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Euroband

After an exciting selecting process in Iceland dating back to September 2007, Iceland finally decided their participant for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins was won by Euroband.

Euroband was established in March 2006 by Friðrik Ómar and Regína Ósk  who had both participated in the Icelandic National Song Contest earlier that  year. Regína Ósk was the second runner-up in the finals with Þér við hlið  and Friðrik Ómar ended up in third place with að sem verður.  Friðrik Ómar also just missed out on winning the national finals in 2007 when  the song Eldur came in second place.

The other members of the Euroband are bass player Róbert Þórhallsson,  guitarist Kristján Grétarsson, drummer Benedikt Brynleifsson and keyboard player  Grétar Örvarsson, who sang Eitt lag enn along with Sigga Beinteins in  Eurovision Song Contest in 1990, and also co-wrote the Icelandic 1992 entry  Nei eða já.

Friðrik Ómar was born in Akureyri on October 4th 1981. He started playing the  drums at only five years old when his older brother gave him a drum kit. His  mother says he started singing before he could even talk and he first performed  in public at a school gathering at eight. He began playing guitar and piano  early on and wrote his first song when he was only ten. By the age of 18 Friðrik  had already released two solo albums and performed at a special concert for the  President of Iceland. After winning a number of song competitions he moved to  Reykjavík where he successfully auditioned for a part in a musical. 

He has  participated in five popular music shows, worked with some of Iceland’s best  known singers and fronted several bands. Friðrik has recorded two successful  albums that reached gold status and one that was a certified platinum album.  Last year he collaborated with the Lithuanian group Land and singer Lim from  Malaysia. He has performed in War of the Worlds with the Icelandic Symphony  Orchestra and has been nominated for the Icelandic Music Prize.    

Regína Ósk was born in Reykjavík on December 21st 1977 and, like Friðrik,  more or less started singing before she could talk. Regina won two song  competitions in her early teens, sang solo with her school choir, and studied  classical singing for a period in the Reykjavík Academy of Singing and Vocal  Arts, before taking some lessons in jazz vocals. 

Her first band was the girl group Söngsystur, which later evolved into an  octet 8-villt, but more recently has been performing with the band Nova. In 1999  Regína Ósk sang in the musical Little Shop of Horrors where she met and went on  to work with Selma Björnsdottir, who represented Iceland at the Eurovision Song  Contest in 1999 and 2005. 

Regina has some Eurovision Song Contest background having sang backing vocals  in in 2001, 2003 and 2005, and has done a lot of studio session work. She  recorded an eponymous solo album in 2005, a second album Í djúpum dal was  released in 2006 and her third album Ef væri ég appeared in 2007. 

Visit the official Euroband blog at MyEurovision 

Live performance

Lyrics of This Is My Life

This Is My Life

I spent my days in vain just waiting
For happiness to come my way
I took for granted all they gave me
I opened my eyes
Finally I realised

This is my life
I don’t wanna change a thing
This is my life
All the pain, all the joy it brings

All through the years
Of blood sweat and tears
Hopes and my fears
All that was meant to be
This is my life
What will be, will be

There’s no denying all the heartaches
Were just a blessing in disguise
If I never made a single mistake
I wouldn’t be here
Part of the plan I believe

This is my life
I don’t wanna change a thing
This is my life
All the pain, all the joy it brings
All through the years
Of blood sweat and tears
Hopes and my fears
All that was meant to be
This is my life
What will be, will be

I've found the key
To set myself free
You'll be amazed
Cos I have the power
To change my ways

This is my life
I don’t wanna change a thing
This is my life
All the pain, all the joy it brings
All through the years
Of blood sweat and tears
Hopes and my fears
All that was meant to be
This is my life
What will be

This is my life