It's all change ahead in Iceland for Songvakepnin 2025.
The Icelandic broadcaster has revealed further information about this years Songvakepnin, most notably who will be hosting the show and what format it will take.
As in previous years, this years edition of Songvakepnin will be comprised of two semi finals and one final. The two semi finals will take place on the 8th and 15th of February, with the final on February 22nd. All three show will be returning to RVK Studios in Gufunes, Reykjavík for the first time since 2023.
A total of ten acts will be competing in Songvakepnin 2025, five in each semi final. The top three scoring acts from each semi final will advance to the final, making it a six-song final instead of a five-song final as in previous years. RÚV will no longer be selecting a wildcard entry from the semi finalists to join the finalists.
In the final, the results will be decided by 50% televote and 50% international jury vote, with the jury being made up of members from seven different countries. The superfinal has been scrapped for the 2025 edition of Songvakepnin.
Rúnar Freyr Gíslason, the Managing Director of Songvakepnin believes these changes will be very good in the longrun for the show: “We are very excited to adopt the Swedish approach with this new arrangement and believe that it will be an even more exciting competition.”
This years Songvakepnin will see Thomas Benstem and Selma Björnsdóttir taking on the role of Artistic Directors. Selma was also the Artistic Director for last years show. Aside from this, Selma has worked on many other television shows, including: Iceland’s Got Talent, Idol and Allir geta dansað, among others. Thomas is a director, choreographer and graphic designer from Sweden who has previously worked on Melodifestivalen, So You Think You Can Dance, the MTV Music Awards and Eurovision, among many others. They will both be joined by choreographer Baldvin Alan Thorarensen.
The hosts of the show will be Benedikt Valsson, Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir and Fannar Sveinsson. These three are no strangers to Songvakepnin – Benedikt and Fannar both hosted the show in 2020, whilst Guðrún hosted the 2016 edition.
The ten artists and their songs will be revealed on January 17th during the television programme Lögin í Söngvakeppninn on RÚV. Following the reveal, the songs will also be released on major streaming platforms. Tickets for for Songvakepnin 2025 will go on sale on January 21st on tix.is.
Hera Björk was crowned the winner of Songvakepnin 2024 with her song “Scared of Heights” and went on to represent Iceland at Eurovision for a second time last year in Malmö, where she finished in 15th place in semi final one. Hera previously represented Iceland at Eurovision in 2010 with “Je ne sais qoui”, where she made it to 19th place in the final.
What are your thoughts on the format change for Songvkepnin 2025? Which Icelandic acts would you like to see competing in this years compeition? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below!
Photo: Corinne Cumming / EBU