Twelve songs have been selected for participation in the Song Contest 2017. Over 200 entries were submitted to the contest, which will be conducted similarly to last year. Icelandic- and English-language recordings of the songs are available online on songvakeppnin.is.

The semifinal will take place at Háskólabíó on Saturday, February 25th and Saturday, March 4th. The final will be held with pomp and circumstance at Laugardalshöll on March 11th. The three competiton events will be broadcast live on RÚV.

As in previous years, the public will be able to purchase tickets to the events; ticket sales open on Wednesday, February 1st, on tix.is. Individual tickets will be available, as well as a special discounted package, the „All the Way“ package, which is valid for all three evenings.

The winning song of the Song Contest will be Iceland’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contests, which will take place in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 9th, 11th and 13th. The songs will be performed in Icelandic in the semifinals, with six songs competing each evening. The three songs that receive the greatest number of votes by phone each evening are guaranteed a spot in the finals. Six songs will therefore participate in the final of the Song Contest at Laugardalshöll on March 11th. RÚV reserves the right to send one additional song to the final if they so choose.

The event will be hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, who serves on the contest’s executive board as for the past several years.

THIS YEAR’S SONGS

The twelve songs in this year’s contest are performed heavy hitters from the Icelandic music scene and exciting newcomers. Here are the creators and performers of the twelve numbers:

Song:  Ástfangin / Obvious Love

Music:  Linda Hartmanns

Icelandic lyrics:  Linda Hartmanns og Erla Bolladóttir

English lyrics:  Linda Hartmanns

Performer:  Linda Hartmanns

Song:  Bammbaramm

Music:  Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir

Icelandic lyrics:  Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir

English lyrics:  Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir

Performer:  Hildur

Song:  Ég veit það / Paper

Music:  Einar Egilsson, Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Lester Mendez og Lily Elise

Icelandic lyrics:  Stefán Hilmarsson

English lyrics:  Svala Björgvinsdóttir og Lily Elise

Performer:  Svala Björgvinsdóttir

Song:  Heim til þín / Get Back Home

Music:  Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson

Icelandic lyrics:  Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson og Guðmundur Snorri Sigurðarson

English lyrics:  Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson og Guðmundur Snorri Sigurðarson

Performers:  Júlí Heiðar Halldórsson og Þórdís Birna Borgarsdóttir

Song:  Hvað með það? / Is This Love?

Music:  Daði Freyr Pétursson

Icelandic lyrics:  Daði Freyr Pétursson

English lyrics:  Daði Freyr Pétursson

Performer:  Daði Freyr Pétursson

Song:  Mér við hlið / Make your way back home

Music:  Rúnar Eff

Icelandic lyrics:  Rúnar Eff

English lyrics:  Rúnar Eff

Performer:  Rúnar Eff

Song:   Nótt / Tonight

Music:  Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson

Icelandic lyrics:  Ágúst Ibsen

English lyrics:  Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson

Performer:  Aron Hannes

Song:  Skuggamynd / I’ll be gone

Music:  Erna Mist Pétursdóttir

Icelandic lyrics:  Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir

English lyrics:  Erna Mist Pétursdóttir

Performer:  Erna Mist Pétursdóttir

Song:  Til mín / Again

Music:  Hólmfríður Ósk Samúelsdóttir

Icelandic lyrics:  Hólmfríður Ósk Samúelsdóttir

English lyrics:  Hólmfríður Ósk Samúelsdóttir

Performers:  Arnar Jónsson og Rakel Pálsdóttir

Song:  Treystu á mig / Trust in me

Music:  Iðunn Ásgeirsdóttir

Icelandic lyrics:  Ragnheiður Bjarnadóttir

English lyrics:  Iðunn Ásgeirsdóttir

Performer:  Sólveig Ásgeirsdóttir

Song:  Þú hefur dáleitt mig / Hypnotised

Music:  Þórunn Erna Clausen, Michael James Down og Aron Brink

Icelandic lyrics:  Þórunn Erna Clausen og William Taylor

English lyrics:  Þórunn Erna Clausen og William Taylor

Performer:  Aron Brink

Song:  Þú og ég / You and I

Music:  Mark Brink

Icelandic lyrics:  Mark Brink

English lyrics:  Mark Brink og Þórunn Erna Clausen

Performers:  Páll Rósinkranz og Kristina Bærendsen

As was mentioned above, all of the songs are accessible on songvakeppnin.is, both in Icelandic and English. The rules of the competition stipulate that the songs must be performed in Icelandic in the semifinal, but that in the final they may be performed in a language of the authors’ choosing. The songs of the Song Contests will be the “record” of the week on RÚV’s radio station Rás 2 next week, and they will also be distributed to other radio stations.  The website songvakeppnin.is also includes information about the songs’ creators and performers, as well as lyrics for all of the songs.