The first of three semifinals to select the Icelandic participant for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 21st January, the participants have been revealed by RÚV a few hours ago. Four of them will qualify for the final on 18th February.

The songs for Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006 are all in Icelandic, although a translation in English for Athens is optional.

01. Íris Kristinsdóttir – Ég sé (Iris Kristinsdottir)
02. Regína Ósk – Þér við hlið (Trausti Bjarnason, Magnús Þór Sigmundsson)
03. Matthías Matthíasson – Sést það ekki á mér? (Sigurdur Örn Jonsson)
04. Friðrik Ómar – Það sem verður (Hallgrímur Óskarsson, Lára Unnur Ægisdóttir)
05. Gunnar Ólason – María (Roland Hartwell, Birgir S. Klingenberg)
06. Þóra Gísladóttir & Edgar S. Atlason – Stundin Staðurinn (Ómar Þ. Ragnarsson)
07. Maríanna Másdóttir – Í faðmi þér (Ingvi Þór Kormáksson, Valgeir Skagfjörð)
08. Davíð Þ. Olgeirsson – Strengjadans (David Porsteinn Olgeirsson)

Magnús Þór Sigmundsson co-wrote Angel, the song with which TwoTricky represented Iceland in 2001, and Heaven. With the latter song, Jónsi finished 19th at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul. Hallgrímur Óskarsson, composer of the song Það sem verður, was the composer of Open your heart, Birgitta's song in 2003. Sigurdur Örn Jonsson, author of Sést það ekki á mér?, composed Tell me!, the Icelandic entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000.

UPDATE: Some mistakes in the list above have been corrected, with kind help of Jónatan Garðarsson (RÚV)