Country Iceland As Jónsi | Artist(s) Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson Language English | |
Composer(s) Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson Lyricist(s) Magnús Thor Sigmundsson | ||
Heaven was the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, performed in English by Jónsi.
Composed by Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson and written by Magnús Thor Sigmundsson, the song is a dramatic ballad. Unusually, the lyrics do not contain the title anywhere within them.
The lyrics themselves are somewhat elliptical, with Jónsi singing that he misses his lover and wants her to return to him. Exactly who has left whom and why is open to some interpretation, as he sings both "And when you set sail, fair winds all the way/So farewell, that's all I can say" and "This journey I must take alone". The theme of colour is also present in the lyrics, with Jónsi pleading with his lover to "blend with my blue, the colours of you" and telling her that "I still miss you and it makes me feel blue/And I'm lost without those colours of you".
In contrast to the elaborate dance routines of the modern Contest, the song was performed on an empty stage by Jónsi himself wearing a white jacket and dark shirt. Australian commentator Des Mangan referred to the singer as wearing "the fourth white suit of the evening". Mangan had also, during the preview shows leading up to the Contest, referred to Jónsi in a broad Australian accent as "Jonesy" (he claimed during commentary that he had told the singer that this would be his name if he were Australian). Thus, after the performance was finished, Mangan continued this reference with the line "Jonesy you legend".
As Iceland had finished the 2003 Contest in the top ten, the song was pre-qualified for the final. Here, it was performed seventeenth (following Greece's Sakis Rouvas with Shake It and preceding Ireland's Chris Doran with If My World Stopped Turning). At the close of voting, it had received 16 points, placing 19th in a field of 24 - thus forcing Iceland to qualify from the semi-final at their next Contest appearance.
It was succeeded as Icelandic representative at the 2005 Contest by Selma with If I Had Your Love.