Watch tonight at 20:45 CET as the Icelandic national selection “Söngvakeppnin 2025” final takes place, determining Iceland’s representative and song for Eurovision 2025. A link for viewing the broadcast is provided.
Tonight at 20:45 (Central European Time), the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV will hold the final of “Söngvakeppnin 2025” – their national selection for Eurovision. The winner will represent Iceland at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. Six contestants will compete in tonight’s final. The winner will be determined by a 50/50 split between an international jury and Icelandic public voting.
The hosts for the selection will be Benedikt Valsson, Fannar Sveinsson, and Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir, who have previously served as commentators for the Icelandic national broadcaster at Eurovision, and have each hosted the selection in different years. The broadcast will take place from RVK Studios in Reykjavik.
The jury will consist of Denmark’s representative in Eurovision 2024 Saba, Irish singer and 1993 Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh, the chief producer of Eurovision 2021 in the Netherlands Sietse Bakker, Turkish music agent and Sammarinese head of press Ersin Parlak, Iceland’s songwriter in 2007-2008 and former delegation member Peter Fenner from the United Kingdom, and the Ukrainian Melodifestivalen 2023-2024 contestant Maria Sur.
The show will begin at 20:45 CET.
To watch the final – click here!
Who Are the Favorites Tonight?
According to a poll conducted on the website, VÆB are the favorites to win the Icelandic national selection with their song “Róa” (English: “Row”), receiving 56% of voters’ support. The duo Júlí & Dísa ranked second with 20% of the votes for their song “Eldur / Fire”, while singer Tinna came third with 12% for her song “Þrá / Words”.
The Euromix editorial team agreed with the voters’ choice, selecting VÆB to represent Iceland at Eurovision with 74 points. Júlí & Dísa ranked second with 64 points, while Stebbi Jak came third with 54 points. To see the full results, click here.
Betting agencies also favor VÆB and Júlí & Dísa, with VÆB slightly ahead at 37% chance of winning compared to 32% for Júlí & Dísa. Both are far ahead of the next contender, Tinna, with only 9% chance of winning.
VÆB – Who are you?
VÆB is an Icelandic rap duo. They participated in the Icelandic national selection for Eurovision 2024 and reached the final but did not advance to the second voting stage. Besides being rappers, they are also children’s stars and are very popular among young children in Iceland. The duo gained fame in Israel this year after their song submitted to the Icelandic Eurovision selection bore many similarities to the song “Wedding of the Year” by Israeli singers Eyal Golan and Itai Levy, a resemblance that the duo claims is purely coincidental.
The Competing Artists and Songs in Tonigh’s Running Order
- Ágúst – Eins og þú / Like You
- Bjarni Arason – Aðeins lengur
- Júlí & Dísa – Eldur / Fire
- VÆB – Róa
- Tinna – Þrá / Words
- Stebbi Jak – Frelsið Mitt / Set Me Free
Click on the song title to listen!
Among tonight’s participants, there’s one familiar name: the duo VÆB participated in Iceland’s Eurovision selection in 2024 and reached fourth place in the grand final with the song “Bíómynd“.
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 selects 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: Saturday, February 8th, 2025Second Semi-Final: Saturday, February 15th, 2025- Grand Final: Saturday, February 22nd, 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.
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.