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esctoday.com Awards 2009
Icelandic team wins Lyricist(s) of the year/English award
The 2009 esctoday.com Award for Lyricist of the year/English lyrics goes to...
- ...Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Tinatin Japaridze and Chris Neil of Iceland
Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Tinatin Japaridze and Chris Neil wrote the lyrics to the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Performed by Yohanna, Is it true won the first semi final and finished second in the final.
- You can find the list of all award results revealed so far this year here.
The winners
This is the third esctoday.com award for Iceland this year and the fifth one overall following victories in the categories Best duo/group performance and Best duo/group vocal performance in 2008 as well as Best backing performers and Best female vocal performance in 2009. It is still the first award in the lyricist category. It is the first time that this award is given out as in 2007 and 2008, there was only one award for Lyricist of the year. The two awards went to Saša Miloševic Mare (Serbia) in 2007 and Maria Haukaas Storeng (Norway) in 2008.
Óskar Páll Sveinsson and Chris Neil are mainly producers and composers, but have co-written the lyrics to the Icelandic entry Is it true?. Tinatin Japaridze is a newcomer to the music scene. She co-wrote the English lyrics of the Icelandic entry but she also wrote the lyrics of the Russian version of the song on her own.
Is it true? is a break-up song. Two partners seem to deny that their relationship is no longer working out until one dares to ask if it is really over, which has become more of a rhethorical question:
So tell me about the rumours
Are they only rumours?
Are they only lies?
Falling out of a perfect dream
Coming out of the blue
Is it true?
Is it over?
Did I throw it away?
Was it you?
Did you tell me you would
Never leave me this way?
The complete results
The Icelandic team easily won this award ahead of Switzerland's Adrian Sieber. The UK team of Diane Warren and Andrew Lloyd Webber follows to far in third place.
- Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Tinatin Japaridze and Chris Neil (Iceland) - 28.3%
- Adrian Sieber* (Switzerland) - 20.5%
- Diane Warren and Andrew Lloyd Webber (United Kingdom) - 18.6%
- Nikolas Metaxas (Cyprus) - 17.6%
- Alexander Rybak (Norway) - 15.0%
*Adrian Sieber was actually falsly nominated along with the other members of his band, but in fact he wrote the lyrics on his own.
Karaoke version of the winning song with lyrics
The next award to be revealed today will be Lyricst of the year/Non-English and multilingual lyrics.
Related polls
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Melodi Grand Prix
- Azerbaijan: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Milli Seçim Turu
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the final of A Dal
- Iceland: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Songvakeppni Sjonvarpsins
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the second semifinal of A Dal
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the third semifinal of Melodi Grand Prix
- Sweden: Vote for your favourite act in the first semifinal of Melodifestivalen
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the semifinal of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Bulgaria: Vote for your favourite act in the Bulgarian national final 2012
- Latvia: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Eirodziesma 2012
- Belarus: Vote for your favourite act in the final of EuroFest 2012
Go directly to the reactions
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@Layla, Estonia has Estonian lyrics, that award is for the best english lyrics 
@Molly and follow with that " But the firefly sits in the corner in rest " , if you had a little bit imaginacion should be understand 
That lyrics is real fairytale
Lina
Well
" It’s a question that drives us
to where we must go
It’s the unknown that drives from us
what we want most"
might be English to you but it isn't to me
I think they shouldn't have won for such simple, repeptitive and common lyrics.
Where is Bosnia? Where is Estonia? In my opinion they had the best lyrics and also Cyprus had good lyrics (but terrible singer).
Is it True?
Is it Over?
Is it Joke?
Is it Award? 
Ok, is it true was a good song but lyrics was simple, confess it!!(:
I totes agree with mina here! Cyprus had the best lyrics for me, fragile and resonating, and the lyrics to fairytale dont deserve to be here lol... yeh deserved winner, but not based on lyrics lol!
I totaaaally disagree about iceland winning... the lyrics were lame.
@Morgan, why Cyprus is a joke? I want to tell me the reason , i m very curious to listen that reason.
Switzerland's song deserved this one.
lol cyprus nominated was a joke.. switzerland was my favorte, by far !
I agree Danniela.Fairytale should't be even in this category and Firefly should have won.
Also It's my time don't have good lyrics.
Goshhhhhhhhhh Norway shoudnt even be here....even jesc songs have better lyrics.....!!!
were is Malta....!
Cyprus should had won!
Nah, Should have been Norway.
Νο way!!!!! The Icalandic rylics are very common. I guess I have read them several times in the past,either in songs or movies. In sum, IMO, we are dealing in fact with the biggest unfair result from these categories. ''Is it true'' is not a masterpiece or a exceptional entry. It was another common europop ballad. What make it good was Yohanna's exceptional and fantastic performance. IMO Yohanna was million times better than the song itself!!!
Congratulations. I think they were all good. I voted for Switzerland.
@Mina i understand that most people here vote for the song who like and not for each category. for example a lot of people vote for Iceland beacuse they like the song but i doupt if they know the lyrics. this is FIREFLY lyrics " It’s a question that drives us
to where we must go
It’s the unknown that drives from us
what we want most
But the firefly sits in the corner in rest
And he won’t care of you stare
but believe me, it’s best to let go
Don’t just go with the flow
And the firefly comes to you
sits on your finger
It shatters and shakes
but she wants you to go with her now
Follow her, out there…
The firefly is spreading her wings open wide
thinks the sky will come crashing down, fall to her side
She’s afraid, but her fears slowly fade
So fly with the firefly
Fly side by side
Escaping the chains that held you from life
Don’t look down
You’re over the edge
Jump, take the leap of faith
Don’t just go with the flow
but the firefly sits in the corner and rests
It’s a question that drives us
to where we must go
It’s the unknown that drives from us
what we want most
but the firefly sits in the corner and rests
It’s a question that drives us
to where we must go
It’s the unknown that drives from us
what we want most
Don’t just go with the flow
but the firefly sits in the corner and rests
Jump "
Yes, I also think Cyprus deserved to win this.
Cyprus had the best lyrics. I don't know why Iceland won this award or how Norway is even in this category. Fairyale's lyrics don't even make sense! I kinda liked a girl I knew but you know what...we were in love and she was my sweetheart? Seriously?
LMAO I could write better lyrics than that!
No English-language entry was strong lyrically this year, but Iceland was as good as any, I suppose. The UK's lyrics were poor, considering the strength of the melody and the fact that it's our language.
No native English-speaker should find the grammatical rhythm and cadence of ending a sentence on a stressed pronoun acceptable. It's like hitting a barrier. "I'm not gonna let go of IT." No native English-speaker would use stress that way. In English, the verb would take the stress in that sentence: "I'm not gonna let GO of it." That forced misconstruction is why the UK entry did not deserve a place on any Top5 lyrics poll.
Congratulations Iceland team !! But sorry guys here i have to defence my country song lyrics," Firefly " has the best lirycs , but i thing people vote for the song who like and not for lyrics, stage performer, backing vocals etc.
Well, ok, there were worse. My vote went to Cyprus
The Icelandic lyrics (and song in general) were very good indeed They do deserve this award, although how the UK finished above Cyprus I will never know. Come on, the lyrics to the UK song were awful, let's face it! 
Congratulations, Iceland. The authors deserve this award. This entry proves that a simple and straightforward song (music, lyrics and vocals) very well performed with a low key attitude works best.
I voted for Nikolas Metaxas.They had the best lyrics.
Anyway,congratz Iceland.
Another award for the great Icelandic entry
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