Hera Björk Þórhallsdóttir, Iceland’s contender for the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, has moved into the final round of judging. Iceland will be competing with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldavia, Russia, Greece, Portugal, Belarus, Serbia, Belgium and Albania.
This will mark the third time in a row that Iceland has made it into the finals, which will be aired 29 May.
For those of you who don’t know what Eurovision is, it’s an international song contest involving all European countries (and Israel). Performers do original songs, with participants whittled down until there are finals. These finals are broadcast across the European continent, and voting is done via mobile phone. To keep things fair, you cannot vote for your own country. Winners get to host Eurovision the following year.
Icelanders are particularly enthusiastic about Eurovision, even if it seems to have fallen out of fashion in most other western European nations. So far, Iceland has yet to win Eurovision, although they have finished in the top ten numerous times. Don’t be surprised if you meet more people psyched about watching Eurovision this Saturday than following municipal elections.