Iceland's Eurovision Song Contest History

For those that live outside Europe and don't know what Eurovision is, it's an annual song contest that dates back to 1956. The year 2015 marked the 60th anniversary of the contest. Above you can see all previous winners.

The song that's probably most internationally famous from this competition is Waterloo with ABBA, that won back in 1974. The following old school clip shows you just how amazing their costumes were, note that they won only with 24 points. Today's winning songs get around 300 points, as the voting system has completely changed over the years.

Eurovision is broadcast live on TV all over Europe and watched by millions of people each year. In recent years, the entries have become more and more outrageous and the competition is very popular amongst the LGBTQ+ community.

For some reason it's also very popular in Australia - and in recognition of that and to commemorate its 60th anniversary, Australia was invited to take part in 2015. It was supposed to be a one off, but the friendly ties were so strong that Australia is now a permanent competitor in Eurovision.

• See also: Gay Iceland: All You Need to Know.

It's also immensely popular in Iceland and has been ever since Iceland first took part in 1986.

Some songs have been translated into Icelandic and people might not even know that their origin is from Eurovision, such as the winning song from 1964, Non Ho L'Eta, which is now a classic song in Icelandic, translated as Heyr mína bæn and sung by one of Iceland's most renowned singers, Ellý Vilhjálms.

In fact, Eurovision is so popular in Iceland that a whopping 99% of Icelanders watch Eurovision!

As a result it has a large affect on the nightlife in Reykjavík, with the streets being completely empty between 7pm and 10pm when the competition takes place, but completely packed shortly afterwards. And when Iceland does really well, such as it did in 1999 and 2009, then Eurovision night is a party night you don't want to miss out on.

Many people don't understand the joy of Eurovision, and complain that the songs aren't that good or that their country of origin never wins. People from the UK say that a lot (despite the UK being one of the most successful countries to take part in Eurovision, having won it 5 times, their last win was in 1997).

Of course doing well makes it more fun, but for Icelanders making it through to the final competition, and anything above the 16th place is a success. And if we do end up in the top 10 places, then the nation immediately starts claiming that we had the best song all along and we strut around with our heads high whistling the 'winning song'.

But in my opinion, Eurovision isn't about great songs (although some of them are really great, admittedly the majority is pretty rubbish) and definitely not about winning (since Iceland has actually never won). It's all about the show itself and the company you have while watching it. 

The colourful costumes and ridiculous extras (giant man on stage, a group of grandmothers, ice skating champion, epic sax guy... the list is endless.) It's a great excuse for a party and a bbq and for gathering international friends together since they're all rooting for different countries.

Eurovision marks the start of summer and is therefore the best party night of the year. As a bonus, following it on Twitter (Icelandic Eurovision hashtag is #12stig) is an additional source of laughter.

Here I'm going to focus on Iceland's history with Eurovision (if you want to read more about other countries, you can find endless amounts of material online!)

• See also: Top 10 Festivals in Iceland

1986 - Gleðibankinn

Iceland's entry in 1986 was Gleðibankinn ('The Bank of Joy' - quite ironic if you think about it). It was performed by ICY (yes, the tackiest name they could've come up with). 

The nation was convinced we would win with this amazing song and equally shocked when we didn't. It only placed number 16 out of 20 entries. Take a look at this clip and tell me this is not a winning song! 

1987 - Hægt og hljótt

We've been trying hard since - but never actually won it (which is probably a good thing because the country would get bankrupt, again, if we were to hold it in Iceland).

The following year, in 1987, we sent in a ballad called Hægt og hljótt (Slowly and Quietly), sung by Halla Margrét, again placing us at the dreadful number 16, out of 22 entries.

1997 - Minn hinsti dans

That takes us to my favourite Icelandic Eurovision entry, 1997's Minn hinsti dans with Páll Óskar, Iceland's king of pop and disco and in my opinion, the sexiest man in Iceland. 

The song and its performance was quite controversial, as Páll Óskar is clad in latex as well as his female dancers and they performed 'kinky gestures and adopted sexually suggestive poses' (Wikipedia). Today it doesn't seem overly sexual, especially if you compare it to Poland's entry in 2014.

Páll Óskar's song was lightyears ahead of its time (or, perhaps only one year ahead of its time, when you consider that the following year televoting started and Dana International, an Israeli drag queen, won that round with her song Diva).

Televoting started in only a few countries in 1997 - all of which voted for Iceland. It wasn't enough though, as the song ended up in 20th place out of 25 entries. The contest was also becoming too popular and too many countries wanted to take part (this is before they started doing semi-finals before the main competition), meaning that the countries with songs in the bottom missed their right to perform the following year.

Still today, Páll Óskar's entry frequently pops up as one of the sexiest entries of Eurovision history - and he definitely broke some boundaries with this entry!

We didn't have a song in 1998, since the 1997 entry was too shocking and didn't get enough points for Iceland to take part in 1998.

1999 - All Out of Luck

Iceland was back with a vengeance in 1999. The rules had been changed, voting was now solely in charge of people at home voting through their telephones and countries were allowed to sing in whatever language they wanted.

Iceland opted for a song in English, the pop song All Out of Luck sung by actress/singer Selma Björnsdóttir. This year proved to be the year that Iceland wasn't all out of luck, as it came second with 146 points, only 17 points behind Sweden. Note the amazing background dancers and their trenchcoats!

Seeing as the 2004 performance only ended up in 19th place, Iceland had to go through the semi-final competition in 2005. We decided to send Selma back, that earned Iceland second place in 1999.

Again, she was performing an upbeat song in English, If I Had Your Love but unfortunately the song didn't make it to the final competition from the semi-finals as it ended up in 16th place (that damn number 16 once again!) out of 25 in the semi-finals. What a shame.

2006 - Semi-finals - Til hamingju Ísland / Congratulations

2006 marks Iceland's most controversial song (even more controversial than Páll Óskar's entry in 1999). 

There are so many things to be said about the Icelandic 2006 entry. The song was performed in English as Congratulations, although in my humble opinion the lyrics are even better/funnier in Icelandic as Til hamingju Ísland. Here's the Icelandic version:

The song was performed by a fictional character, Sylvía Nótt - or Sylvia Night, performed by an Icelandic actress by the name of Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir. The fictional character mocks stereotypical commercial self-obsessed types and Iceland's entry this year could be likened to the UK sending in Sacha Baron Cohen's character of Brüno, Ali G or Borat.

Some people got the joke, some people didn't. The song didn't make it out of the semi-finals, ending up in 13th place out of 23 in the semi-finals. Notice the 'boo-ing' at the start and finish! Hilarious.

2007 - Valentine Lost

Iceland didn't make it out of the semi-finals for the third year in a row in 2007, when we sent Valentine Lost with Eiríkur Hauksson.

If you think Eiríkur's face looks familiar, it's because he's performed for Iceland before. If you scroll back to the top and watch Iceland's first entry in 1986, then you'll see how little Eiríkur has changed over the years.

2008 - This is My Life

Finally Iceland made it back into the final competition with This is My Life, performed by Eurobandið (the Euro band), that consists of the singers Friðrik Ómar and Regína Ósk. The song came 8th in the semi-finals and ended up being number 14 in the finals.

2009 - Is it True?

Although Jóhanna Guðrún (Yohanna) was arguably wearing one of Eurovision's ugliest dresses, she managed to match Selma's success in 1999 and placed second with her song Is it True? in 2009.

The performance is a bit 'Frozen'-esque - something that was repeated in 2015's performance. (Princessy dress and a Disney kind of melody). To date, 1999 and 2009 are Iceland's best results in Eurovision.

Maybe 2019 will be a good year?

2010 - Je Ne Sais Quoi

2010 was one of my favourite Eurovision years, not necessarily because of the entries but because I went to the live competition that was held in Norway.

Fortunately Iceland made it through the semi-finals with Je Ne Sais Quoi that was performed by Hera Björk, Iceland's first song that had a title in French. Unfortunately the song didn't receive many points and ended up in the 19th place.

2011 - Coming Home

2011 marked a different approach to Eurovision from Iceland, as it sent a group of guys called Sjonni's Friends with the song Coming Home. The backstory is very sentimental.

A well respected Icelandic singer, called Sjonni Brink, had made the song and entered it into the Icelandic pre-selection. He then sadly passed away from a sudden stroke but 6 of his best friends started this impromptu band to sing his song in his memory and won the preselection, beating the likes of Yohanna who was the runner up in 2009.

The song made it through the semi-finals but only finished at the 20th place in the final competition.

2012 - Never Forget

Never Forget made it through the semi-finals but became slightly forgettable in the main competition as it only reached the 20th place.

It was performed by Jónsi (who also performed in 2004) and Gréta Salóme. Again Jónsi didn't move much on the stage (although I do find this song better than Heaven, that somehow ended up doing slightly better than this one).

2013 - Ég á líf

Iceland finally decided to send a song into the competition in Icelandic, something they hadn't done since the rules were changed and any language was allowed. Eyþór Ingi sang a ballad called Ég á líf (I Have a Life). 

Since 1999 all of Iceland's songs had been in English (and one with a little bit of French). Not one of my favourites (I just don't like the ballads!) but quite a popular song in Iceland. Not so popular in the rest of Europe since it made it through the semi-finals but only finished at number 17 in the finals. 

2014 - No Prejudice

Apparently the Icelandic language still doesn't work well so in 2014 we went back to English. That didn't work out much better.

Pollapönk performed a song called No Prejudice for Iceland in 2014, dressed in multicoloured suits that kind of reminded me of the teletubbies. They made it through the semi-finals but only placed at number 15 in the finals.

2015 - Unbroken

María Ólafs performed Unbroken. Iceland didn't make it out of the semi-finals, so the song wasn't performed in the finals. Out of 17 countries in the second semi-final it placed number 15. I suppose anything is better than the 16th place! ;)