Iceland confirm Söngvakeppnin 2013 finalists

The name of the national selection has this year been shortened to Söngvakeppnin 2013. Back in November, the details of the song titles, composers and lyricists were confirmed by RÚV. 

We can today confirm the artists who will compete with those songs in Söngvakeppnin 2013, please note that the order of performance for each semi final has not yet been determined, this will be decided by a draw later in the month.

First semi final - Friday 25th January

• Magni Ásgeirsson - Ekki Líta Undan (Composer: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson  Lyrics: Ingibjörg Gunnarsdóttir)
• Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson - Ég á Líf (Composers & Lyrics : Örlygur Smári and Pétur Örn Guðmundsson)
• Svavar Knútur Kristinsson and Hreindís Ylva Garðarsdóttir Hólm - Lífið Snýst (Composer: Hallgrímur Óskarsson Lyrics: Hallgrímur Óskarsson and Svavar Knútur Kristinsson)
• Birgitta Haukdal - Meðal Andanna (Composers: Birgitta Haukdal, Sylvía Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir and Jonas Gladnikoff Lyrics: Birgitta Haukdal, Sylvía Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir, Michael James Down and Primoz Poglajen)
• Edda Viðarsdóttir - Sá sem Lætur Hjartað Ráða För (Composer: Þórir Úlfarsson Lyrics: Kristján Hreinsson)
• Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir (Yohanna) - Þú (Composer and Lyrics: Davíð Sigurgeirsson)

Second semi final - Saturday 26th January

• Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir - Augnablik (Composer: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson Lyrics: Ingibjörg Gunnarsdóttir)
• Unnur Eggertsdóttir - Ég Syng! (Composers : Elíza Newman, Gísli Kristjánsson and Ken Rose Lyrics: Eliza Newman, Gísli Kristjánsson and Hulda G. Geirsdóttir)
• Klara Ósk Elíasdóttir - Skuggamynd (Composers: Hallgrímur Óskarsson and Ashley Hicklin Lyrics: Bragi Valdimar Skúlason)
• Sylvía Erla Scheving - Stund Með þér (Composer & Lyrics: María Björk Sverrisdóttir)
• Jógvan Hansen and Stefanía Svavarsdóttir - Til þín (Composer: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson Lyrics: Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson and Ágúst Ibsen)
• Haraldur Reynisson - Vinátta (Composer & Lyrics: Haraldur Reynisson)

Familiar faces in the line up

• Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir (Yohanna) represented Iceland in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with Is It True, finishing in second place in the Grand Final
• Birgitta Haukdal represented Iceland in the 2003 contest with Open Your Heart
• Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson was responsible for the Icelandic entries of 2004, Heaven by Jónsi and 2007, Valentine Lost by Eiríkur Hauksson at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Jonas Gladnikoff was part of the team behind the Irish entries for Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy and Niamh Kavanagh respectively in the 2009 and 2010 contests
• Ashley Hicklin co-wrote Tom Dice's Belgian entry Me And My Guitar in the 2010 contest

Format of competition

The twelve songs have been split in to two semi finals of six songs each, as mentioned the draw for the semi final running order will take place later in the month. These will be broadcast live from the RÚV studios on Friday 25th January and Saturday 26th January respectively, both at 20:00 Icelandic time. Each show will last for 90 minutes.

The Icelandic public will choose three songs from each semi final to progress to the final on February 2nd. It is possible that as in the past years, producers of the show may choose a wildcard seventh entry to progress to the final.

During the final, a 50/50 split between jury and televoting will determine the two songs which progress to the super final. At that stage it will be 100% televoting which will determine the overall winner.