The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV has just announced the twelve entries shortlisted for the semi final stage of its national selection Söngvakeppnin. 2016 will mark the island nation’s 30th anniversary in Eurovision.

It was back in October that RÚV announced it would be receiving applications for Söngvakeppnin, the formula regularly used by the broadcaster for its Eurovision national selection. The deadline for applicants was November 2 and, after having been shortlisted by a professional jury, the twelve entries that have made it to the semi final phase were tonight announced as follows:
   
 
 1. Sigga Eyrún – Kreisí (Crazy)
(music: Karl Olgeirsson; lyrics: Karl Olgeirsson Sigríður Eyrún Friðriksdóttir)

2. Helgi Valur Ásgeirsson – Óvær (Uneasy)
(music & lyrics: Karl Olgeirsson)

3. Erna Mist & Magnús Thorlacius – Ótöluðorð (Unspoken Words)
(music & lyrics: Erna Mist & Magnús Thorlacius)

4. Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir & Hjörtur Traustason – Hugurminner (My Mind Is)
(music & lyrics: Þórunn Erna Clausen)

5. Þórdís Birna Borgarsdóttir & Guðmundur Snorri Sigurðarson – Spring Yfirheiminn (All Over The World)
(music: Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson; lyrics: Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson, Guðmundur Snorri Sigurðarson)

6. Alda Dís Arnardóttir – Augnablik (One Moment)
(music: Alma Guðmundsdóttir & James Wong; lyrics: Alma Guðmundsdóttir, James Wong, Alda Dís Arnardóttir)

7. Karlotta Sigurðardóttir – Óstöðvandi (Unstoppable)
(music: Kristinn Sigurpáll Sturluson, Ylfa Persson, Linda Persson; lyrics: Alma Rut Kristjánsdóttir, Ylfa Persson, Linda Persson)

8. Ingólfur Þórarinsson – Fátækurnámsmaður (A Broke Student)
(music & lyrics: Ingólfur Þórarinsson)

9. Elísabet Ormslev – Á ný (Again)
(music & lyrics: Greta Salome Stefánsdóttir)

10. Greta Salome Stefánsdóttir – Raddirnar (The Voices)
(music & lyrics: Greta Salome Stefánsdóttir)

11. Sigríður Eir Zophoniasardóttir & Jóhanna Vala Höskuldsdóttir – Égséþig (I See You)
(music & lyrics: Sigríður Eir Zophoniasardóttir, JóhannaVala Höskuldsdóttir)

12. Pálmi Gunnarsson – Égleiðiþigheim (I Lead You Home)
(music & lyrics: Þórir Úlfarsson)

3 entries from each semi final, to be broadcast on 6th and 13th February, plus a special wild card chosen by jury vote will qualify for the 20th February Icelandic national final.

Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Iceland entered Eurovision in 1986 and this year will thus mark the island’s 30th anniversary in the event. The country has missed participating in the contest twice, in 1998 and 2002, due to poor results in the previous years as, at the time, rules stipulated that a country got excluded for a year if it failed to rank high enough. Iceland’s best results to date remain two second placings: in 1999 with Selma and All Out Of Luck and 2009 with Yohanna and Is It True? This year the country was represented by María Ólafs, whose entry Unbroken managed to climb to number 3 in the Icelandic charts but failed to qualify for the 2015 Eurovision Grand Final from the semi final stage in Vienna.

In our video below, you can watch Yohanna performing Is It True on the 2009 Eurovision stage of Moscow’s Olympic Indoor Arena.