by Guy Solo Comment Closed




Last night, the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV unveiled the 10 artists and songs participating in “Söngvakeppnin 2025”. One of the entries suspiciously resembles a well-known Israeli song. Is this a coincidence? 

The Icelandic national broadcaster, RÚV, unveiled last night the ten artists and songs who will compete in “Söngvakeppnin 2025”, Iceland’s Eurovision national selection, during a special broadcast titled “Lögin í Söngvakeppninni”. The winner of this competition will represent Iceland at Eurovision 2025 in Basel. The first semi-final is scheduled for February 8, the second for February 15, and the final for February 22.

Last night, the Icelandic national broadcaster, RÚV, aired a special broadcast titled “Lögin í Söngvakeppninni” revealing the ten artists and songs competing in the Icelandic national selection “Söngvakeppnin 2025”, set for February 22. The winner will represent Iceland at Eurovision 2025 in Basel. Shortly after the song reveal, the network was flooded with comments claiming that the song “Róa” by the duo VÆB controversially resembles the chorus of “Hatunat HaShana” (translated as: “Wedding of the Year”) by the famous Israeli singers Eyal Golan and Itay Levi, a popular wedding song released about 7 years ago. Interestingly, both songs are performed by a duo. Is this a case of inspiration or merely a coincidence?




VÆB previously competed in the “Söngvakeppnin 2024” with the song “Bíómynd”, finishing fourth in the finale. This year, they return with “Róa”, considered contenders for the win according to Eurovision fan community rankings. In the last day, many Israelis have drawn comparisons between their song and the well-known wedding hit “Hatunat HaShana” (translated as: “Wedding of the Year”) by the famous Israeli singers Eyal Golan and Itay Levi, including numerous humorous comments in Hebrew about the Icelandic duo’s song on YouTube. What do you think? Is there a similarity between the two? Listen to both songs:

 

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Contestants and Their Entries

Click on the song title to listen!

Familiar Names Among Participants

  • The duo VÆB participated in Iceland’s 2024 Eurovision pre-selection, reaching fourth place in the final with their song “Bíómynd“.
  • Bjarni Arason has participated in Iceland’s Eurovision pre-selection twice before: in 1988 with the song “Aftur og aftur“, placing ninth, and in 1992 with “Karen“, finishing second.

National Selection Format and Changes

The national selection format includes significant changes this year. Ten songs will advance to the semi-final stage, with each semi-final featuring five songs. Three songs from each semi-final will progress to the final, effectively eliminating the “Wildcard” previously awarded by RÚV and increasing the number of finalists from 5 to 6. Another major change is the elimination of the final duel, a signature element of previous selections. In previous years, two rounds of voting were held, with the top two songs from the first round advancing to a final duel. This year, the winner will be determined by a single round of voting, combining seven international jury points and public votes in a 50-50 split. The hosts for the national selection will be Benedikt Valsson, Fannar Sveinsson, and Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir, who have previously served as RÚV’s Eurovision commentators and individually hosted the national selection in different years.

The Icelandic song contest “Söngvakeppnin” has been held since 1981, serving as Iceland’s Eurovision national selection since 1986, except for years when internal selection was used. The competition includes two semi-finals where songs must be performed in Icelandic, with the public and a jury selecting the finalists. In the final, qualifying songs can be performed in Icelandic or English, depending on the artist’s preferred language for Eurovision.

Key Dates for Iceland’s National Selection:

  • First Semi-Final: February 8, 2025
  • Second Semi-Final: February 15, 2025
  • Final: February 22, 2025




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 Youtube.

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.