News - Live: National final in Iceland | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

The final of Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2010, the Icelandic national selection to determine the country's representative in Oslo, is about to begin. Televoting will decide who of six remaining candidates will have the honour of representing Iceland in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Oslo.

How to watch?

A webcast will be provided here. If the link does not work, copy

• http://dagskra.ruv.is/sjonvarpid/streymi/beint/ 

to your Windows Media Player after pressing Ctrl.+U first.

Another webcast (available WORLDWIDE) will be provided here by eurovision.tv (Octoshape required)


Participants

Composer/Lyricist in brackets. This is the order in which the qualifiers were announced in the semi finals and not the running order. 

1. Íris Hólm - The one
   (Birgir Jóhann Birgisson/Ingvi Þór Kormáksson)
2. Matthias Matthiasson - Out of sight
   (Matthías Stefánsson)
3. Jógvan Hansen - One more day
   (Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Bubbi Morthens)
4. Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði og glens
   (Rögnvaldur Rögnvaldsson)
5. Hera Björk - Je ne sais quoi
   (Örlygur Smári, Hera Björk)
6. Sigurjón Brink - Waterslide
   (Sigurjón Brink)
   
   

Interviews

esctoday.com spoke to all six finalists. You can find the interviews by following the links below: 

• Jógvan Hansen
• Hvanndalsbræður
• Matti Matt
• Íris Hólm
• Sjonni Brink
• Hera Björk

Watch how the finalists have prepared for tonight's show:

Your opinion

• You can vote for your favourite song in our poll here. 
  
  

LIVE

The show has just started!

1999 runner-up Selma is performing her own interpretation of the 1998 Croatian entry Neka mi ne svane, followed by Fridrik Omar with Talking to you, Denmark's 2005 Eurovision song. Paul Oscar takes over with the UK evergreen Save your kisses for me. Now, Selma, Fridrik, Paul and Regina perform together Making your mind up, followed by Hallelujah.

Tonight's hosts Eva María Jónsdóttir and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir welcome the audience and explain the procedure of tonight's show.

1. Íris Hólm - The one

Current esctoday.com poll result:2nd (16.6%)

Íris is known in Iceland for competing in the Icelandic version of Pop Idol and X- Factor, as well as being the singer of the band Bermuda. Her song The one is the the only ballad of this evening. It conveys a classic theme where the protagonist is mourning the loss of the love of her life to another woman. Typically for such songs, Iris is alone on stage, delivering a solid vocal performance putting a lot of effort into transmitting the emotions of her ballad to the audience. Her outward appearance is slightly different compared to how she was looking in the semi final: Her hair is curly and her beautiful evening gown had been made especially for the final. All in all, a solid performance, only some minor flaws, probably due to the nervousness.

2. Matthias Matthiasson - Out of sight

Current esctoday.com poll result: 6th (2.9%)

Matti Matt does a good job in performing his country rock song Out of sight and is clearly having fun on stage. In the middle of the performance, he is throwing his guitar into the audience. Good vocals, but probably not the song for Oslo.

3. Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði og glens

Current esctoday.com poll result: 3rd (10.7%)

Gleði og glens is the only of tonight's songs sung in Icelandic language. It translates into Joy and happiness and tries to motivates its listeners to just be happy, rather than keep on whining about unimportant things. The Icelandic language certainly compliments this punk-rock song and Hvanndalsbræður are comfortable performing it.

After a short break, the show continues with the two charming hosts providing a sneak peek of the green room.

4. Jógvan Hansen - One more day

Current esctoday.com poll result: 4th (10.1%)

Jógvan Hansen orginally comes from Faroe Islands, if he wins tonight, he would be the first foreigner to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest. He rose to fame in Iceland in 2007 due to winning the Icelandic X Factor. Last year, he released a double CD with 2008 Icelandic representative Friðrik Ómar, with Jógvan interpreting classics from Iceland in Faroese and Friðrik introducing  classics from Faroe Islands in Icelandic. The project was a huge success. Jógvan already participated at last year's Icelandic national selection with I think the world of you. This time, he is trying his luck with One more day, a melancholic pop tune written by Bubbi Morthens and Óskar Páll Sveinsson, the man behind Is it true, which Yohanna scored 2nd place for Iceland at the 2009 Eurovision.

5. Sigurjón Brink - Waterslide

Current esctoday.com poll result: 5th (5.2%)

Tonight's fifth entry and the also fifth genre: Sjonni Brink's Waterslide is a guitar and banjo dominated, acoustic kind of song, an easy listening tune encouraging its listeners to dream away, suggesting that everything will eventually be alright. Just like in the semi final, Sjonni and company are delievering a very laid-back performance, doing the same routine: performing barefoot staying seated throughout the entire performance. Sjonni is even more enthusastic as in the semi final, obviously believing in his song. It will be interesting to see how far he can go tonight. 

6. Hera Björk  - Je ne sais quoi

Current esctoday.com poll result: 1st (54.4%)

Undoubtedly, most of the focus is placed on this entry: Hera Björk, already a well- known artist in the world of Eurovision due to her role as backing vocalist for the Icelandic Eurovision entries of 2008 and 2009, as well as her participation in last year's Danish final with the song Someday, resulting in 2nd place, is trying to represent her native country with the song  Je ne sais quoi.  Hera wrote the song together with Örlygur Smári, composer of the Icelandic entries of 2000 and 2008- indeed, the resemblence to the 2008 song This is my life in style is undeniable. According to Hera, Je ne sais quoi is "an up-tempo- euro- pop love song" dealing with the feeling of instantly falling for someone without being able to quite put your finger on what is causing these emotions. The performance is slightly different to the one in the semi final, with lots of little extras adding to the atmosphere of Hera's performance: a more festive dress, new graphics and smoke around Hera. Vocally, another faultless performance, Hera seems to be prepared to go all the way to Oslo but her competitors have also given it their all, so surprises can always happen

The voting has just started and a recap of all of tonight's song is being displayed to make the decision easier for the televoters. 

As interval act during the voting, Haffi Haffi is performing Buried alive. Now, Alexander Rybak is sending a message to the Icelandic people from Oslo. 

Another recap of tonight's songs is being shown before the lines close.

Last year's Eurovision runner-up Yohanna is taking over the stage, performing, quite suitable for tonight, ABBA's The winner takes it all.

Time for the results:

The top two are Hera Björk and Jógvan Hansen!

Hera Björk has won the national final and will represent Iceland in Oslo.