Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Heaven" written by
Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson
Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson (born 24 December 1976 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic songwriter, music producer, and medical doctor, best known for having composed two Eurovision Song Contest entries for Iceland, "Heaven" by Jónsi in 2004 and " Vale ...
and Magnús Þór Sigmundsson. The song was performed by
Jónsi
Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his "angelic" falset ...
, who was internally selected by the Icelandic broadcaster
Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) in February 2004 to represent Iceland at the 2004 contest in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The Icelandic song, "Heaven", was presented to the public on 20 March 2004 during the television programme ''Laugardagskvöld með Gísla Marteini''.
As one of ten highest placed finishers in the
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
contest Iceland directly qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 15 May 2004. Performing in position 17, Iceland placed nineteenth out of the 24 participating countries with 16 points.
Background
Prior to the 2004 Contest, Iceland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 1986. Iceland's best placing in the contest to this point was second, which it achieved in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
with the song "All Out of Luck" performed by
Selma
Selma may refer to:
Places
*Selma, Algeria
*Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada
*Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons
United States:
*Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches
*Selma, Arkansas
*Selma, Cali ...
. In
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, Iceland placed eighth with the song "Open Your Heart" performed by
Birgitta Haukdal.
The Icelandic national broadcaster,
Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), broadcasts the event within Iceland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RÚV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 October 2003. Between 2000 and 2003, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. For 2004, RÚV opted to internally select the Icelandic entry for the first time since 1999 due to financial reasons.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
![Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/J%C3%B3n_J%C3%B3sep_Sn%C3%A6bj%C3%B6rnsson_%28cropped%29.jpg)
On 23 October 2003, RÚV announced that the Icelandic entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 would be selected internally. The broadcaster also opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 17 November 2003. At the close of the submission deadline, 117 entries were received. A selection committee was formed in order to select the Icelandic entry, which was originally planned to be revealed in early December 2003 but later delayed to early 2004.
On 9 February 2004, "Heaven" performed by
Jónsi
Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his "angelic" falset ...
was announced by RÚV as the Icelandic entry. The song was composed by
Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson
Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson (born 24 December 1976 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic songwriter, music producer, and medical doctor, best known for having composed two Eurovision Song Contest entries for Iceland, "Heaven" by Jónsi in 2004 and " Vale ...
with lyrics by Magnús Þór Sigmundsson. Prior to the announcement of Jónsi as the Icelandic entrant, the broadcaster had denied reports that
Emilana Torrini would represent Iceland with the song "Morning Light", composed by
1999 Icelandic Eurovision entrant Selma Björnsdóttir
Selma Björnsdóttir (born 13 June 1974), also known as simply Selma or Selma Björns, is an Icelandic actress and singer born in Reykjavík, best known internationally for representing Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in both 1999 an ...
. "Heaven" was presented to the public along with the release of the official music video on 20 March 2004 during the television programme ''Laugardagskvöld með Gísla Marteini'' which was broadcast on RÚV.
At Eurovision
It was announced that the competition's format would be expanded to include a semi-final in 2004. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "
Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As Iceland finished eighth in the 2003 contest, the nation automatically qualified to compete in the final on 15 May 2004. On 23 March 2004, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Iceland was set to perform in position 17 in the final, following the entry from
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and before the entry from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Iceland placed nineteenth in the final, scoring 16 points.
The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Iceland on
RÚV
Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) (pronounced or ) ( en, 'The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service') is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization.
Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional cent ...
with commentary by
Gísli Marteinn Baldursson
Gísli Marteinn Baldursson (born 26 February 1972) is an Icelandic television host and a former politician. He is known for hosting the talk shows ''Laugardagskvöld með Gísla Marteini'' and ''Vikan með Gísla Marteini'' as well as the Icelandic ...
.
The Icelandic spokesperson, who announced the Icelandic votes during the final, was Sigrún Ósk Kristjánsdóttir.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Iceland and awarded by Iceland in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Denmark in the semi-final and to Ukraine in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Iceland
Points awarded by Iceland
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2004
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...