Preparations are well underway for next week’s grand final of Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin 2019. Now Icelandic broadcaster RÚV has confirmed the languages the artists will sing in for their grand final performance. Three of the entries will switch to English, while two will remain in Icelandic.
In the show’s semi-finals, all the competing songs were performed with Icelandic lyrics. But for the grand final, three of those songs will be switching to the English version. As per the Söngvakeppnin rules, the grand final language of the winning song is also what will be performed in Tel Aviv.
Switching to English will be Iceland’s Eurovision star Hera Björk, whose “Eitt andartak” will become “Moving On”; wildcard qualifier Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen whose “Ég á mig sjálf” will become the sassy “Mama Said”, and Tara Mobee whose semi-final song “Betri án þín” becomes “Fighting for Love”.
Sticking with the Icelandic language will be the anti-capitalist BDSM techno performance art group Hatari with their song “Hatrið mun sigra”, and Friðrik Ómar with “Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?”. While Hatari does not have an English version of their song, Friðrik has chosen not to switch to the English version of his song, “What If I Can’t Have Love?”
Changes to the superfinal
Broadcaster RÚV has also confirmed a change to the voting system for the grand final.
As previously announced, this year the competition will again use a superfinal between the top two acts, as voted on by a the public televote and an international jury.
However, the superfinal vote won’t be a starting from zero. The two superfinalists will keep the votes they received in the first round of voting. These will be weighted 50% against the televote and jury vote for the superfinal.
This system could help avoid what has become a common occurrence at Söngvakeppnin in recent years. In 2015, 2016 and 2018, the winner of the first round has gone on to place second in the superfinal — while the overall winner has not qualified for the grand final at Eurovision.
This year the jury will also include international members. It will be made up of three Icelanders and seven foreign representatives.
The grand final of Söngvakeppnin 2019 will take place next Saturday, March 2.
What do you think? Should more acts sing their songs in Icelandic? Is the new voting system fairer? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
They just announced the running order for the final today
1. Fridrik
2. Kristina
3. Tara
4. Hera
5. Hatari
It would be amazing to see Hatari at Eurovision but there’s something I’ve been thinking about. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t they say that they are participating so that they can protest against Israel? Wouldn’t that get them disqualified since it’s a political gesture? I also heard that they said something along the lines of “Send us and don’t watch the performance”. In the unlikey event that they do get disqualified, the Icelandic public would probably be okay with it, considering the amount of signatures on the petition the Icelandic national broadcaster received. Hera Bjork herself signed the… Read more »
I knew Icelandic broadcaster would do anything to prevent H a t a r i from winning. A little political statement from them in Tel Aviv and Iceland would be fined. That’s very serious and I am sure RUV wouldn’t want to take such a huge risk. Sadly I don’t think we will hear “Hatrid mun sigra” in ESC 2019.
If anything this helps Hatari, they will probably be 1st in the first round, so a superfinal with the previous votes counted makes things more likely they get through
BWAHAHAHA! Yes!!! There is no way the jury will let Hatari win this.
And thank heavens for that, because that song is just awful. Terrible nonsense with lots of unwanted controversy ahead. It is just a hype because eurobasics have never seen anything like that, while for the rest of the world Hatari is a cheap residue from what NIN once was (and not even the best period of the band’s history).
Fridrik should win this with his huge talent.
What? NIN? Other of their songs maybe (Odyr, for example) but Hatrid mun sigra has other influences and it’s more mainstream than the rest of their discography.
How do you delete a comment?
Hatari’s last on stage, and with the amount of popularity the song has, they probably win the first round, the superfinal might be tough though
Did I understand correctly? There’s a jury in the superfinal, but… why?
Because televoters are idiots, that’s why.
Goodbye (The Humans) was not a disaster of epic proportions. They were 11th if I remember well, and it was the only nonqualification for Romania. This is not “epic disaster”. And international jury did the right thing. Laura fans don’t understand what “the whole package” means, they just think Europe never heard a screaming teenager before.
Nah, juries and televoters in Iceland ususally agree on who should win, it all goes wrong with the superfinal, this change might be a good one though
Well, after dissapointed pick of Bilal, Ester, D- Moll or Lake Malawi i dont think Iceland wil choose them, It will be Hera or the man from 2008 🙁 but Hatari can win or be in top 10 in ESC actually !!! Good luck to everyone
I don’t like H a t a r i (hope this avoids filters), I’ve lived in communism and I’m NOT ready to agree with their political views, and their BDSM is not for me.
BUT anything is better than another peace song. Just send them to Tel Aviv and let’s see what will happen. If they boycott, they will have a problem with their own country that spends money for them. I want to see them on the big stage, either they want it or not.
Matthías (the screaming guy) works for RUV so I doubt they will do anything too outrageous because they wouldn’t want to waste RUV’s money like that.
You gave a good point here – Even if one doesn’t personally ”dig” that kind of music, it’s okay to admit that this is the only song in the NF that will make Iceland stand out. Sure, some people might hate it, but everyone WILL NOTE IT, and that’s huge for Iceland.
Communism as much as I dislike it is not as big of an issue as capitalism though. I have not heard them talk a whole lot about communism either. If you are supporting the capitalism in USA for example, you are literally supporting the collapse of the western world. That is the hate that will prevail unless the people wake up and start a revolution.
As someone who lives in the United States, I’ll agree that capitalism is thoroughly destroying our country. People here can’t even afford the medicines or treatments they need to survive. Our current system here has a body count.
I’ll agree communism is a bit extreme, …but I’ve never heard these guys call themselves communist. Only anti-capitalist, …which I’m willing to agree with.
Agree, but they never called themselves communists, but anti-capitalists. There’s a difference, and capitalism it’s not working either.
Hehehe I think I’m the only one that dislikes Hatari’s song … it’s just not my cup of tea…
No, you’re not. I don’t just dislike it – I HATE it
and that is quite fitting in this case 😀 (I love this song though)
Do you guys really think the Icelandic broadcaster will let Hatari win the national final after their clear opposition against Israeli government? That’s very serious, I mean you all know that one little political statement in Tel Aviv and Iceland will be fined.
Well, this year all the countries make wrong choices anyway as if there’s some kind of weird conspiracy. Are they freaking helping Russia to win or something?
I don’t get it. If they wanto to avoid that the entries placed first and second switch places in the second round… why is there a second round? If they want to stick to the result of the first round, there’s little sense in holding a second round at all.
It’s the same weird logic used by people who complain if the jury winner is different from the televote winner. If you expect them to agree, there’s little sense in having two different sets of votes in the first place.
It seems they want to avoid a meltdown of Hatari fans should the band win the first voting and then come second.
But involving the jury in the superfinal makes it extremely unlikely that Hatari will win.
This is because of money. A second round means more votes and that means more money for the broadcaster. I believe there have been around 50.000-150.000 votes in the second round in the past. That means revenue would have been around 75.000 euros for 75.000 votes. (Each vote 1 euro)
I swear to God if Hatari won’t win this selection it’ll be the last time I am watching a national selection. They are all full of disappointments. I can’t already. I’ll just wait for the chosen act. -_-
I am not against superfinals in all cases, but here and in Montenegro it’s just pointless. I mean, it’s just FIVE SONGS! I see SF as something done to make people re-think and if their favorite didn’t qualify, to be able to vote for their second or third one over their last option. It may work in MGP, where we have 10 songs and 4 superfinalists.
PS. Word of advice, if you don’t want people voting against the “bigger” favorite, maybe conceal who it is and call top 4/2 in random order.
Am I missing something with this Hatari song? I think it’s awful to listen to and I just don’t get it. What’s the appeal?
Bingo! You used the word “awful”! I think it’s amazing! The song provokes reaction, which is a good thing, since there are no negative points at ESC! Tell me, how many people would describe Fridrik’s song as “awful” or “amazing”? I bet most would use the word “okay”. That’s the recipe to stay in the semi.
Listen to it a few times over the course of a couple days. I started off hating it (loving the aesthetic though). Now I love it.
Okay, there’s a spark of hope. This change clearly is made to increase Hatari’s chances since generally in super finals, the voters of the non-qualified acts unify against the “extreme” act.
An even more effective step would have been to get rid of the super final completely…
I’m just glad Hatari are keeping it in Icelandic
An English version would have ruined the song
We need Hatari for Eurovision. Different, bold and fresh.
Maybe I’m the only one but the English version of Fridriks entry touches me more because I can understand the lyrics.
If Hatari don’t win this, then I’ll quietly ponder the alternate timeline where Electric Fields, Laura Bretan, Seemone, Barbora Mochowa, Sandra Nurmsalu, Kerrie-Anne, MARUV, KEiiNO, Joci Papai, and Hatari all enjoy an ESC 2019 that will never be.
That would be the “Mirror Universe”. (Add trademark symbol)
Haha, true 😉
I’m happy with Ester for my country, but I admit this year was so controversial. Since boycott the host, then Jerusalem drama, Bulgaria withdrawal, and all the drama/scandals from France, Italy , Australia, now I expect anything, 29 countries left.WOW.
A lot of those acts would make it worse. For me at least. I think Australia, Czech Republic and Estonia picked the right songs, and I expect a lot of the others you said to make it anyway.
Ogae second chance will be the one to watch.
Don’t add KEiiNO already, you’ll make me cry!! But invite me to that alternate ESC!
That new scoring system seems slightly better to me. However, I still don’t like “Superfinals” in principal.
The introduction of International jury members will be interesting.
I have to admit I am personally disappointed that Friðrik Ómar will not sing his song in English – it is one of the few songs that I actually liked on the recording.
Hatari will prevail, hopefully!
Fridrik sounds much better in Icelandic.
If it means qualifying for the eurovision finals, Hatari really is the only choice here. I don’t dislike the other songs but they are almost certainly guaranteed not to qualify. Iceland’s strength this year would be to go with something bold in a sea of relatively generic songs thus far.
As it stands, if Iceland choses Hatari, then they’d probably become my current favourite to win, if not top 5 at the bare minimum.
IDK about you but Hatari is scaring me.
And it’s not because of the industrial music .
Hatari FTW
I really hope Hatari win. I don’t think the other songs have any chance of qualifying and I want to see Iceland in the final :c
I wish Robyn was on the international jury so she could vote for Hatari
It started out as a novelty, but now almost every country uses international jury. While some foreign input is okay, that kills chances to national identity and songs in native language. Just watch Sweden – one generic song after another. Iceland has the most interesting song in their hands. They’d be fools if they let them lose. Other four songs have no chances to qualify. Honestly, I find Our Choice more memorable than any of them.
Italy don’t use international jury at Sanremo, and it has been working just fine for us.
I mean… using Björkman in every single selection, some random HoD, and previous ESC singers…how’s that a recipe for success at Eurovision? Some jury members are even past-ESC non-qualifiers, what do they know about the contest that didn’t even work for them?
Yes, NFs which don’t use foreign jury format are far more likely to pick a song in native language (Sanremo, FiK, A-dal, Dora). IJ, even when fully benevolent, picks mostly what they believe will have the most broad, international appeal, thus, often safe. That is why I’m afraid for H.tari. Sure, maybe more people would find Moving On nicer in comparison, but there are surely far less them who would have it as their first choice.
I’m sure that Iceland won’t let Hatari win the national final. They are clearly anti-Israeli. Pff…. This year’s contest keeps getting worse.
Anti-Israeli government isn’t the same thing as being anti-Israeli
Tbh I think they are anti all european nation states considering their message is anti-capitalism. Then again, the entire purpose of their group is a sort of “art performance” so I don’t think one can take the things they do or say with too much seriousness.
“the entire purpose of their group is a sort of “art performance” so I don’t think one can take the things they do or say with too much seriousness.”
Why do you think that their purpose and this form of art is not to be taken seriously? If it cannot be taken seriously on some level, then I would question whether it is really ‘art’ at all. What makes something a work of art is exactly the work’s ability to be appreciated and have meaning.
Hence my choice of saying “too much”, although perhaps it wasn’t the best choice of words. I don’t think what they do is entirely devoid of meaning. Evidently their “artwork” is meant to make us think and/or question things but I don’t think we are meant to take what they do or say in a completely “literal” sense (perhaps I should have used those terms instead of “serious”).
I hope Hatari wins.
International jury ? Then goodbye Hatari, they will send the 35th generic song in english to Tel-Aviv and get stuck another time in the SF.
I think that the juries will do everything to prevent “Hatrid mun sigra” from winning. They already made an anti-Israeli statement so I don’t think Iceland will let them win, which is sad. 🙁
They all sound better in Icelandic to me.
https://escunited.com/new-plagiarism-accusation-in-iceland-fridrik-omar-vs-rihanna/
so apparently there’s accusations of plagiarism going around now concerning Friðrik Ómar’s song and a song by rihanna.
Personally, i can hear some similarities…i wonder if this might become an issue or not
I think this is why he has kept the lyrics in Icelandic – less to compare with Rihanna.
Ah man, now the filter got me too. 🙂
Now I made a comment even avoiding that name and I still got filtered. Sure, comments appear eventually, but many times it’s late to make any impact.
Pepper LaBeija doing Icelandic anticapitalist BDSM realness is in the haus to-night!
via GIPHY
Wait, I don’t really get it, maybe I’m just dumb. Does the jury have a say in the superfinal as well? Anyhow, I really don’t know if the jury is going to go for Hatari, I have a bad feeling abou this. But if I were to be part of this jury, I would choose Hatari regardless of my taste, because everyone knows about the big hype about them and that they’re the only reason, that Iceland isn’t in the bottom 10 in the betting odds. Idk, if I knew, that one particular act is a country’s only real choice,… Read more »
Oh no, I’m scared…
But how does jury voting even work with just 2 songs?
Exactly, it’s nonsense.
So the juries will be asked for their opinions twice? That makes no sense at all unless the performances are different. Or, unless I have completely misunderstood the maths.
Iceland, don’t kill Hatari’s chances.
Why the F would Fridrik keep it in Icelandic?! Sounds nice but blows his chances if you ask me.. Tara for me!
I dunno. Hatari don’t totally vibe with me. Kinda fallen out of love with that one.
That’s fine, it’s not everybody’s thing. And that’s its strength.
The live performance lacks the x factor for me.
I’m pretty scared that the new voting system will make hatari lose.
me too….iceland just fell in the odds from 10th to 14th….i think people are realizing these changes may go against them
However, they still are #1 in the odds for songvakeppnin though…i’m not very good at understanding the numbers but it still doesn’t seem like 2nd is that close….
They can only win if they totally landslide the televote in the first round. They will surely lose the 2nd round.
Fridrik is really close to Hatari in the odds. It will be a fight between them only.
I actually disagree I think it’s to increase their chances of winning. Could just be my optimism here tho 😀 Hatari ftw!!
They better win..
“Eitt andartak” sounded better than “Moving On”, but it’s Hera’s choice, and I believe she can slay it.
Great. Fridrik’s song is much better in Icelandic. If only Hera could have done the same… But it’s still Hatari for the win!!!!