ICELAND

This is going to be relatively quick and painless. I have exposed my ears to the songs in the third semifinal of the Icelandic selection. You can find all the songs here.

I have picked two songs that I think are deserving of progression to the final:

1. Ég og heilinn minn - Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir - After my initial shock that a look-a-likey Carlytime is vying to cross the ESC stage for Iceland, I can report that this is quite a nice, upbeat ditty with a very pleasing melody and a strong chorus. It's not really the kind of thing I would normally go for, having a sort of 60s, Itchykoo Park feeling to it, but somehow it really hooks you in from the start. She's got a kooky little voice in which the Icelandic sounds very charming - I'm reminded of fellow Icelandic band Mum in terms of voice quality despite the big difference in musical style - and I can see this making an impact in Helsinki. Everyone is raving for the return of 2003's Jonsi and I'm really not buying it. I think his song is as dull as ditchwater and last time he completely overcooked the emotion on the performance. Let's have some fun instead.
2. Vetur - Helgi Rafn Ingvarsson - Here comes the "dignity vote". This is a simple but rather beautiful song, sensitively arranged and performed. I anticipate we'll have a meek blonde guy at the piano, rather like Norway 2003, and it could possibly cut across the inevitable string of ethnopop and rock (thanks to Lordi) that will dominate the contest in Helsinki.

If either of these two made it to Helsinki for Iceland, I would be delighted. I think they're both superior to Blomaborn, my favourite from semifinal 1 - my impression of that took a knock when I watched the live performance. Fingers crossed...