Iceland is the latest of the disenchanted Western Eurovision Song Contest entrants to confirm that they will be participating in Serbia. Rules for participation and entry for the 2008 selection have today been published and esctoday.com can also reveal that after three years without a place in the final of the competition, Iceland will see some major changes to the selection procedure next year.

After the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest semi final, doubt about Iceland's future participation were deepened with a public outcry and with the Icelandic Head of Delegation telling esctoday.com that he could not rule out Iceland withdrawing from the competition. (Read the full interview here)

Both the rules and the selection process in Iceland will be changing in 2008. To be eligable to enter the competiton, singers and songwriters must be confirmed as having Icelandic residence by 1st October 2007. Entries must be submitted to RUV by 3rd September. This means that artists could take up residency in Iceland in order to participate should they wish to do so.

Whilst the rules state that RUV would 'prefer' songs to be in Icelandic, the opportunity to submit songs in other languages now exists. Previously, songs had to be submitted and performed in icelandic and the winning entry was translated into English for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Click here to read the rules (In Icelandic)
Click here to download an entry form for the competition (In Icelandic).

CHANGES TO THE COMPETITION

esctoday.com hasbeen toldthat Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008 will see major changes from previous years. Although the exact details of the selection process have not been confirmed, thethree semi-final system used in the last two years has been scrapped. The songs fighting for a place in the final will instead be heard during an existing Saturday night show, although the exact show has not yet been named.

The songs that go forward will compete in a special Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008 national final, but details about the number of songs in the final is as yet unknown.

BaseCamp Productions, the company that produced the last two years of shows has not yet been confirmed to be producing the 2008 final, although good relationships remain between them and RUV, a final decision on whether the production of the next Icelandic final will be outsourced or managed internally by the broadcaster.

After Eirkur Hauksson finished in 13th place in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, Iceland will once again be participating in the semi final in Serbia.