Image credits: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU With its national selection Söngvakeppnin scheduled for soon, Iceland may not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2024. All of this uncertainty is due to the presence of Israel in the competition.
Stefán Eiríksson, the director-general of the Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV, said on Síðdegisútvárp that it is uncertain whether Iceland will go ahead with its participation: “They [Söngvakeppnin contestants] aim to become representatives of Iceland in Eurovision. They are concerned about the situation, just like we are. This has been our preparation for Eurovision, and we announced that we intend to participate in Eurovision without any changes, but we don’t know what the future holds”.
For now, Söngvakeppnin is a separate competition from ESC 2024. RÚV and its winner will then decide whether Iceland participates in ESC, so a final decision will only be made in mid-March. It is worth noting that the Icelandic Society of Authors and Composers called on the broadcaster to boycott the event if Israel were not disqualified.
The issue is related to the Israeli war against Palestine, with increasing condemnation to the military responses to the strong attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
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