Icelandic broadcaster RÚV reveals the ten songs and artists for Söngvakeppnin 2022!

Iceland was originally set to announce their Eurovision hopefuls for Söngvakeppnin in January, but COVID restrictions required RÚV to delay their announcement to today. The delay has also moved the show dates of Söngvakeppnin back a week so that the semi-finals are occurring on February 26th and March 5th, and the grand final happening on March 12th. Managing director Rúnar Freyr Gíslason said that delaying the announcement and shows gave them the best chance of being able to host the event without the need for intense protocols and restrictions, and the ability to have an audience.

The list of artists and songs competing in this year’s Söngvakeppnin are:

1. Haffi Haff – “Gía” / “Volcano“
2. Amarosis – “Don’t You Know“
3. Hannah Mia and the Astrotourists – “Séns með þér” / “Gemini“
4. Suncity and Sanna – “Hækkum í botn” / “Keep It Cool“
5. Katla – “Þaðan af” / “Then Again“
6. Marketa Irglova – “Mögulegt” / “Possible“
7. Stefanía Svavardóttir – “Hjartað mitt” / “Heart of Mine“
8. Stefan Oli – “Ljósið” / “All I know“
9. Reykjavíkurdætur – “Tökum af stað” / “Turn This Around“
10.  Síga, Beta, og Elín – “Með hækkandi sól“

The participant list includes a number of Söngvakeppnin familiars like Haffi Haff who competed in the national final in 2008 with a song composed by eventual Eurovision participant SVALA, Stefania Svavarsdóttir who has competed in the national final in both 2015 and 2018, and Suncity (Sólborg Guðbrandsdóttir) who competed alongside Tómas Helgi Wehmeier in 2018. Suncity will perform with Sanna who was a songwriter for Nína’s 2020 song “Ekkó“.

Newcomers to the competiton are YouTube cover artist Hanna Mia and the Astrotourists, indie group Amarosis, Suncity and Sanna, indie cover artist Stefan Oli, and Marketa Irglova who won an Academy Award along with Glen Hansard in 2007 for their song “Falling Slowly”. Reykjavíkurdætu or “Daughters of Reykjavik” are an all female hip-hop group from Reykjavik that was formed in 2013.

Katla and girl group Síga, Beta, og Elín will also participate for the first time, but do not seem to have released music prior to this year.

The Söngvakeppnin format for 2022

The semi-finals will both feature five songs each, with three songs advancing to the grand final on March 5th. The public will decide the two automatic qualifiers through a televote, while a jury will select a song and artist to save from the remaining three acts. The grand final will see two voting rounds, with the first being a 50/50 split to decide the top two superfinalists, and then a second round where the winner is decided by a 100% televote.

This year the selection will move from it’s home in Háskólabíó and Laugardalshöll to RVK Studios’s Studio One, just outside of the capital city Reykjavik. The studio is 34,400 square feet or 3,200 sqaure meters in size, and will serve as a massive upgrade for the national final’s production capabilities. This year’s show will be hosted by Björg Magnúsdóttir, Jón Jónsson, and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdótti.