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About Iceland...
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2005 Result
Points in Semi Final: 52
Position in Semi Final: 16th
Points in Final: Failed to qualify
Position in Final: Failed to qualify
2006 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2004)
Iceland's previous appearances: 17 year(s) out of 49
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. After that, Iceland 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. in 2004, Jonsi's beautiful ballad - 'Heaven' - promised great things; however, a disappointing live performance on the night failed to do justice to a stunning song, its 19th place meaning that Iceland must participate in the Semi Final in 2005.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: 10
Position in Final draw: Failed to qualify
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"If last year's Eurovision trend was duos, this year it's returners - Cyprus (Constantinos, 1996 and 2002), Greece (Helena Paparizou, 2001) and Malta (Chiara, 1998) all have former entrants back for another try, and now Iceland is in on the act, seeking to rediscover previous success by sending the lovely Selma to Kiev. In the past, it has been very common for former Eurovision artists to try again (for instance, Carola in 1991 won at her second attempt; Sebnem Paker came 3rd for Turkey in 1997 after coming 12th the year before), but the recent trend for TV casting shows (Pop Idol, Fame Academy, etc.) has pushed out the oldtimers in favour of bright young things, not necessarily with much success to show for it, mind you. Indeed (someone correct me if I'm wrong), 2004 saw no returners at all, though Ivan Mikilic and Lena Philipsson had both tried (and failed) to win their respective national finals on many previous occasions.
This year, Selma will be hoping to repeat the feat of Linda Martin, who won in 1992 after coming 2nd in 1984. She's certainly in with a shout - 'If I had your love' is very strong and contemporary, but with something of the quality of a James Bond theme. Indeed, there is a whiff of 'Die another day' in the unusual, disjointed song structure and dramatic backing track."
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: 1st to 3rd
My prediction for Final: Definite qualifier; 2nd to 4th
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"With Iceland coming after the Dutch entry, we have two of the Semi Final favourites performed back to back. However, both songs are very different, and neither should suffer by being next to the other. With a strong song and an impressive Eurovision record, it would be a big surprise if Selma failed to qualify for the Final. Once there, with bookmakers Coral placing Iceland 4th with odds of 9-1, and Soult.com Eurovision visitors rating the song 10th out of 36, a top ten place seems a racing certainty, but with competition from Greece, Hungary and Malta, I fear that Selma may narrowly miss out on the top prize once again."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 39 ()
(Updated 22 May 2005; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, 27,998 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll (up from 5,000 in 2004!)
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What actually happened...
Perhaps it was the curse of Angelica, Belarus' surprising failure to qualify for the Final seemingly rubbing off on the two performances that followed it - Glennis Grace for the Netherlands and Selma for Iceland. If anything, Selma's result - 52 points and 16th place in the Semi Final - was perhaps the most shocking of all of them, with 'If I had your love' highly placed by most of the fan polls, including Soult.com Eurovision voters (10th out of 39). Like Glennis, it is hard to find fault with Selma's performance. Her vocal was good, certainly on a par with the one that secured her 2nd place in the 1999 Contest, and the visual presentation - if a little busy - was appropriate to what was after all a very contemporary pop song. Maybe the song itself was the problem, it's slightly odd structure making it hard for the televoters at home to digest. More than anything, though, it might simply be a case of the song being overhyped, a trap that I admit falling into. Eurovision fans love Selma, and many still believe that she was robbed of victory in 1999, when 'All out of luck' was pipped to the post by Charlotte Nillsson's 'Take me to your heaven' - hardly a vintage Eurovision winner, even by Swedish standards. For the fans, Selma's return in 2005 offered an opportunity for her to finally secure the victory that ought to have been rightfully hers - but sadly, it was simply not meant to be.
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What the bookies thought...
 | Iceland to win: | 21/05/05 (prior to Final) | - |
| | 19/05/05 (after Semi Final) | - |
| | 19/05/05 (prior to Semi Final) | 9-1 |
| | 16/05/05 | 9-1 |
| | 15/05/05 | 11-1 |
| | 08/05/05 | 11-1 |
| | 02/05/05 | 11-1 |
| | 24/04/05 | 10-1 |
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With odds of 9-1 prior to the Semi Final, Selma's failure to qualify - or even come close - was one of the biggest shocks of the evening.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 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 (44)
From marios, CYPRUS
Added 13:42:46 2005-7-26
SELMA WAS THE BEST FOR THIS YEAR EUROVISION. I WAS VERY DISAPOINTED THAT SHE DIDNT WIN. GO SELMA GO!!!
From gabriela, ICELAND
Added 1:52:58 2005-6-27
i like selma a lot and i like her song. Shes my icelandic idol singer.
From fahte, TURKEY
Added 2:8:24 2005-5-28
This was one of my favorites. What a shame it did not qualify for the final..
From Anna, GREECE
Added 10:53:30 2005-5-27
I have to admit that Iceland was one of my best entries! I adored this song fron the first time I listened to it! However, I was really, really disapointed when I watched it on stage... It was not at all what I expected. Selma's performance was bad, her voice was nothing special, her clothes and hair were unacceptable for a european contest! I still think that her song is beautiful, but I believe that all these factors led to her disqualification...
From Moray, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 2:34:29 2005-5-22
I can't believe this didn't reach the final. It looked like a dead cert for second place, so what happened? Malta deserved to win, but Helena did have a good performance.
From Berglind, ICELAND
Added 16:52:42 2005-5-21
I can´t belive we didn´t make it. It must be some kind of a mistake. Guess we´re all out of luck.... again this time. However I liked the song from Norway, however I didn´t like there performance to much in the semifinals. I also liked the song from Moldova.... Good luck Norway and Moldova.... I predict that Norway will take the 3rd place and Moldova the 4th!!!
From fergus, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 23:26:3 2005-5-20
I cant beleive this didnt qualify, there goes my money i put on it!!! Oh well I did get odds of 14 - 1 on chiara on wednesday which are looking quite tasty, come on Malta
From John Davis, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 22:39:46 2005-5-20
Selma was robbed! A clear winner in my ears!
From Kiki, GREECE
Added 20:16:50 2005-5-20
OH MY GOD. I'm from Greece too and I wish Helena all the best, but really we have to get a grip! We shouldn't be so cocky because you know what, we may not win! Supriiiise!
Lambrini for example, I respect your opinion that you didnt like the song, but seriously just shut up. You can be arrogant and obnoxious IF we win, NOT now.
From alice, SWEDEN
Added 19:31:16 2005-5-20
is their any way of contacting selma to tell her how good she is??? i cant stop listening to her song, i het hypnotist of it...FANTASTIC ///from sweden
[REPLY FROM GRAHAM: Try the official Icelandic website, www.eurovision.is. Good luck!]
From Eneid, ALBANIA
Added 16:46:5 2005-5-20
A real shame Iceland didn't get through. I put it down to some mistake on jury's part. How come Denmark get's through and not Iceland????
It's beyond me!
Sorry Iceland!
From Gartesta Limazuli, EL SALVADOR
Added 8:28:0 2005-5-19
I wrote for Turkey, and need to repeat here the same.
Turkey had Paker in 96 and got a good result (for Turkey, 12th) next year once more Paker and the 3rd place (best result till that year for Turkey)
SELMA has a good song, and i live in Sweden for years, our song, Charlotte's "Take Me To Your Heaven" was the winner.
But Sweden voted 12 points to Iceland (to Selma)
Selma will get points again. Song is nice, voice is good. Iceland in top 10 is sure, hope for top 5
From Lambrini, GREECE
Added 17:8:31 2005-5-18
In all the other polls this song comes second after Greece! I don't know what's all this fuss about this song, it's awful anyway. And I can tell you why I hate it...It does not have a nice beat, it is just another ordinary pop song... Can't understand why some people like it...
But anyway...
Victory goes to Helena, Greece
GO HELENA GO GREECE GOOD LUCK TO GREECE
From David HJ, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 0:32:39 2005-5-17
if this qualifies which it surely will, ice cool blonde with a modern catchy pop song, should be up there in the top 5 - could just do it and become Iceland's 1st winner.
From Kieran, IRELAND
Added 18:10:51 2005-5-16
I read a lot of hype about this song before I got around to hearing it. After a number of listenings it still hasn't started to grow on me. I'll be voting for Malta.
From Paulo , LITHUANIA
Added 19:56:24 2005-5-15
UK 1 point
netherlands 2 points
Albania 3 points
Bosnia Herz. 4 points
Switzerland 5 points
Denmark 6 poimts
Norway 7 points
Hungary 8 points
Greece 10 points
Iceland 12 points
ESC will be in Reykjavík 2006.!!!
From heiko dühle, GERMANY
Added 14:1:16 2005-5-14
I do not like it!!!!!It is stolen from Moloko!!!!It will come last!!!!
From humberto, PANAMA
Added 23:13:41 2005-5-13
What is this rubbish???? A cheap copy of Moloko and a bit of everything. I do not like it nothing special, and the singer looks too awful cool. AWFULL
From theodora, GERMANY
Added 23:17:16 2005-5-12
Nothing special. the singer looks old and coulorless, the song is a mixture of Moloko, Abba and a bit of Biork, it does not persuade me somehow. A good place, but not the 1st!!!
From Eneid, ALBANIA
Added 21:8:8 2005-5-12
Sebastien, there is not ONE song you have made a positive comment about. I think your music preferences are out of this world my good friend.
I think you are missing the point here.
Regards
From amy, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 12:34:39 2005-5-12
starts of average...then goes down hill all the way...
From from, LITHUANIA
Added 8:6:45 2005-5-12
it is really TERRIBLE!!! believe me, thay will do nothing at all during the show.
From Sébastien, FRANCE
Added 13:52:27 2005-5-11
Please prevent me from listening it again! So old fashioned and messy! That song should have been sung in the early 90's. I think the Icelandic producers have been too much lazy by sending that kind of song to the ESC...
From Eneid, ALBANIA
Added 19:35:22 2005-5-10
Wow nice song Island. Very nice tune indeed. Good Luck from Albania
From esther, MALTA
Added 17:23:22 2005-5-10
wow, this year every single song is awesome! iceland good luck cos u deserve d best. remember malta, chiara is an excellent singer and she is loved by d maltese ppl a lot ok. malta and icelend deserve 2 b d winners (but only 1 should win lol)
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Iceland
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