Iceland's 'Söngvakeppnin' had its big final on Saturday night, and the Nordic nation now has its entry to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Diljá will fly the Icelandic flag with 'Power'.
After 2 semi-finals that happened in February, Saturday 4 March saw the final of Söngvakeppnin take place to much fanfare in Iceland.
5 songs competed in the country's long-standing pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with Diljá being voted as the winner with the song Power. Diljá will now represent Iceland in Liverpool in May.
Voting was done in 2 rounds. In the first round, both a public vote and a jury vote saw 5 songs be narrowed down to 2 - a 'super final'. In this super final, the 2 songs performed again - with Power by Diljá facing off against Langi Seli og Skuggarnir's song OK.
The phone lines re-opened, and this time it was the choice of the Icelandic viewers solely on which song would be declared the winner and represent their country in May. Iceland gave the majority of its vote to Power, and will now get fully behind the song at the Eurovision Song Contest in May.
You can listen to all 5 songs that competed in Iceland's Söngvakeppnin final right here.
Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest
Iceland made its Eurovision Song Contest debut in 1986 and has yet to win the contest. In 1999, Selma finished in 2nd-place with her song All Out Of Luck, and 10 years later, in 2009, Yohanna equalled this success with her ballad Is It True?
Iceland regularly boasts strong viewing figures for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2016, the country delivered the largest viewing share of all 42 participating countries with 95.3% of those watching TV in the country watching the Grand Final.
At the last 3 Contests, Iceland has reached the Grand Final, twice finishing inside the Top 10.
