Photos: Baldur Kristjáns / RÚV

Eurovision’s most westerly national selection wraps up tonight. The grand final of Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin 2022 will see five acts battle it out for the chance to represent the Nordic nation in Turin. And don’t be fooled by the small number of finalists. There’s still lots of diversity to be found among the five acts! To make things easy, we’ve compiled this ultimate guide to help you traverse the final, including show times, links, song previews, a Wiwi Jury ranking and more.

Watch Söngvakeppnin 2022 online

Grand final — 12 March 2022

Time: 20:45 CET to 22:15 CET

The show will be live-streamed on RÚV’s website.

Click to watch Söngvakeppnin 2022 grand final on RÚV.is

The five finalists

By Kristin

Stefán Óli “Ljósið”

Top two qualifier from semi-final one

The 28 year old gained attention when he started uploading his covers of Ed Sheeran and Adele onto Facebook and YouTube. He released his first solo single “Dreymir Drauma” in December last year. His music is exactly that – dreamy and melodic with strong vocals. “All I Know” is written and composed by Andri Þór Jónsson and Birgir Steinn Stefánsson. It is called “Ljósið” or “The Light” in Icelandic. The songwriters found Stefán on Instagram and say that the song was written specifically for his voice. Stefán himself is excited and says it’s fun to try different and more challenging things.

Sigga, Beta and Elín “Með hækkandi sól”

Top two qualifier from semi-final one

A popular band from the Icelandic indie-pop and folk-pop scene, it was only a matter of time before Sísí Ey would dip their toe into Söngvakeppnin and Eurovision. The band consists of three sisters – Sigga, Elísabet and Elín – who are known for their beautiful and hypnotising voices. The girls are no stranger to the music scene, as their parents Ellen Kristjánsdóttir and Eyþór Gunnarsson are both hugely popular and well respected in Iceland — Ellen for her vocals, and Eyþór for his production work as well as playing piano for many of Iceland´s most famous bands, including the 80’s jazz funk fusion band Mezzoforte. “Með hækkandi sól” (Rising Sun) is composed and written by Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir, who has performed under her artist name LayLow, and it has Sísí Ey´s trademark sound of beautiful vocals and mesmerising sound.

Our Tom writes: “Með hækkandi sól“ – Iceland’s answer to “Calm After The Storm” by The Common Linnets. However, incredibly, this feels like it could have been released in the 1960s. “Með hækkandi sól“ would absolutely stand out from the pack in the best way if this gets to Turin – there will be nothing like this. A quality 1960s meets now track, performed well, staged interestingly and with retro colours and style. It is almost hypnotic and my choice to win Söngvakeppnin 2022

Reykjavíkurdætur “Turn This Around”

Top two qualifier from semi-final two

Enter the all-female rap band Reykjavíkurdætur, who have been playfully ruffling conservative feathers with their raunchy and in-your-face songs and performances. They’ve been praising feminism and the power of womanhood since forming the band back in 2013. The girls have various backgrounds, such as actresses, singers, feminist moguls and more. The number of band members can be from three and up to nine, with today’s line-up consisting of nine key members. The girls are not afraid to delve into all topics in their lyrics, having called out body shaming, gender inequality and other fiery and sensitive subjects. They once even managed to make Ágústa Eva (aka Silvia Night) storm out of a tv-set, due to her finding their lyrics offensive and provoking. Each to their own, I guess…

“Turn This Around” is written and composed by Reykjavíkurdætur themselves. They admit that they had enormous fun writing the song, as they lived in a commune of some sort with their kids for a week while writing it. They wanted that feeling of change in the lyrics, as well as a song that makes people want to dance. 

Our Antranig writes: Style, sass and plenty of stage presence – Reykjavíkurdætur have it all. Eurovision 2022 needs a powerful girl group to take centre stage and I’m convinced these girls are the answer. Whether it’s the English or Icelandic version of the song, this has an undeniable international appeal. Their Söngvakeppnin performance was so polished that this is ready made for Eurovision. I think these ladies can deliver Iceland a third consecutive top ten finish.

Katla “Þaðan af”

Top two qualifier from semi-final two

Katla is also an actress and perceptive viewers might know her as Andri´s older daughter from the hit noir tv-series Trapped. Her stint in music has not been long, but she is destined to bring on the heat and will definitely shine bright on stage at RVK Studios later this month. Kristinn Óli Haraldsson, Jóhann Damian Patreksson, Hafsteinn Þráinnsson and Snorri Beck are the men behind this smooth indie-number. Kristinn Óli and Jóhann gained huge popularity in Iceland when they performed as the rap duo Jói Pé og Króli. In later years, Kristinn Óli has turned more and more to acting and Jóhann (who is the Icelandic President’s nephew – Fun Fact) has been composing and producing.

Amarosis “Don’t You Know”

Wildcard via semi-final one

The band, led by singer, pianist and athlete Már Gunnarsson, was originally founded back in 2018, under the name Már og félagar. They later changed their name to Amarosis, as a nod to Már´s eye condition Leber Congenital Amaurosis, which has left him legally blind. Már is a multi-talented man, for he is not only a musician, but also an Olympic athlete. He flew the Icelandic flag at the Paralympics in Tokyo last summer, where he competed in men’s swimming. He is accompanied by his big sister Ísold Wilberg, who Eurovision fans know from her performance in Söngvakeppnin 2020. She landed in fourth place along with Helga with their song “Meet Me Halfway”. “Dont You Know” is written by Már and Ísold themselves and is a calm, yet upbeat anthem. According to Ísold, it compliments both of them, as she is a do-er and Már is more of a thinker. 

The following acts were eliminated in the semi-finals:

  • Semi-final one
    • Haffi Haff “Gía”
    • Stefanía Svavarsdóttir “Hjartað mitt”
  • Semi-final two
    • Markéta Irglová “Mögulegt”
    • Suncity and Sanna “Hækkum í botn”
    • Hanna Mia and The Astrotourists “Séns með þér”

How the final will work

All six finalists performed in Icelandic for the semi-finals, as per competition rules. However, for the final, acts must sing in the language they intend to sing at Eurovision, should they win the selection. Two acts have decided to make the switch to English — Reykjavíkurdætur and Amarosis. The rest will remain in Icelandic.

The first round of the final will see all five acts take to stage. Based on these initial performances, the Icelandic public and a professional jury will vote for their favourites. Their votes will be combined on a 50/50 basis, with the top two acts progressing to the super final. The voting will reopen. The winner will be the act with the most votes, including the votes carried over from the first stage.

The 2022 final will come live from RVK Studios in Reykjavík. Björg Magnúsdóttir, Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir are the hosts for the evening.

Ukraine’s Eurovision 2020 and 2021 group Go_A were due to bring their unique brand of folktronica and rock to the grand final. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they are unable to travel to Iceland. Go_A were initally invited to peform during the interval of the national final on the back of topping the Icelandic televote at Eurovision 2021. In their absence, Sweden’s Tusse — the 2021 runner-up with the Icelandic public — will perform instead.

Söngvakeppnin 2022: Favourites and Predictions

The Wiwi Jury Ranking

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has assembled and listened to all five contenders. We’ve ranked our top songs in Eurovision fashion and combined our scores to determine our absolute favourites.

  1. Reykjavíkurdætur “Turn This Around” — 56 points (🥇 Antranig, Luis🥈 Pablo, Jonathan)
  2. Katla “Þaðan af” — 54 points (🥇 Pablo, Jonathan 🥉 Tom, Luis)
  3. Sigga, Beta and Elín “Með hækkandi sól” — 53 points (🥇 Tom, Padraig 🥉 Pablo, Antranig)
  4. Stefán Óli “Ljósið” — 47 points (🥈 Antranig, Padraig🥉 Jonathan)
  5. Amarosis “Don’t You Know” — 43 points (🥈 Tom 🥉 Padraig)

Will you be tuning in? Let us know down below.

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MartyMcCu
MartyMcCu
2 years ago

Beautiful song from Iceland. So nice. I have a question, will they keep it in Icelandic? , the album with all the songs are in Icelandic, English and Instrumental. This song has no English version as far as I know. I hope they keep to singing in Icelandic , so classy! Well done Iceland.

Name Pronume
2 years ago

ToGeThEr For Ucraina !

Addie
Addie
2 years ago

Sigga, Beta and Elin must win!! Their voices are sooo beautiful and I love the song. I’m sad that Don’t You Know isn’t that liked by people, it’s just an amazing song. I never saw the hype around Katla, but that’s just me. People would have their reasons to like her song. I also like Turn This Around, but I’m not sure if it would be my favorite if it wins. But it does, Iceland would sure be taking a huge risk and I like that!

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
2 years ago

Some people: Eurovision is gonna be really bad this year with lots of boring ballads!

Iceland: Ta, Ta, Turn this around! Turn this around now! Turn this around!!!

georgeesc
georgeesc
2 years ago

For me the best is Katla. She has an amazing voice and her song is very powerful. I hope she wins!!