I just had a little frisson of excitement (OK, I'm easily pleased) when I spotted on Esctoday that Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir - singer of my all-time favourite Eurovision entry - participated in the semi-final stage of the Icelandic national selection last night. That rang a bell from somewhere - I must have read the news of her return a while back but forgot all about it. Anyway, having had a quick listen to the new song Nótt, while it inevitably doesn't scale the heights of Is It True?, it's probably the best of the handful of prospective entries I've got round to checking out so far this year. Refreshingly, it's sung in Icelandic, although reading between the lines of Jóhanna's interview, there's probably a less-than-even chance it'll stay that way if it makes it through to Eurovision.
It's also worth bearing in mind that Iceland have foolishly discarded some real gems in their national selections in the past (not least in 2006), but this one is over the first hurdle at least.
It's a nice song and she has a very strong voice. Despite having learned a bit of Icelandic I can't make out what it's about. I am still humming it a few minutes after listening, and that's always a good sign with a competition song, but it depends on what the competition is like, first of all in Iceland and then wherever the next leg and the finals are.
ReplyDeleteThe audience was not over enthusiastic, but maybe that's northern reserve as opposed to lack of enthusiasm.
Probably, Tris, and I think it was quite a small audience anyway.
ReplyDeleteI remember you mentioning your Icelandic connection last year! I think it's a really attractive language (as is Swedish).