Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since its debut in , missing only two contests since then, in and , 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 and Yohanna in .

Iceland has achieved a total of seven top ten placements, with the others being Stjórnin finishing fourth (), Heart 2 Heart seventh (), Birgitta eighth (), Hatari tenth () and Daði og Gagnamagnið fourth (). Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Iceland has failed to qualify for the final seven times, including four years consecutively (2015–18). Iceland is the only Nordic country that is yet to win the contest.

History

Iceland's best position at the contest is second place, which they have achieved twice: in when Selma represented Iceland with the song " All Out of Luck", and came second to 's Charlotte Nilsson and in when Yohanna came second to 's Alexander Rybak with the ballad " Is It True?".

In contrast Iceland's worst result in a grand final is last place, which has been achieved twice to date: In when Daníel Ágúst received ''nul points'' for his entry "Það sem enginn sér" and in when Two Tricky received 3 points for their entry "Angel".

With the introduction of semi-finals in , Iceland automatically qualified for the final that year due to Birgitta's 8th place the previous year. In , Iceland reached the final for the first time since then, when Euroband sang " This Is My Life". Iceland qualified for the final in seven consecutive contests between and ; however, it failed to qualify for the final from to . In , Hatari brought the country back to the final for the first time since 2014, finishing tenth, which was followed by a fourth-place finish for Daði og Gagnamagnið in , Iceland's joint-second best result to date.

Despite these mixed fortunes, Iceland is the second most successful country never to win the contest (behind only ).

Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir has participated five times (as a member of a group in 1990 and 1992, as a solo artist in 1994, and as a background vocalist in 1991 and 2006). 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 Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir (as member of a duo in 2012 and solo artist in 2016).

The Icelandic broadcaster for the contest is Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV).

Participation overview

Related involvement

Conductors

Heads of delegation

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.

Other shows

Gallery

File:ESC 2007 Iceland - Eirikur Hauksson - Valentine Lost.jpg, Eiríkur Hauksson in Helsinki ()
File:Iceland, Eurobandið, semi-final of Eurovision 2008.jpg, Euroband in Belgrade ()
File:Yohanna1.jpg, Yohanna in Moscow ()
File:Hera Björk 01.JPG, Hera Björk in Oslo ()
File:The Icelandic contenders.jpg, Greta Salóme and Jónsi in Baku ()
File:ESC2013 - Iceland 04 (crop).jpg, Eythor Ingi in Malmö ()
File:ESC2014 - Iceland 11 (crop).jpg, Pollapönk in Copenhagen ()
File:20150516 ESC 2015 Maria Olafs 8302.jpg, María Ólafs in Vienna ()
File:ESC2016 - Iceland 04.jpg, Greta Salóme in Stockholm ()
File:ESC2017 - Iceland 01.jpg, Svala in Kyiv ()
File:Ari Ólafsson 2018.jpg, Ari Ólafsson in Lisbon ()
File:Iceland-Hatari-ESC2019-002.jpg, Hatari in Tel Aviv ()
File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 1 - Iceland - Systur.jpg, Systur in Turin ()

In popular culture

The 2020 Netflix comedy film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'' depicts Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as a fictional duo from Iceland competing in Eurovision. Hannes Óli Ágústsson, who plays Olaf Yohansson in the film, reprised the role for the voting segment of the final, in which he presented the points on behalf of the Icelandic jury.

Notes

References

{{Authority control

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest