Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song „Is It True?“ written by Óskar Páll Sveinsson, Tinatin Japaridze and Christopher Neil. The song was performed by Yohanna, which is the artistic name of singer Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir. The Icelandic entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia was selected through the national final Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV). The selection consisted of four semi-finals and a final, held on 10 January, 17 January, 24 January, 31 January and 14 February 2009, respectively. Four songs competed in each semi-final with the top two as selected by a public televote advancing to the final. In the final, „Is It True?“ performed by Yohanna emerged as the winner exclusively through public televoting.
Iceland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 12, „Is It True?“ was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 16 May. It was later revealed that the Iceland placed first out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 174 points. In the final, Iceland performed in position 7 and placed second out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 218 points.
Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009
Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The five shows in the competition were hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir and Eva María Jónsdóttir and all took place at the RÚV studios in Reykjavík. The semi-finals and final were broadcast on RÚV and online at the broadcaster’s official website ruv.is.
Format
Sixteen songs in total competed in Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009 where the winner was determined after four semi-finals and a final. Four songs competed in each semi-final on 10, 17, 24 and 31 January 2009. The top two songs from each semi-final qualified to the final which took place on 14 February 2009. The results of the semi-finals and final were determined by 100% public televoting.
Competing entries
On 14 September 2008, RÚV opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 13 October 2008, which was later extended by one week to 20 October 2008. Songwriters were required to be Icelandic or possess Icelandic citizenship, and had the right to submit up to three entries. At the close of the submission deadline, 217 entries were received.[5] A selection committee was formed in order to select the top fifteen entries, while an additional entry came from the winning composer of the 2008 competition Örlygur Smári, who was invited by RÚV for the competition. RÚV presented the sixteen competing artists and songs on 6, 13, 21 and 28 January 2009 via radio on Rás 2.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Arnar, Edgar, Sverrir and Ólafur | „Easy to Fool“ | Torfi Ólafsson, Þorkell Olgeirsson |
| Edgar Smári | „The Kiss We Never Kissed“ | Heimir Sindrason, Ari Harðarson |
| Elektra | „Got No Love“ | Örlygur Smári, Sigurður Örn Jónsson |
| Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir | „Glópagull“ | Einar Oddsson |
| Halla Vilhjálmsdóttir | „Roses“ | Trausti Bjarnason, Halla Vilhjálmsdóttir |
| Heiða Ólafs | „Dagur nýr“ | Halldór Guðjónsson, Íris Kristinsdóttir |
| Hreindís Ylva Garðarsdóttir Holm | „Vornótt“ | Erla Gígja Þorvaldsdóttir, Hilmir Jóhannesson |
| Ingó | „Undir regnbogann“ | Hallgrímur Óskarsson, Eiríkur Hauksson |
| Jógvan Hansen | „I Think the World of You“ | Hallgrímur Óskarsson |
| Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir | „Is It True?“ | Óskar Páll Sveinsson |
| Kaja Halldórsdóttir | „Lygin ein“ | Albert G. Jónsson |
| Kristín Ósk Wium | „Close to You“ | Grétar Sigurbergsson |
| Ólöf Jara Skagfjörð | „Hugur minn fylgir þér“ | Valgeir Skagfjörð |
| Páll Rósinkrans | „Fósturjörð“ | Einar Scheving |
| Seth Sharp | „Family“ | Óskar Páll Sveinsson |
| Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir | „Cobwebs“ | Heimir Sindrason, Ari Harðarson |
Shows
Semi-finals
The four semi-finals took place on 10, 17, 24 and 31 January 2009. In each semi-final four acts presented their entries, and the top two entries voted upon solely by public televoting proceeded to the final.
Semi-final 1 – 10 January 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heiða Ólafs | „Dagur nýr“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Ólöf Jara Skagfjörð | „Hugur minn fylgir þér“ | Eliminated |
| 3 | Edgar Smári | „The Kiss We Never Kissed“ | Advanced |
| 4 | Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir | „Is It True?“ | Advanced |
Semi-final 2 – 17 January 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Páll Rósinkrans | „Fósturjörð“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Ingó | „Undir regnbogann“ | Advanced |
| 3 | Hreindís Ylva Garðarsdóttir Holm | „Vornótt“ | Advanced |
| 4 | Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir | „Glópagull“ | Eliminated |
Semi-final 3 – 24 January 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seth Sharp | „Family“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Arnar, Edgar, Sverrir and Ólafur | „Easy to Fool“ | Advanced |
| 3 | Kristín Ósk Wium | „Close to You“ | Eliminated |
| 4 | Kaja Halldórsdóttir | „Lygin ein“ | Advanced |
Semi-final 4 – 31 January 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir | „Cobwebs“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Jógvan Hansen | „I Think the World of You“ | Advanced |
| 3 | Elektra | „Got No Love“ | Advanced |
| 4 | Halla Vilhjálmsdóttir | „Roses“ | Eliminated |
Final
The final took place on 14 February 2009 where the eight entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed. The winner, „Is It True?“ performed by Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir, was determined solely by televoting.[18][19] In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the show was opened by a medley featuring 2008 Icelandic Eurovision entrant Euroband covering past Eurovision entries which included their song „This Is My Life“, while the interval act featured guest performances by 1997 Icelandic Eurovision entrant Páll Óskar.
Final – 14 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Arnar, Edgar, Sverrir and Ólafur | „Easy to Fool“ | — | — |
| 2 | Jógvan Hansen | „I Think the World of You“ | 9,693 | 4 |
| 3 | Kaja Halldórsdottir | „Lygin ein“ | — | — |
| 4 | Hreindís Ylva Garðarsdóttir Holm | „Vornótt“ | — | — |
| 5 | Elektra | „Got No Love“ | 10,214 | 3 |
| 6 | Edgar Smári | „The Kiss We Never Kissed“ | — | — |
| 7 | Ingó | „Undir regnbogann“ | 10,696 | 2 |
| 8 | Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir | „Is It True?“ | 19,076 | 1 |