah Bough win though. Check out my full review of the finalists here. More information here.

• Andy McSean – Hey now
• Timebelle – Singing about love
• Tiziana – Only human 
• Licia Chery – Fly 
• Mélanie René – Time to shine 
• Deborah Bough – Take me back to 23 

When? 21:10 CET. Where? here.

HUNGARY
Hungary's national selection continues with the 2nd heat of A Dal. Another ten acts will all be hoping for a place in the semi finals.

• Ádám Szabó - Give Me Your Love
• Chances - The Night
• Gergő Oláh - A tükör előtt
• Gyula Éliás Jr. feat. Fourtissimo - Run to You
• Heni Dér - Ébresztő
• Ív - Fire
• Leander Rising - Lőjetek fel
• New Level Empire - Homelights
• Pankastic! - Kicsi a világ, de nagy világ
• Saci Szécsi & Böbe Szécsi - Our Time

Six will make the next stage of A Dal. When? 21:25 CET. Where? here.

ICELAND
Söngvakeppnin returns this weekend with a rather fine bunch of songs. Stefanía Svavarsdóttir's my personal favourite from the first Icelandic semi. The three most popular songs will make the final on 14th February..

• Stefanía Svavarsdóttir - Augnablik
• Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir - Í kvöld
• Friðrik Dór - Í síðasta skipti
• Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir - Myrkrið hljótt
• Björn og félagar - Piltur og stúlka
• HINEMOA - Þú leitar líka að mér

When? 21:45 CET. Where? Here.

LITHUANIA
Seven acts remain in the Lithuanian selection, and with no immediate favourite, it's still all to play for. Two acts will be eliminated..

• Edgaras Lubys
• Jurgis Brūzga
• Liepa Mondeikaitė
• Mia
• Monika Linkytė
• Neringa Šiaudikytė
• Vaidas Baumila

When? 21:00 CET. Where? Here.

CYPRUS 
On Sunday, the Cypriot entry for Eurovision 2015 will be chosen. The winner will be chosen by a 50/50 combination of televote and jury vote - the jury consists of Despina Olympiou, Alex Panayi, Elena Patroklou, Tasos Tryfonos, Nicola Caligiore, and Dimitris Kontopoulos. Who will represent Cyprus?

1. Hovig - Stone in a River
2. Doody - Magic
3. Panagiotis Koufogiannis - Without Your Love
4. Minus One - Shine
5. Giannis Karagiannis - One Thing I Should Have Done
6. Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva - Deila den agapo

I'd like to see either Panagiotis Koufogiannis or Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva victorious although I'm still gutted Ioanna didn't make it.... Doody's song is popular for some reason but this blogger isn't a fan. When? 21:00 CET. Where? Here.

LATVIA
And finally, Latvia's selection will also kick off on Monday. The first heat will feature ten songs and four will qualify for the semi final.When? 21:20 CET. Where? Here.

Iceland: Listen to the songs here!

Ahead of Söngvakeppnin's return next week, the participating songs were released and you can listen to them here. It's a very strong line up! 

Iceland: Full line-up for Söngvakeppni 2015 announced!

Iceland once again opts for Söngvakeppni to select their representative and the 12 bidding acts are now know. A couple of familiar names here. Regína Ósk represented Iceland in Belgard, as part of Euroband, where they achieved 14th place. Stefanía Svavarsdóttir and Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir are also back. Erna was a backing singer for Yohanna in 2009. Here's the full line-up:

• Regína Ósk – Aldrei of seint
• Stefanía Svavarsdóttir – Ást eitt augnablik
• Bjarni Lárus Hall – Brotið gler
• Sunday – Fjaðrir
• Cadem – Fyrir alla
• Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir –  Í kvöld
• Friðrik Dór –  Í síðasta skipti
• María Ólafsdóttir – Lítil skref
• Haukur Heiðar Hauksson – Milljón augnablik
• Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir – Myrkrið hljótt
• Björn og félagar – Piltur og stúlka
• HINEMOA – Þú leitar líka að mér

It will all start on 31st January. Enjoy Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir's song from the 2013 selection here.. wasn't she fabulous?

Missed Opportunities 2014: Iceland!

Pollapönk won the Icelandic national final back in February, and it's safe to say that I wasn't thrilled with the outcome. However Iceland still managed 15th place in the final - which isn't to shabby at all! Söngvakeppnin 2014 did offer a few gems:

Ásdís María Viðarsdóttir - Amor
I remember watching the Icelandic national final, and I was gutted when Ásdís failed to win the ticket to Copenhagen. Amor is a strange song - there's no denying it, but for some reason it's great. Her voice is unique and it completely suits the song. The Icelandic people didn't approve though... Predicted result in Copenhagen: 11th to 15th place in the semi-final. I don't think it would have appealed the average Eurovision viewer, unfortunately.

Sigríður Eyrún Friðriksdóttir - Lífið kviknar á ný
Sigríður Eyrún Friðriksdóttir came 2nd with Lífið kviknar á ný. Sigríður gave a great performance in the national final. Very burlesque. And a very happy little song! Me gusta!

Iceland: Pollapönk win!

WTF?!?! Iceland has selected the worst song in their selection tonight.. yep, Pollapönk will fly the Icelandic flag in Copenhagen. A terrible shame. They had Ásdís, Greta, Sigríður and even Gissur - however for some bizarre reason, they opted for Pollapönk.

I guess it has charms for some people although I think it's terribly annoying. It's even more annoying than last years Latvian entry... Oh well! Good luck Iceland (you are seriously going to need it). Sigríður came 2nd, and she would have been a decent choice.

Iceland: Söngvakeppnin final tonight!

Iceland is the next country to choose their representative! Söngvakeppnin has already seen two semi finals where four acts qualified directly to tonight's final and another two were awarded a wildcard by a jury. The line-up isn't great but there is one gem. Ásdís María Viðarsdótti's "Amor" is brilliant - it's defiantly unique however she only made the final because she was awarded the wildcard. Therefore I can't see Iceland opting for this...

Realistically, it's between Greta and Gissur - and maybe F.U.N.K? I'd be surprised if one of them didn't win.. It's a shame Magni Ásgeirsson didn't try again this year as he would've walked it. These are tonight's hopefuls anyway:

• Greta Mjöll Samúelsdóttir – Eftir eitt lag
• Gissur Páll Gissurarson - Von
• F.U.N.K. - Þangað til ég dey
• Pollapönk - Enga fordóma
• Sigríður Eyrún Friðriksdóttir - Lífið kviknar á ný
• Ásdís María Viðarsdótti – Amor

The show can be watched here at 20:45 CET!

Iceland: Listen to the songs!

Yesterday, the Icelandic songs were revealed! I haven't really heard many of the entries but Ásdís María Viðarsdótti's song is really nice. The first semi final will take place this weekend. Y'all can listen to the songs here - and here you can see the participants and song titles:

Semifinal 1 – 1 February

• Sverrir Bergmann - Dönsum burtu blús
• Greta Mjöll Samúelsdóttir – Eftir eitt lag
• Gissur Páll Gissurarson - Von
• Ásdís María Viðarsdótti – Amor
• Vignir Snær Vigfússon – Elsku þú

Semifinal 2 – 8 February

• Sigríður Eyrún Friðriksdóttir - Lífið kviknar á ný
• Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir - Til þín
• F.U.N.K. - Þangað til ég dey
• Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir - Aðeins ætluð þér
• Pollapönk - Enga fordóma