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About Iceland...
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2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A
Points in Final: 16
Position in Final: 19th
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2003)
Iceland's previous appearances: 16 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1986-1997; 1999-2001; 2003-
Best result: 2nd (1999)
For many years, Iceland's record at Eurovision was unimpressive, 4th place in 1990 the best result from its twelve efforts between 1986 and 1997. The country's first enforced absence due to relegation, in 1998, appeared to give Iceland the boost it needed, charging back in 1999 with the catchy 'All out of luck'. Selma's 2nd place promptly gave Iceland its best ever result, beaten only by Sweden's Charlotte Nilsson with what was, arguably, a less impressive song. Since then, Iceland has stuck to powerful, uptempo songs, with variable results - while 2000's 'Tell me!' finished a mid-table 12th, 2001's 'Angel' inexplicably (I rather liked it) scored only 3 points and ended up last. After another relegation-enduced absence, Iceland bounced back with a slice of Selma-lite in 2003. Birgitta's energetic performance of 'Open your heart' was always likely to finish strongly; while its creditable 8th place was enough to secure Iceland's participation in the 2004 Final, the country's first victory remained elusive. Could 2004 finally be Iceland's year?
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 17
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Iceland usually use a national final to choose their Eurovision entry, but this year they have gone down the internal selection route. Jónsi and the song 'Heaven' was announced as the chosen entry ages ago, though Iceland kept us waiting for some weeks before finally letting us hear it. Fortunately, it was worth the wait - 'Heaven' has 'Eurovision winner' written all over it, a stunning, spinetingling ballad sung with great passion and feeling by the handsome Jónsi, who, it has to be said, has a very strong voice indeed. I can't remember thae last time I heard such a beautiful song. Iceland have certainly pulled out all the stops this year, and will surely be hoping that Jónsi can bring them victory on 15 May."
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 1st to 4th; this or Germany most likely to win
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"If there is any justice, we'll be off to Reykjavik in 2005, as 'Heaven' is surely a deserving winner - certainly, there is little doubt that this is one of the most powerful and memorable songs in the contest this year. As yet, we don't know which song will perform before it in the Final, but there's little chance of it being overhadowed by the dull Irish song that follows. Iceland are probably pleased that they are sufficiently late in the running order (17 of 24) to stick in televoters' minds, and if Jónsi gives as strong a performance as expected, 'Heaven' has to be a real contender for victory. Though the song has had much favourable feedback from fans, and the bookies rate it quite highly, it's perhaps surprising that Iceland is not among the hot favourites; still, given that pre-contest favourites rarely go on to win (just ask Corinna May and Marlain), this is probably no bad thing."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
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What actually happened
Oh dear, what went wrong here? There's no doubt that Jónsi had a beautiful song, but the performance was a disaster - off key, and somehow lacking all the passion and drama that makes the CD version such a stunning record. These things happen - maybe it was nerves? - but it's just a shame that what could have been a real challenger failed to spark on the night. Still, Monaco liked it, its 5 points forming a significant chunk of the 16 that Jónsi received all together. As for my prediction, just don't go there...
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What the bookies thought...
 | Iceland to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 14-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 16-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 14-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 14-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 14-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 14-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 14-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 14-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 14-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 16-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 16-1 |
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Iceland was consistently highly rated by fans and bookies alike, but was let down by a disappointing performance on the night.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.isvortumfotum.is/
 http://www.ruv.is/eurovision/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (55)
From Talgat, KAZAKHSTAN
Added 19:31:1 2004-5-15
From my point of view, Serbia& Montenegro must win the contest. Their song is like a bit spiritual and has specific feature that makes it unique and great ... Goood luck!!!
From TINA , AUSTRALIA
Added 16:5:52 2004-5-15
Congratulations, Iceland! This is a really nice song! Good luck! Some songs from southern Europe also have a great chance to win this year ... GREECE "Shake It", MALTA, SPAIN, FRANCE, CYPRUS and even ALBANIA. Unfortunately, I cannot vote!
From stephanie caruana, MALTA
Added 15:2:40 2004-5-15
In my opion this is one of the best song. Good luck from me and all the maltese people.Surly i will be the one who votes for Iceland this saturday.
From Matt, DENMARK
Added 2:46:32 2004-5-13
Now Denmark is out
vote for Iceland!!
From hermann, ICELAND
Added 0:25:23 2004-5-13
hey hlynu,by the way how old are you???bcuz you said tha this site was only for little kids or something?? then what is a so grown up person like you doing here??grow up man..if you don't like the song then good for you.,but hey show some respect at last to the others opinion'.very good song by the way but i liked more Denmark(shame on you)
From Magga, ICELAND
Added 23:8:18 2004-5-12
hey hey I truly feel proud to be icelandic right now! I just love this song and I can't stop listening to it! Jónsi has the best voice ever! And I'm 1/4 German and I wish it wasn´t like that I can't belive that you Germans are saying that the best song ever is a boring and a bad song :'( I don't want to be 1/4 German anymore! I really hope that Jónsi will win this year becouse he is the best and no one else can be as good as him!
Jónsi ef þú lest þetta einhverntíman gangi þér vel og þúrt alveg gegt mikið krútt! Þú hefur alveg frábæra rödd og eftir Eurovision ættiru að gefa út disk í Evrópu með Heaven laginu og öllum hinum lögunum því að þau rocka feitt og ég bara veit að allir verða crazy yfir disknum þínum sem á vonandi eftir að koma út í Evrópu og eftir það hinum heimsálfunum 6 USA, Ástralíu og öllum þeim!
Takk fyrir mig og good luck!
xoxo Magga
From Morrinn, ICELAND
Added 22:27:13 2004-5-12
Well, the song isn't really all that special... But Jonsi is just so damn good it should do all right anyway.
But please don't make fun of the lyrics!! Yes it's cheesy as hell but so are ALL THE OTHER SONGS. Eurovision is a real cheese festival, just learn to accept it. And don't even try to name a song that isn't cheesy.
From Una, ICELAND
Added 15:33:5 2004-5-12
Jónsi..þú ert alger snilli og rústar þessu!!
:)
From LadyIce, ICELAND
Added 22:41:33 2004-5-11
Just to be clear with one thing, because someone didn't understand the chorus.
..Jonsi's character is dead and singing for his girlfriend who is still alive, if you watch the video you can guess that. And specially because he lays his hand on her face in the end but it's like it goes through her, and she has tears in her eyes and he disappears...
"I still miss you
And it makes me feel blue,
And I’m lost
Without those colours of you.
I can’t think straight
I just wanna be.
Wherever you are
When your not here with me.
Blend with my blue
Those colours of you.
Please help me
See it through ooh.
This journey I must
Take all alone.
I blend my blue
In those colours of you.
I lay down and cry
And the rivers are dry,
Oh, to unvail my heart
When you kiss me goodbye.
And when you set sail
Fair winds... all the way.
So, farewell
That’s all I can say.
Blend with my blue
The colours of you.
Oh, please help me
See it through ooh.
This journey I must
Take alone.
Oh, so just blend your
Colours with my blue.
And I know
I’ll find my love tonight
I can feel you reaching out
I got this feeling deep inside
It’s in my head
It’s in my heart.
I know
Your love tonight
And I know
You’ll be by my side.
I know
You’ll help me see it through.
Blend your colours
With my blue."
It's a really beautiful and sad song.
But I want Serbia & Montenegro to win this year.
From Christian, FINLAND
Added 19:6:12 2004-5-9
Thank you Iceland for that entry! Great song, great singer, everything seems to be really perfect. I hope all the best for a good position. Iceland sent almost always great songs.
From Paul, MALTA
Added 14:0:44 2004-5-7
For the second consecutive year, Iceland send us the best song of the Eurovision. Last year Birgitta was the best but it was outshone by Sertab's choreography and Alf Poier's taking the piss out of the contest. In other words, it seems ESC is not about songs any more but about who manages to pull out the most memorable performance on the evening.
Anyway, seeing that justice is never done with Icelandic entries, I don't think this song will be a winner.
But it's still the best song in the contest.
From Panayotis, GREECE
Added 3:22:34 2004-5-6
One of the best songs of its genre I have listened to, but not the right style for Eurovision, I am afraid. A lot will depend on Jonsi's live performance, I believe. But the song has got some quality, even though it is not the main criteria in Eurovision nowadays. Good luck to Iceland.
From Nikolas, SWITZERLAND
Added 20:9:42 2004-5-5
Hey i would love to see Björk doing ESC! ; )
Well Jonsi is quite nice so far, but not a winner type at all. It needs a bit more these days as we learn from past years.
From Timothy, BELGIUM
Added 15:36:16 2004-5-5
I still can´t decide if this is boring or just a good classical ballad. But i still don´t understand the chorus:
"Blend with my blue
Those colours of you.
Please help me
See it through oooohh.
This journey I must
Take all alone.
I blend my blue
In those colours of you"
what?
From wildebrew, ICELAND
Added 21:52:32 2004-5-3
First of all, my appologies for the less-than-professional behavior of at least one of my country-men, most of us are more civilized than this. I personally don't like the song one bit. It smells of cheesiness and never really catches my attention + is full of cliches. Of course I support my folks out there but in all honesty the song fails to do anything different. Shame really for we have some great artists (Sigur Ros/Bjork) that have a unique Icelandic style, we never were brave enough to use it in Eurovision. I think ethnic styles and music are the big winners in the early 21st century. Good luck to them but my prediction lies with Romania or Bulgaria and I have a soft spot for the Turkish song. cheers
From Stefania, ICELAND
Added 19:7:10 2004-5-2
Fallegt lag, Jónsi syngur það vel. Gangi OKKUR vel :P
Jónsi, gerðu þjóðina stolta af þér ;)
Kveðjur Stefania
From Ola , ALBANIA
Added 19:38:28 2004-4-30
Good job and GOOD LUCK Iceland
I really like his song and his voice
From Thomas, GREECE
Added 3:20:30 2004-4-30
Although it's a nice song I'm afraid that it won't do so well..There are so many ballads this year and none of them sounds very diferrent (except Germany and Serbia).Also having many male ballads performing very close in the programm (Iceland, Ireland and U.K.) will probably damage all of them.Except if Iceland can really make the diferrence.Can they?
From howie, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 12:35:49 2004-4-29
The best male ballad by far - but I fear that the 'male-ballad-vote' will get spread about a bit and that this year's winner will be another bouncy-bouncy thing (or Cyprus).
And by the way, although Sakis is attracting all the attention, Jónsi is this year's real dreamboat.... Great voice, strong song - just not different enough to win.
From tim in brum, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 22:59:7 2004-4-28
this is one of my top three...
if the vocal is as good on the night as it is on the record, i feel that it will do well but it is a slow-burner as has been said before and may not hit home after just one listen!
i do feel that it is contemporary though, unlike a lot of the other favourites. he does sound like morten harket though imo!
From Inga Stef., ICELAND
Added 20:26:29 2004-4-28
Gangi þér vel í keppninni Jónsi minn með þetta fallega lag þitt.
Kveðja til ykkar allra
Inga Stef. og fam.
From Marion, GERMANY
Added 12:5:25 2004-4-27
Jesus, Lord! What have they done with this Guy when it comes to the end of the song? He really tops the hysteric style of the albanian Singer.
Graham, i nearly have the same songs for making this years Victory as you, but here we are colliding! ; ) I know, this Guy is cute and can sing, but on the end it is nothing that a very conventional ballad to me. I'm really anxious for this Entry.
From Andy Hendrickx, BELGIUM
Added 24/04/2004 10:59
Well for me this is the best song this year. It is such a very strong ballad! The music is really so lovely, the lyrics are good, the guy looks good which might also be important on stage on May 15. The whole package makes it such a very classy song and this could as well score very good outside Europe!! Good luck Iceland!!!
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 23/04/2004 15:12
"i still miss you and it makes me feel blue". Waaaahhhhhh! How many Times have we heard that silly line? And how many Times i must here that Bono sounding Voice. It is really 80's style too. Iceland?not this Year.
From Sigurbjörg, ICELAND
Added 19/04/2004 20:13
I like this song but I agree i don't think that it will win. It's to slow and the winners of Eurovision the 2-3 last years aren't always the best song and the best singers...it is the most fun to watch and i don't think that Iceland,UK,Ireland and Norway will NOT win, they are all goods songs but they are all to slow and they do not have the fun factor in it.
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Iceland
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