Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 36 times since its debut in, missing only two contests since then, in and , when prevented from competing due to finishing outside qualification places the preceding years. The country's best result is second place, which it achieved with "All Out of Luck" by Selma in and "Is It True?" by Yohanna in. The Icelandic participant broadcaster in the contest is Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), which select its entrant with the national competition Söngvakeppnin. Iceland has achieved a total of seven top ten placements, with the others being "Eitt lag enn" by Stjórnin finishing fourth, "Nei eða já" by Heart 2 Heart seventh , "Open Your Heart" by Birgitta eighth , "Hatrið mun sigra" by Hatari tenth , and "10 Years" by Daði og Gagnamagnið fourth. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Iceland has failed to qualify for the final nine times, including four years consecutively (2015–18). To date, Iceland is the only Nordic country that has yet to win the contest.

History

Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Iceland since its in 1986, 20 years after RÚV was founded. Iceland's best placing at the contest is second place, which it has achieved twice: in with the song "All Out of Luck" performed by Selma, beaten by 's "Take Me to Your Heaven" by Charlotte Nilsson, and in with "Is It True?" performed by Yohanna, beaten by 's "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. In contrast Iceland's worst result in a final is last place, which has been achieved twice to date: in, when "Það sem enginn sér" by Daníel Ágúst received no points, and in , when "Angel" by Two Tricky received three points. With the introduction of semi-finals in, Iceland automatically qualified for the final that year due to Birgitta's eighth place the previous year. In, Iceland reached the final for the first time since then, with "This Is My Life" by Euroband. Iceland qualified for the final in seven consecutive contests between and before failing to qualify for the final from to. In, Hatari brought the country back to the final for the first time since 2014, finishing tenth, which was followed by a fourth-place finish for Daði og Gagnamagnið in , Iceland's joint-second best result to date, and a 23rd-place finish for Systur in. Further non-qualifications came in and. Despite these mixed fortunes, Iceland is the second most successful country never to have won the contest (behind only ). Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir has participated five times (as a member of a group in 1990 and 1992, as a solo artist in 1994, and as a background vocalist in 1991 and 2006). Hera Björk has also participated five times (as a backing vocalist in 2008, 2009 and 2015, and as a solo artist in 2010 and 2024). Stefán Hilmarsson has participated twice (as a member of a group in 1988 and in a duo with Eyfi in 1991), as have Selma Björnsdóttir (1999 and 2005), Eiríkur Hauksson (as a member of a group in 1986 and as a solo artist in 2007; Eiríkur has additionally participated for Norway in 1991 as a member of Just 4 Fun). Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson entered as a solo artist in 2004 before participating in a duo with Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir in 2012; Greta Salóme later entered as a solo artist in 2016.

Participation overview

Related involvement

Conductors

Heads of delegation

Commentators and spokespersons

Iceland has broadcast the show since 1970. The first to be broadcast live was the 1983 edition after the plan to broadcast the 1982 contest failed. Since 1986, RÚV has broadcast the contest on the radio using same commentator for TV and radio and the Internet broadcast since early 2000s.

Other shows

Photo gallery

In popular culture

The 2020 Netflix comedy film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga depicts Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as a fictional duo from Iceland competing in Eurovision. Hannes Óli Ágústsson, who plays Olaf Yohansson in the film, reprised the role for the voting segment of the final, in which he presented the points on behalf of the Icelandic jury.