Did you hear? Eurovision tidbits – Iceland special

After a loooong break the tidbits return! And what could possibly be more natural than starting off the new edition with an Iceland special? There is so much Eurovision related stuff going on on this little rock in the North Atlantic that it's difficult to know where to start! We'll bring you birthdays, babies, wisdom, new music...and of course; the Xtra goodiebag is back too! How to win at life Águsta Eva (aka Silvia Night) shares a lot of fun stuff on her Instagram, and recently we noticed this very wise nugget of wisdom; https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzjfn2kAwZB/ In other news we can also mention that Águsta Eva is starring as viking woman Urd in the HBO series "Beforeigners", which is a satirical near-future sci-fi series about people from the past seeking refuge in Oslo. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgzO3zgv2F/ Eirikur Hauksson celebrated his 60th! Three-time Eurovision participant Eirikur Hauksson, celebrated his 60th birthday this summer, on the 4th of July. And as you might expect; he did so with a proper bang! He hosted one of the biggest concerts the wonderful Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik has ever seen! On stage with the man himself were names like Regína Ósk, Friðrik Ómar, Eyþór Ingi and about half of Sjonni's Friends! And many more. Not a lot of footage has surfaced from the concert, but if and when it does, there will be another little mention of this celebration in a future tidbits article. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzgo2BeA9Ul/ Jóhanna; baby and musical theater The most important thing first; in June Jóhanna and the rest of the family welcomed baby number two, their little prince Jón Geir. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzleYB5AhLJ/ In November she played the part of Evita in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name. In case you're planning a trip to Iceland in 2020, she repeating the part in Harpa on February 28th. And as you can see in the clip below; Jóhanna and husband Davið don't just make beautiful babies; they also make music, sweet music! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Tcgro6V3M More babies Jóhanna isn't by any means the only Icelandic Eurostar to add to her family these days. Eyþór Ingi and his wife Soffía Ósk had their fourth daugheter, Anna Carmen, in September. And escXtra's favorite Icelander, Þórunn Erna Clausen, is expecting her first daughter in January. Meaning she'll finally no longer be the only girl in the household! Back in 2015 it came as quite the surprise when María Ólafs beat Friðrik Dór in the duel in the Söngvakeppnin final. He did however still get to go to Eurovision, as one of María's backing singer. In November, he and wife Lísa welcomed their second daughter! https://www.instagram.com/p/B3lFOJIg_7K/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Q83dLAINN/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lIHMhg8m_/ Svala's wisdom(s) We've mentioned this before, but in addition to being a great singer, songwriter and performer, Svala is also a very wise woman. Here is a little handful of the recent nuggets of wisdom we found on her Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BvgbVOalyiT/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BttS1d5FNes/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BqE5CCxF3aj/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B44trC9FaOR/ This December Svala has been part of several Christmas concerts, like Heim um Jólin (with Friðrik Ómar and more) and Jólagestir Björgvins (with "everybody who's anybody in Icelandic music"...almost). She and Friðrik Ómar also released a new Christmas song; "Annríki í desember (Busy in December)". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y0Awjjc188 Regína Ósk can dance! The Icelandic version of Dancing With the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing is called Allir geta dansað (Everybody can dance). As we reported back then; Jóhanna Guðrún won the show in May 2016! In this year's edition, the perhaps biggest favorite is none other than Euroband's very own Regína Ósk! It might be just a coincidence, but her dance partner is Maxim Petrov, who also partnered with Jóhanna. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TJayegg-m/ Regína Ósk is not the only Eurovision star in Allir geta dansað; Eyjólfur Kristjánsson (Iceland 1991) is one of the other dancers, and Selma (1999/2005) is one of the judges. We're gonna be keeping a close eye on the show, and will of course keep you updated! Another baby, and a Eurovision rumour Daði Freyr, who finished in second place in Söngvakeppnin 2017 with "Hvað með það/Is This Love" and his wife Árný Fjóla had their first child, daughter Áróra Björg, in April. Also, he released an album in June. And in August this beauty dropped out of the blue! https://open.spotify.com/album/31XJsgdLbqhzgCbRb3oEMS?utm_source=Facebook_SimpleMusicStories&utm_medium=sms Despite all these wonderful things, the most interesting little tidbit is however a rumour that says Daði Freyr might return to Söngvakeppnin in 2020! Apparently he wrote a song for the 2019 contest sometime in early 2018. However, since Eurovisioin was heading to Israel in 2019, he didn't submit it to RÚV. Many fans really hope that he has now entered this song for next year. Or; any song, really. #fingerscrossed The Xtra good goodiebag As we promised; the goodiebag returns! And this week's goodiebag is unusually good...and a little different from what we normally give you. But how could we not? This picture is from Hatari's gig in Oslo this summer. No caption needed, really That's it from Iceland! Next week we'll be back with the first tidbits of 2020! We can't promise an Iceland-free article, however, though there will most definitely also be news from other countries!

How to win at life

Wivian Renee Kristiansen

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