The Icelandic national broadcaster, RÚV, announced that the list of artists participating in the local Eurovision national final, “Söngvakeppnin 2025”, will be revealed on January 17th alongside song previews.

Iceland’s national broadcaster, RÚV, has today released information about the Icelandic Eurovision national final, “Söngvakeppnin 2025″, for the first time since confirming their participation in the contest. The participants in the Icelandic Eurovision pre-selection will be unveiled in a special broadcast titled “Lögin í Söngvakeppninni” scheduled for Friday, January 17th, 2025, at 20:40 CET. During this broadcast, the participating artists will be introduced, along with initial previews of their competing songs.

Song Submission and Competition Timeline

The song submission window opened three months ago and remained accessible for three weeks. While the exact competition date is yet to be determined, it is anticipated to take place during February. The format for this year’s national selection has not been revealed, but it is confirmed that 10 artists, all required to hold Icelandic citizenship, will compete. On January 17th, 2025, we will meet the contestants vying for the opportunity to represent Iceland at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland.

Historical Context of Söngvakeppnin

The Icelandic singing competition “Söngvakeppnin” has been a staple since 1981. From 1986 onwards, it has served as Iceland’s Eurovision national selection method and means of choosing their representative, barring years when internal selections were made. The competition structure includes two semi-finals where songs must be performed in Icelandic, with a combination of public vote and jury selection determining the finalists. In the final round, qualifying songs can be performed in either Icelandic or English, aligning with the artist’s preferred language for Eurovision performance.

Improving Iceland’s Eurovision Prospects

The national broadcaster has previously indicated that the Eurovision national selection process is under thorough review. This scrutiny aims to enhance the selection procedure and ensure that Iceland’s Eurovision representation is as dignified and representative as possible. Iceland’s performance in the previous year, finishing last in the semi-final with only 3 points, underscored the necessity for a reevaluation of the selection process. There is now hope that the planned changes for this year will lead to a significant improvement in both Iceland’s results and its image in the competition.

Iceland in Eurovision 2024

“Scared Of Heights” is the name of the song performed by singer Hera Björk, who was chosen to represent Iceland after winning the local national finals. Iceland did not advance to the final, finishing 15th and last in the first semi-final with only 3 points.

This is the second consecutive year that Iceland has not qualified for the final, and the fourth time overall that the country has finished last in the competition.

Source: RÚV

Eurovision 2025: This will be Iceland’s 37th participation in Eurovision. Iceland joined the competition in 1986 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 1999 and Eurovision 2009 after finishing second twice.