This morning Icelandic broadcaster RÚV provided an unexpected update for Söngvakeppnin, stating that “it has been decided to sever the connection between the Song Contest (Söngvakeppnin) and Iceland’s participation in Eurovision”.
According to RÚV the show is still scheduled to take place, but the winner is no longer guaranteed the right to represent Iceland in Eurovision.
Instead, the decision of whether Iceland will compete and if the winner will serve as their representative will be made by the broadcaster and the winning Söngvakeppnin artist. This means that Iceland’s participation in Malmo cannot be directly confirmed until after March 2nd.
The announcement comes after extreme pressure from the Icelandic public and Icelandic music organizations urging RÚV to boycott the contest due to Israel’s participation.
Speaking about why the decision was made, Stefán Eiríksson, the Director-General of RÚV said:
“They [the contestants] apply with the goal of becoming Iceland’s contribution to Eurovision. They are concerned about the state of affairs just like we are. This has been our preparation for Eurovision and we have announced that we intend to participate in Eurovision without any changes, but we do not know what the future holds.”
As of now, it appears that the country still intends to compete, but as stated – that could change. The announcement of competing artists is still set to take place on January 27th at 20:50 CET.
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