Iceland: A guide to the 'Söngvakeppnin' final

03 March 2023 at 10:00 CET

Iceland’s Systur at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Grand Final EBU / Corinne Cumming

After 2 weeks of semi-finals, Iceland is now ready to host its 'Söngvakeppnin' final - choosing its entry to the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.

HOW TO WATCH: On Saturday 4 March, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV will be airing the show on RÚV 1. A live stream will be available via the broadcaster's website. The 'Söngvakeppnin' final starts at 20:45 CET.

5 songs are currently in the running to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Following on from the Grand Final success that the Nordic nation has achieved at the 3 most recent Contests, it's time to find out what the Icelandic people will be selecting in the hope of continuing that magic streak.

The country's annual Söngvakeppnin returned for its 2023 edition in February. 2 semi-finals saw a starting lineup of 10 voted on by TV viewers, with their favourites going through to Saturday night's final lineup of 5. And it will be 1 of these 5 that we end up seeing in Liverpool.

Voting will be done in 2 rounds. In the first round, both a public vote and a jury vote will see the 5 songs be narrowed down to 2 - a 'super final'. In this super final, the 2 songs will be performed again, the phone lines will be opened, and this time it will be the choice of the Icelandic viewers solely on which song gets to be declared the winner and represent their country in May.

Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir and Sigurður Þorri Gunnarsson will be hosts for the night. And a very special kind of entertainment will be provided for the interval act, when Subwoolfer jet in from neighbouring Norway (or the moon, who can tell?), to reprise their evergreen 2022 Eurovision Song Contest hit Give That Wolf A Banana.