2008 Academy Award winner Markéta Irglová will compete in the Icelandic national selections, Söngvakeppnin, this weekend for a chance to represent Iceland in The Eurovision Song Contest being held in Turin, Italy.
The Czech-Icelandic singer-songwriter will face four other acts such as the all-female hip-hop group, Daughters of Reykjavik, during the night of the second semi-finals. Irglová will be the first to perform at the event, with her original song “Mögulegt / Possible”.
In an interview with Eurovision blog ESCUnited, she said that the reason for her participating in the national selection was because of her children.
“I have been watching it every year since I moved to Iceland. We enjoy it as a family, and look forward to it each year. My children have been asking me when I would participate with one of my songs, and well, it sounded like a nice idea…
“… it is a new experience which I embrace and feel honored to have been chosen as one of Iceland´s 10 contestants”.
Söngvakeppnin (translation: The Television’s Song Contest) is the Icelandic national selection for The Eurovision Song Contest. Each year, 10 artists compete in the span of three weeks to see which one of them will make it to the grand finals. The prize, the chance to represent Iceland in Eurovision. Artists are required to perform in Icelandic and have the option to sing in English once they qualify for the finals.
The first semi-final concluded last week with artists Stefán Óli and Sigga, Beta and ElÃn moving on to the Grand Finals on Mar 12. The second round of semi-finals will be broadcasted globally on the official Icelandic broadcaster’s RUV website on March 5 at 1:30pm ET.
Markéta Irglová is an Academy Award winner, most notable for starring in the film, Once. In 2008, her song “Falling Slowly” won Best Original Song. Irglová was also nominated for a Grammy Award back in 2009 for Best Song Written and Best Compilation Soundtrack for her work on Once.
