During the build up to next week’s Eurovision song contest and whilst rehearsal coverage has been restricted this week, due to media access being closed to the first and second rehearsals, we at Eurovision Ireland decided to look back at the highs and lows at Eurovision of each country taking part this year . This time, it’s the turn of Iceland.

When did Iceland first enter Eurovision?

Iceland first entered the contest in 1986, Icy sang “Gleðibankinn” in Bergen, Norway . They finished in 16th place with 19 points. Infact, Iceland finished in 16th place for the first three years of their Eurovision history !

What are Iceland’s highest points at Eurovision ?

Iceland have yet to win the contest but there are a couple of years where they have come very close.In the contest in Jerusalem in 1999, Selma with her song “All out of luck” finished in second place, being beaten to the winning spot by Sweden.

In 2009 , in Moscow, Yohanna with her gentle ballad, “Is it true?” finished in second spot , with Iceland being beaten by Norway.

What are Iceland’s lowest points at Eurovision?

There are a couple of occasions in their history of the contest that Iceland would probably rather forget. The first one came in the 1989 contest in Lausanne , where Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson finished last with his song “Það sem enginn sér” and had the misfortune to get the dreaded nul points !

In 2001, in Copenhagen , Two Tricky with their song “Angel” finished in last place with only three points.

In 2005 Selma returned to the contest in Kyiv for another try at winning the contest. Unfortunately , she didn’t even make it out of the Semi Final with her song “If I had your love “,finishing 16th .

Iceland failed to qualify for the final for another two years after Selma. In 2006 , Silvia Knight with her song “Congratulations” failed to qualify in Athens and in 2007, Eirikur Hauksson with “Paradise lost ” suffered the same fate in Helsinki , Finland .

Iceland went through another phase of non -qualification from the Semi -Final in the period 2015-2018 . Maria Olafs with “Unbroken ” fell at the semi final hurdle in Vienna , 2015 . Greta Salome with ” Hear them calling ” ( which had been a huge favourite to qualify or even go for the win ) failed to qualify in Stockholm in 2016 , Svala with her song “Paper” failed in Kyiv in 2017 and Ari Olafsson had the misfortune to finish last in his semi final in Lisbon 2018.

How will Iceland do in 2023?

This year, Dilja won Iceland’s National final selection and will represent them in Liverpool with her song “Power”. She will perform in Semi Final 2 . Can she take Iceland to the final for the third year running since 2021?

Let us know what you think of Iceland at Eurovision and how you think they will do this year by dropping us a line in the comments box. You can also find us on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : RUV,Eurovision.TV, You Tube