Public Icelandic broadcaster, R�V, published some time ago the rules for their national selection procedure to choose the country's representative at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held next May in Oslo (Norway). Like last year, the national final will feature a number of qualifying heats and a grand final, to be aired in January and February 2010.
The public television of Iceland have allowed a maximum of three song submissions per composer. Applicants must be Icelandic citizens or have their official residence in the island as of October 1st. Those not meeting the mentioned requirements and wishing to enter the selection process can do so by working in collaboration with an Icelandic national.
Songs can be written in any language, must be unpublished material and last about 3 minutes. Each song has to be recorded in a CD which will be enclosed in a separate envelope, labeled with the name of the singer and a nickname of the author(s). Another individual envelope will show the real name of the author(s), address, telephone number, and signed participation form . These materials must be submitted to the following address: Ríkisútvarpsins ohf., Efstaleiti 1, 150 Reykjavík, marked with the title 'Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2010', before October 5th at midnight.
Out of the received applications, a committee appointed by RÚV will choose a number of entries that will make it to the national selection, to feature a yet undetermined number of heats running through January and February. The real names of the composers will remain unknown until the final decision is taken.
The titles of the selected songs, as well as the names of their authors will be made public by the Icelandic broadcaster via press release or press conference. Once on stage, and just like in Eurovision, the maximum of performers is 6, all of them aged 16 or older.
More information available here (in Icelandic).
Last year, the Icelandic national final was won by Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir, who performed in Moscow under the stage name of Yohanna. Her song Is it true? reached second place in the 2009 Eurovision final, bringing Iceland its best result in 10 years.
