Country Iceland Selected entrant Eurobandið | Selection process Laugardagslögin Selected song "This Is My Life" | |
Selection date(s) Weekly Heats:
6 October - 12 January 2008
Weekly semi-finals
19 January to 9 February 2008
Final:
23 February 2008 Semi-final result Qualified (8th, 68 points) | ||
Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "This Is My Life" performed by Eurobandið. It was chosen through Laugardagslögin, the national selection for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The winning song of the final, "This Is My Life" by Eurobandið, represented Iceland in Belgrade, on 22 May, where they participated in the second semi final. Qualifying from this semi in 8th place, the song finished 14th in final on 24 May.
Contents
Laugardagslögin
Laugardagslögin, the Icelandic national final, was held in Reykjavík on 23 February 2008. The contest contained 11 semi finals with three songs in each, one second chance round and one final, which was held on 23 February 2008. 146 songs were submitted to RUV. Most of the songs in the selections were, however, written by invited composers. At the beginning of the show, past Icelandic Eurovision entrants presented a medley of the songs they competed with. This included Paul Oscar's "Minn hinsti dans" (1997), Stjórnin's "Eitt lag enn" (1990), Heart 2 Heart's "Nei eða já" (1992), Silvia Night's infamous 2006 entry "Congratulations" and Selma's "All Out of Luck" (which achieved second place for Iceland in 1999).
The winner was chosen by televoting and only the top three placings were announced.
At Eurovision
"This Is My Life" was chosen to be presented first at the second semi-final where it placed eighth with 68 points. In the final they performed in 11th position, behind Poland and before Turkey where they picked up 64 points. Although ranking 14th, it became the most successful Icelandic entry since the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 where Iceland placed 8th.