In an article posted this afternoon, Icelandic broadcaster, RÚV, announced that two of the Söngvakeppnin finalists have decided to keep their entries in Icelandic. One of them is Hatari, which was obvious, as they haven’t even made an English version. The other, which comes as quite the surprise to a lot of people, is Friðrik Ómar!
Friðrik Ómar in Icelandic
As far as we have heard, everybody assumed that he would choose to perform the English version of his song; “What If I Cant’t Have Love?”. Today, however, RÚV announced that the song will stay in Icelandic; “Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?”.
Friðrik Ómar is not only the singer of this entry; he is also both composer and lyricist. One of the most remarkable things about this entry, however, is the team of voices backing him up. No less than two former Eurovision entrants, and three Söngvakeppnin veterans! Selma Björnsdottir secured a second place for Iceland the last time the contest was hosted in Israel. Regína Ósk performed “This Is My Life” alongside Friðrik Ómar in Belgrade. Add to this Erna Hrönn, Jógvan Hansen and Heiða Ólafs, and this team has approximately a hundred Söngvakeppnin participations between them. (Well, not quite, but it sure feels like it!)
Icelandic web site kaffið.is posted this video of “the A-team” performing an acapella version of the song in a parking garage!
Three songs in English
The other three songs; Tara Mobee’s “Fighting For Love”, Hera Björk’s “Moving On” and Kristina Schoubo’s “Mama Said”, will all be performed in English. In RÚV’s article about this you can hear all the songs in their final version.
How do you feel about two songs in Icelandic? Do you think we’ll hear a song in Icelandic on the Eurovision stage for the second time since the language rule was lifted? If you would like to know more about the finalists, check out our background article.
