Daði og Gagnamagnið return for Iceland

Fans have been speculating about Daði og Gagnamagnið's return in 2021 since the cancellation of this year’s event. Recently, the rumour mill went into overdrive when Daði Freyr released his concert tour dates for next year with the month of May completely cleared. The speculation ended when Daði finally announced the good news on his Twitter account.

In February, Daði Freyr and the group Gagnamagnið (which translates as 'data plan') won the Icelandic national selection Söngvakeppnin with their song 'Think About Things'. The song was directly inspired by becoming a father and by changes in life; things that brought Daði closer to those around him. It is not yet sure what Daði's new song will be about, but the family aspect will stay with him as his wife, Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir, plays keyboard in the group Gagnamagnið, and his 2 sisters provide backing vocals.

Music and family are the most important things in the world to Daði Freyr. It’s what drives him forward, what inspires him, and what keeps him rooted in Iceland and the close-knit communities he has always adored.

Skarphéðinn Guðmundsson, programme director of RÚV is pleased that Daði Freyr has accepted the invitation to participate again: "Daði won Söngvakeppnin 2020 with distinction and the reception of the Icelandic entry has never been so good. We are therefore very happy and proud to be able to send this great musician and Gagnamagnið to the Eurovision Song Contest next year as planned in 2020. Of course, many things had to be considered before this decision was made, but after much deliberation we felt that this was the only right thing to do, not least in light of the unprecedented situation of the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in history. We thought it was both right and fair" Skarphéðinn said.

Daði Freyr can’t wait to perform on the Eurovision stage: "I am very excited. The reason why I competed in Söngvakeppnin 2020 was to try to experience Eurovision from the inside together with Gagnamagnið. We always wanted to find out how far we could get in the competition and that will be no different next year."

Right after the announcement, we asked Daði a few questions about the upcoming adventure.

What made you decide to return to Eurovision Song Contest?
I don’t really feel like we are returning to Eurovision since we never got to compete. The main reason I want to compete is because we were expecting to go and were getting excited before the cancellation. I just want to experience Eurovision with Gagnamagnið and have some fun with it.

What are you looking forward to the most?
I really hope the competition will take place in Rotterdam. I’m mostly looking forward to everything surrounding Eurovision, the super fans and the atmosphere there. I’ve heard that it can be pretty wild!

Have you already started the creative process for the new song and has your way of making music changed this year?
I have some ideas about how the music video and stage performance will look like. I’m starting to write a few songs and then I will pick the one that I feel would fit best for Eurovision. The main thing for me is that it works well on stage, it has to be a Eurovision song.

What can we expect for Daði & Gagnamagnið in 2021?
Only good vibes!