Daði Freyr will represent Iceland at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next May, mbl reports.
The song ‘Think About Things’ was originally chosen to be the song that represented Iceland in 2020, but, due to COVID-19, the contest, which was set for May 16, was cancelled. The song has done incredibly well, however, and has been played almost 55 million times on Spotify. It was widely believed that ‘Think About Things’ was the song that was going to win Iceland the Eurovision title.
Skarphéðinn Guðmundsson, the program director at RUV, who originally contacted Daði Freyr to write the song for the contest, said that it was only right that he was invited back to Eurovision.
“Daði won the Singing Competition in 2020 with distinction, and the reception of the Icelandic contribution has never been so good,” he said. “We are very happy and proud to be able to send this great musician and his people out as was intended last time. Of course, many things were considered when this decision was made, but after much deliberation we felt that this was the only right thing to do, not least in light of the unprecedented situation that arose this year that no Eurovision Song Contest as held for the first time in history.”
The show will go on…hopefully
Daði Freyr is very excited to be able to finally tread the boards on the Eurovision stage.
“We always aimed to see how far we could get in the race and it will be the same next year,” he said. “I just hope now that there will be a real competition.” The song has not yet been written, but Daði says he has already started coming up with ideas. “I know what the music video will be like, and have some key points that need to be made in the staging, so I will try to compose something that fits around the scene, not the other way around.”
Iceland representatives for Eurovision are usually chosen through votes cast on the Singing Competition, one of the biggest TV events in the country in recent years. Skarphéðinn is quick to tell fans of the show that, although there will be no Singing Competition this year, they will still be showing an extensive music program in its place. “It will, to some extent, be related to the Song Contest and to Eurovision,” he says. Preparations have already begun.
The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Rotterdam on May 18th, 20th and 22nd, 2021.
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