Thirty-nine countries are competing with the aim to lift the trophy in Malmö. The twenty-ninth country to be introduced is Iceland. The country is yet to experience Eurovision glory and this year Eythor Ingi will carry the Icelandic hopes in Europe’s favourite show.

Basic information

Performer: Eythor Ingi
Song: Ég á líf
Language: Icelandic
Music: Örlygur Smári & Pétur Örn Gudmundsson
Lyrics: Örlygur Smári & Pétur Örn Gudmundsson

The song

This year’s Icelandic entry is a sweet ballad performed by Eythor Ingi. The singer sings about the hardships and currents against him but he is still alive.

Lagði ég af stað í það langa ferðalag
ég áfram gekk í villu eirðarlaus
Hugsaði ekki um neitt, ekki fram á næsta dag
Einveru og friðsemdina kaus
Ég á líf, ég á líf
yfir erfiðleika svíf
Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín
Þegar móti mér blæs
yfir fjöllin há ég klíf
Ég á líf, ég á líf, ég á líf

Ég skildi ekki ástina sem öllu hreyfir við
þorði ekki að faðma og vera til
Fannst sem ætti ekki skilið að opna huga minn
og hleypa bjartri ástinni þar inn
Ég á líf, ég á líf
yfir erfiðleika svíf
Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín
Þegar móti mér blæs
yfir fjöllin há ég klíf
Ég á líf, ég á líf vegna þín

The performer

Eyþór Ingi was in Dalvík. In 2004, at the age of fifteen, he won a part in the Icelandic version of the musical Oliver!, which turned out to be one of the most successful theatrical works ever staged in Akureyri, the capital of northern Iceland. This was only the beginning of his theatrical career as he was offered a part in Óvitar in 2007 as well as taking the leading role in a college staging of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Eyþór Ingi won the College Song Contest in the spring of 2007 and was selected to compete as a contestant in TV talent show Bandið hans Bubba. After winning the show in early 2008 he soon began working as a professional singer, musician and sound technician. Ingi founded the progressive rock group Eldberg and in 2010 joined the renowned Icelandic band Todmobile, contributing to their seventh album, which was also entitled 7.In 2011 Eyþór Ingi was nominated as best singer in the Gríman Theatrical Awards for his role as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The song writers

This year’s Icelandic entry is penned by Örlygur Smári and Pétur Örn Gudmundsson. Smári (songwriter), commonly known by his nickname Öggi. He has been active on the Icelandic music business scene since the early 90’s, and in 2000 he composed the Icelandic Eurovision entry Tell me. Guðmundsson comes from a very musical family – his father Guðmundur Benediktsson was a pianist, guitarist and singer in popular rock groups; his grandmother was a piano teacher. Öggi also composed Iceland’s 2008 Eurovision entry, This is My Life, performed by Euroband, and then again in 2010, Je Ne Sais Quoi, performed by Hera Björk. Pétur Örn Guðmundsson is one of the most experienced backing vocalists in Iceland’s Eurovision history, including all of the above by Örlygur Smári and last year in Baku with Greta Salóme and Jónsi. (Thanks to Lovísa Árnadóttir for the further information)

The national selection

Two semi-finals, a final and a super-final were held in the Icelandic national selection. Seven songs made it to the final that took place in February.

Iceland in Eurovision

Iceland was the last Nordic country to enter the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986. Their best results came in 1999 with the song All out of luck performed by Selma and in 2009 when Yohanna sang Is it true? Since the semi-final format was introduced in 2004 the country managed to qualify five times. Infact in the last five editions Iceland was always in the final of the biggest extra-vaganza show in the world. Iceland qualified directly in the 2004 final while failed to qualify to the grand final from 2005 until 2007.

Statistics

This will be Iceland’s 26th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. It will be the seventh time that the country is being represented by a male solo performer. The song will be entirely performed in Icelandic. Infact the last time this happened was in 1997 when Paul Oscar represented the country.

Icelandic vote in the Eurovision Song Contest

Denmark is the most voted nation by Iceland. In the total the Danish received 159 points while Sweden gave the majority of the points to Iceland when the country qualified to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Norway is the country that gave the most points to Iceland when the semi-final and final votes are counted.

The betting odds

According to oddschecker.com, Iceland is currently standing at number 36 to win the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the odds Eythor Ingi is the twelfth favourite to qualify two.

Við viljum Eyþór Ingi og Ísland fullt af heppni í Malmö

Videos

Preview clip

National final performance

Áfram KA men

Tomorrow another country will be introduced – hint (We have all seen footage of astronauts floating freely in space!)

Have your say

You can rate the Icelandic entry by voting in our poll

[polldaddy poll=7010053]

You can view previous parts of this series by clicking here