Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986

Iceland was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, held in Bergen, Norway. It was the first time Iceland was represented in the contest. While the country had satellite television contact from other nations (the United States and Canada) since 1981, Iceland was not able to connect to other European nations by satellite before the end of 1985, meaning that 1986 was the first year Iceland could send a delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest.[1]

Eurovision Song Contest 1986
Country	Iceland
National selection
Selection process	Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins
Selection date(s)	15 March 1986
Selected entrant	ICY
Selected song	"Gleðibankinn"
Finals performance
Final result	16th, 19 points
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1986 • 1987►

Before Eurovision

Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins

The Icelandic national final to select their entry, Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins, was held on 15 March 1986 at the RÚV Studios in Reykjavík, and was hosted by young musician Jónas R. Jónsson. Eurovision Song Contest 1985 winners Bobbysocks were special guests, and they performed their winning song "La det swinge", and a new song entitled "Midnight Rocks" during the show. The votes of a five-member jury decided the winner, although only the top five placings were announced. The winning entry was "Gleðibankinn," performed by Pálmi Gunnarsson and composed by Magnús Eiríksson.

Final – 15 March 1986
Draw	Artist	Song	Place
1	Pálmi Gunnarsson	"Gleðibankinn"	1
2	Eiríkur Hauksson	"Þetta gengur ekki lengur"	—
3	Erna Gunnarsdóttir & Björgvin Halldórsson	"Með vaxandi þrá"	4
4	Pálmi Gunnarsson	"Syngdu lag"	—
5	Eiríkur Hauksson	"Gefðu mér gaum"	—
6	Erna Gunnarsdóttir & Pálmi Gunnarsson	"Út vil ek"	—
7	Björgvin Halldórsson	"Ef"	2
8	Erna Gunnarsdóttir	"Vögguvísa"	5
9	Eiríkur Hauksson	"Mitt á milli Moskvu og Washington"	—
10	Björgvin Halldórsson	"Ég lifi í draumi"	3

At Eurovision

Pálmi Gunnarsson performed sixth on the night of the contest, following United Kingdom and preceding the Netherlands. He was joined by Helga Möller and Eiríkur Hauksson, comprising the trio ICY.

At the close of the voting it had received 19 points, placing 16th in a field of 20 competing countries. Iceland's first-ever points were awarded to them by the Netherlands (who gave the song five of the eventual 19 points).

Points awarded to Iceland

Points awarded to Iceland
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
				Spain
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Netherlands	Cyprus		Sweden  Turkey

Points awarded by Iceland

12 points	Sweden
10 points	Belgium
8 points	Ireland
7 points	Denmark
6 points	Finland
5 points	Yugoslavia
4 points	Norway
3 points	Switzerland
2 points	Spain
1 point	Luxembourg

External links

• Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 1986 at RÚV.is (in Icelandic)
• Icelandic National Final 1986

References

1. "Bergen 1986". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 August 2020.