The first two finalists in the Icelandic national finals, Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins, have been revealed. Tonight Icelanders chose “Von”, performed by Gissur Páll Gissurarson, and “Eftir eitt lag”, performed by Gréta Mjöll Samúelsdóttir. They’ll now sing it out in the final for a chance to sing in Copenhagen this May.
Iceland may soon melt: Tonight’s show was hot. Gissur is a professional opera singer and started his career at the age of 12 when he sang the lead part in the Icelandic national theater’s staging of Oliver Twist. He currently resides in Italy where he has lived for the past 7 years. Can he turn an opera ballad into a favorite for Copenhagen?
http://youtu.be/pUdFR7t93K0
Here’s Gissur at his day job:
Gréta Mjöll Samúelsdóttir is a 26-year old singer, production manager for Lazytown corporation and a striker for Iceland’s national women’s football team. She has been singing since an early age and last year founded the duet SamSam, along with her sister Hófí. Her happy-go-lucky sing-a-long song clearly appealed to Icelanders. Will Europe take up the happy as well?
http://youtu.be/xbB3Fd_CKcQ
Here’s a fan singing about his favourite female footballer.
The five songs competing in the second semi final will go public on Monday, February 3rd and will be available on ruv.is. Don’t feel bad for the eliminated songs just yet. There is still a chance that two other songs will get the wild card, and then a jury will decide which song will be performed again in the finals, for a second chance. What’s your opinion of the first two finalists?
Kristin Kristjans contributed this report from Iceland. You can keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team from wiwibloggs.com on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.
Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
Ughh Von was good, he can sing well, but he’s sooo old fashioned. He looked like he was singing at a funeral service, not competing for Eurovision. Eftir Eit Lag is really simplistic, but isn’t a gimmick either and is charming. Buuut I do not see it winning. Semi final 2 is, by miles, way better!
In my opinion, “Dönsum burtu blús” sounds just a tad too much like “Wake me up before you go go” and the staging screams out “All night long”, the danish entry from 2008. But Sverrir is a great singer and I´m fairly certain that this song will get the wild card from the jury.
“Von” clearly deserved it. But the other ordinary song, “Eftir eitt lag”… Well, not all songs in a Grand Final can be good 😛
I would have given the other ticket to “Dönsum burtu blús” or “Elsku þú”
lol. i don’t know what is going on in iceland. all these songs sound so 1860. like ancient almost.
I liked Greta’s song and it was one of my favourites but “Von”? Really? That was my least favourite of this semi. “Amor” should’ve taken its place.