Tomorrow it’s time for the second Söngvakeppnin 2020 semi-final, and we will find out which two songs will join DIMMA and Ísold og Helga in the grand final on 29 Frebruary. We will also find out whether or not RÚV will hand out a wildcard, and if so; who will get it!
Covering the classics
In the run-up to this year’s Söngvakeppnin RÚV has invited all the semi-finalists to perform their version of a Eurovision/Söngvakeppnin classic of their own choosing. By following the links below you can hear a select few of these performances.
Semi-final 1
From the first semi-final we would like to treat you to the two qualifiers.
DIMMA decided to do a metal version of a national final entry from 2006; Guðrún Árný’s “Andvaka“. And not only that; they got Guðrún Árný herself to play the piano and sing with them! Ísold og Helga picked an entry that was, and really still is, very popular in Iceland; “Calm After the Storm“. And with the hurricane that passed over Iceland in the past 12 hours, that just seems very appropriate.
Semi-final 2
In tomorrow’s semi-final, the last two finalists will be selected. According to a poll on the Icelandic Eurovision fan page on facebook, Júróvisjón 2020, Iva and Daði Freyr og Gagnamagnið lead the prediction, way ahead of the other three entries. As some of you might already know, Danish is taught as a second language in Icelandic schools. Daði Freyr wanted to show off his Danish, which is really good, by the way, so he decided to cover “Smuk som et stjerneskud“, the Danish version of “Fly on the Wings of Love”.
Íva, who happens to live in Rotterdam, is perhaps the biggest favorite to win the Icelandic Eurovision ticket. She is classically trained, and studies singing in the Netherlands. It’s perhaps not a huge surprise that she decided to give us her version of Anouk’s “Birds“.
We were only going to share the two favorites, but when Matti (one of the members of Sjónni’s friends) decided to do a cover of Johnny Logan’s “What’s Another Year“, we just had to include this one as well. Also; if you look closely, you’ll see Vignir Snær, another friend, on guitar, and several-time Söngvakppnin participant Jógvan Hansen on backing vocals. Might the hardcore fans be wrong in their predictions? Is this the true “dream team”, performing the song “Dreyma”, which just happens to mean to dream.
