Now that Eurovision national final season is completely upon us, I'm going to dedicate the next few days/weeks blogging a ranking and review for each country's approaching national final.
And I'm starting out with Iceland.
Final Ranking:
1. Fókus hópurinn - Aldrei gefast upp
2. Aron Hannes - Golddigger
3. Heimilistónar - Kúst og fæjó
4. Dagur Sigurðsson - Í stormi
5. Ari Ólafsson - Heim
6. Áttan - Hér með þér
Overall, this is a weak selection. I was a big fan of last year's Söngvakeppnin so this year is really underwhelming to me. The live performances weren't so bad (apart from Attan) but none of the songs stand out as clear qualifiers to me.
Aldrei gefast upp (Batteline) is my favourite song by far, albeit sounding dated and cliché. Their harmonies are pretty good so I think it could qualify but it all depends on staging and the quality of the other songs in the semi-final, so it's hard to predict.
I think Golddigger would be Iceland's best bet at making the final. If performed well, I could see it pulling a Belgium 2016 and scoring much higher than people expect. However, Iceland are drawn into the same half of the same semi-final as Czech Republic, so vote splitting with Lie to Me could be a problem.
Heimilistónar is fun but I'd rather not have it in Lisbon. I don't think this would do well at Eurovision but Pollaponk qualified, so anything is possible.
The rest of the songs are total non-starters for me. Dagur is an exceptionally strong vocalist, but the song is just okay. I feel the same way about Ari. I think both could do well at Eurovision but it's not a guarantee.
The worst by far is Áttan. They shouldn't have qualified to begin with (Þórir & Gyða were robbed), and if the teenage vote gives them the win, I might start a riot.
Who I want to win: Fókus hópurinn
Who I think will win: Aron Hannes or Heimilistónar
I think Iceland's struggling to qualify no matter what they pick :/. I really like battleline though and the choir group feel of it. Everything else is eh for me.
