#ICELAND: Live blog of Söngvakeppnin 2025 from 20.45CET

The national final season continues, with the turn of Iceland’s broadcaster RÚV holding theirs at the RVK Studios on Reykjavík. Six songs have made it to the Grand Final and a combination of jury and public vote will determine the winner. Can Iceland pick a song that will challenge for the win in Basel in May?

We’ll be blogging the action, and you can watch it HERE. All times below are GMT.

22.16 – It’s congratulations to the brothers that are Róa. The winners with both the jury and public vote. And that’s all from this live blog. Thanks and goodnight.

22.15 – It’s Væb! With Róa!

22.14 – Júlí & Dísa get 74 (137). The leaves Væb getting 93 (167)

22.13 – Stebbi Jak gets 85 (142).

22.12 – Ágúst gets 23 (68). Tinna gets 22 (75)

22.11 – Points for Bjarni Arason – 39 (83)

22.10 – We’re back. The results can’t be far away.

22.05 – Another ad break. Don’t go away.

22.04 – We now meet members of the new Icelandic government.

22.03 – Interview time – with Käärijä. Life has a catastrophe at times he says. Icelanders have a big heart too.

22.02 – The public vote is over!

21.58 – The vote lines are still open for a short time longer.

21.54 – Of course, Cha Cha Cha follows.

21.51 – It’s Käärijä! Who knew? He’s not singing Cha Cha Cha. Well at least not yet

21.47 – Music time. Our hosts are singing. With guests

21.44 – Time for another recap for the public

21.43 – These are the votes. Public voting is still open

21.42 – The final vote from Demir Kedzo from Croatia gives 12 to Set me free by Stebbi Jak

21.41 – Niamh Kavanagh gives the Irish vote. The 12 goes to Fire by Júlí & Dísa

21.40 – Peter Fenner gives the UK votes. His 12 goes to Róa by Væb

21.38 – Ukraine’s Maria gives 12 to Words by Tinna

21.37 – Ersin Palak from Türkiye gives 12 to Róa by Væb

21.36 – Saba from Denmark gives 12 to Róa by Væb

21.35 – Sietse Bakker in the Netherlands. The 12 goes to Set me free.

21.34 – The international jury will now be delivering their 50% of the vote.

21.33 – We talk to a DJ in Tenerife. Apparently there’s a massive Icelandic community there. Who knew?

21.30 – And now Je ne sais quoi. It’s the full HB experience.

21.28 – And now Someday

21.25 – Back to reality, and it’s Hera Björk. She did her stuff in Malmö last year. Tonight she songs Scared of heights, but in Icelandic.

21.24 – Time for interval. They’re waking an electoral expert.

21.20 – We’re back, with another recap of the songs

21.14 – Ad break time now. Stay tuned

21.10 – We’re interviewing the last three acts in the Green Room. Nice

21.04 – All the songs done. A quick word from our hosts, with the phone numbers for those in Iceland. They all start 90099xx.

21.03 – This has a staging. A bit dark and rocky. Lord of the Lost but Scandi? Maybe. There’s a decent powerful voice going on in there from Stebbi. His pals on the climbing frame in stage seem to be stealing the show though. There’s a chorus with an easy lyric, rhyming free with misery. And there are challenging notes, some masked well by a well-timed electric guitar. It’s different to the others tonight, but I don’t think it’s a winner.

20.58 – Finally, song six comes from Stebbi Jak. It’s called Set me free

20.57 – There are country & western væbs to this one. And there are a lot of words to this. It’s also quite catchy. The staging is quite dark, and could probably do with something a bit brighter. But no matter, if the formulaic C&W sound is what Iceland and indeed Europe want in 2025, this could be up there. A decent effort.

20.52 – Song five is Words by Tinna

20.51 – The five are all in silver tracksuits, handy for the energetic performance we’re seeing. They also have sunglasses on. It’s very slick (in Icelandic of course) and very very catchy. This already is the one to beat. They even appear to be aboard a boat at one stage. Did I say this was catchy. And you don’t need to know the language to be drawn in by this one. And the fiddling is the finishing touch. Very good.

20.45 – Song four is Róa from Væb

20.39 – The acts who have performed so far are being interviewed. If you’re hearing the English commentary, you’ll be hearing shout-outs

20.38 – We’re back.

20.33 – Half way through, so we go to two of our hosts. And then an ad break. Don’t go too far.

20.32 – He starts first, singing in English and kneeling on stage. It’s a dark stage too. For the chorus it really picks up with a slightly repetitive chorus. She raps the second verse, in Icelandic, with a slight distortion that was Hatari’s trick. He takes on the second chorus, and dancers have joined him by this stage. This is the best thing so far. Mainly because it’s different.

20.26 – Straight onto song 3. It’s Fire by Júli & Dísa

20.25 – A slow song, and he’s accompanied by a lady on a piano. His mike is vintage too. He’s aiming to be classy, and he sort of pulls it off. As for a song, it’s a bit formulaic but that can sometimes be a good thing. It’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, key change. Ahh, a key change. Oh, and it’s in Icelandic. It’s OK, but probably not a winner.

20.20 – Song two is Aðeins lengur by Bjarno Arason. He’s done this show before.

20.19 – He starts sat in the crowd before moving onto stage by the first chorus. He sings in English and the beat picks up slightly during the chorus. He also has dancers cavorting around too. This could be straight out of a Melodifestivalen. To me, the mix seems slightly off, and his voice isn’t that strong. For the final chorus – before the slow bit, obviously – he again goes down into the audience, and then shouts at them. It’s OK, but lacks something.

20.14 – Onto song 1. It’s Ágúst singing Like you. He has tattoos

20.13 – The public voting opens right now.

20.11 – We meet the six acts. A sort of pared-down flag parade. Without the flags.

20.10 – There’s no duel this year. An international jury of 7 jurors will constitute half the votes. The other half will come from the Icelandic public

20.08 – Our hosts tell us what’s going on. Six song competing for a golden ticket to Basel, that’s what.

20.05 – We get a warm-up act. Maybe called Kópbo. He’s sort of a rapper. Mr Peanut butter we’re told

20.02 – A host, Guðrun, is deciding what to wear. The other hosts know

20.01 – This is it this time.

19.50 – Of course, the real action starts at the top of the hour.

19.47 – We’re getting a little montage of the like of Halla Margrét.

19.45 – And we’re off. Gunnar and Edda Sif are our hosts.

Author: John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland, RÚV