‘Baby It’s Cold in Here – But not for much longer’

Iceland bring the first Semi Final of their Eurovision 2016 selection Söngvakeppni and boy are we excited like an Icelander at McDonald’s ordering a MacReindeer Meal!!
https://youtu.be/Gy4i9_7pPNk

Our Girl Jennifer gave her thoughts on all of the Icelandic songs and ranked them in the competition – SEE HERE

Join us at 21:00CET for our LIVE BLOG. You know the drill – just refresh the page for full updates and our thoughts on the performances.

How To Watch

The Show starts at 21:00 CET

You can watch internationally using the following LINK HERE

LIVE BLOG STARTS AT 21:00 CET – JUST REFRESH THE PAGE

Iceland is celebrating 30 years since they joined Eurovision. 6 singers will be taking to the stage tonight of which 3 will qualify for the final on February 20.

Special performances from Pall Óskar (Iceland 1997) and 101 Boys – will be performing to celebrate this birthday for Iceland at Eurovision.

Hello there guys and girls and welcome to my first live blog of the 2016 season. It is Andrew here and I have landed on my feet in one of my favourite non winning countries which is Iceland. I hope to keep things short and snappy and try to inject a bit of sarcastic Scottish humour which I am known for.

So the show begins with a song from 101 Boys which is an old one from Iceland Eurovision. Then we get a mish mash of all sorts.

We are now getting a recap of  all the Icelandic entries of the last 30 years. We then get an intro from our two lovely hosts.

Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir – Raddirnar

Greta is on first tonight and of course she has form singing with Jonsi in Baku. Well this is taking a leaf out of the books of Loreen and Mans from last year. Dressed all in black Greta is interacting with the backdrop which looks great. There are hints of Loreen from her movements. The song overall is good and worthy of a Eurovision stage. A good start.

Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir & Hjörtur Traustason – Hugur minn er

Erna also has form at Eurovision but only as a backing singer. Is it her turn methinks? She has a lovely voice and is accompanied in this duet by Hjörtur which works well. It is a very pleasant Eurovision formulaic ballad and could do well with a slight makeover.

Ingólfur Þórarinsson – Fátækur námsmaður

Well now for something completely different. We have lively and upbeat and fun.Ingolfur is accompanied on stage by a bed, yes I said bed and group of lively singers and musicians including a girl playing a guitar wearing sunglasses. Its completely bonkers but great nonetheless. I hope it does well.

EVA – Ég sé þig

Eva are two girls who like to swim judging from the postcard. They are standing among a rock formation  on stage(?) and sing a very laid back song which drifts along quite aimlessly. Not really my cup of tea for Eurovision but pleasant enough I suppose.

Karlotta Sigurðardóttir – Óstöðvandi

Karlotta is singing a song crafted from Sweden and is accompanied on stage by the songwriters, The Persson twins from Sweden. Also there are 3 female dancers. This is a mid tempo Europop song which could do well at Eurovision. Whether it passes tonight is up to the voters. I liked it but not sure it will be in my top 3 for tonight.

Sigga Eyrún- Kreisi

This was my pre show favourite and I was not disappointed. It was crazy. Sigga sings well and is accompanied by two female(?) dancers, ok one female and a drag queen. One of the dancers spends some time at a games console and both have crazy face paint on. The song itself is catchy and a little bit different for Eurovision but in Icelandic style completely bonkers enough to work.

We now are having a recap of the songs while the voting takes place.

#MagicMic Award

Tonight’s #MagicMic Award goes to……. Ingólfur Þórarinsson – Fátækur námsmaður

He was crazy enough to bring his bed with him to work and why not? It added a new dimension to a Eurovision stage.

Andrew’s Predictions

First off I think Greta Salome will go through with Raddirnar

Followed by Ingólfur Þórarinsson – Fátækur námsmaður.

Finally its a close call for the third spot but I am going to give it to Sigga with Kreisi.

We are getting another recap followed by how Icy came to be back in the 80’s. Of course Palmi is singing this year in next week’s Semi Final and good luck to him. He certainly is a veteran of Icelandic music for Eurovision.

Now we have another  veteran of Eurovision the one and only Paul Oskar in a sparkly blue jump suit, yes I aint kidding see the photo. I love Paul Oskar.

RESULTS – QUALIFIERS

Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir – Raddirnar

Karlotta Sigurðardóttir – Óstöðvandi

Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir & Hjörtur Traustason – Hugur minn er

Good luck to everyone in the Final. I got only one right but am happy for Karlotta and for Erna and Hjortur. The losers could still go through as a wildcard. Find out that next week.

Goodnight and God bless.

Author : Andrew Main

Source : Eurovision Ireland