Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Country	Iceland
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	February 2005
Selected entrant	Selma
Selected song	"If I Had Your Love"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (16th)
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2004 • 2005 • 2006►

The 1999 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up Selma was internally selected to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, and she performed the song "If I Had Your Love" in Kiev. The song is written by Linda Thompson and composed by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson and Vignir Snær Vigfússon.

Background

Selma Björnsdóttir was born in Reykjavík on 13 June 1974. Selma was just 10 years old when she debuted in an Icelandic children’s opera production, which led to different roles in stage productions. After winning a song contest at the Commercial College of Iceland she received an offer to front the dance music group Fantasia, spending two years with the band. In 1995 Selma landed the part of Rosalia in West Side Story, staged at the National Theatre of Iceland. She has also participated in other theater production, acting and singing in The Rocky Horror Show, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Singin' in the Rain, Romeo and Juliet, Hair and most recently the popular Icelandic children’s musical "The Fruitbasket". She has also been busy teaching and training artists for, for instance, the Icelandic version of ‘Pop Idol’ as well as providing choreography for music videos and the main professional theaters. Selma represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 in Jerusalem, where she finished second with the song ‘All Out Of Luck’. The single was featured on her bestselling solo album ‘I Am’ in 1999, followed up by her second album ‘Life Won’t Wait’ a year later.

At Eurovision

At Eurovision, Selma delivered a strong performance, but it did not live up to the expectations of most viewers. Many people believe that her performance suffered mostly because of the bad camera angles, which did not capture her performance very well and the poor choice of costume. Overall, Selma went from being a favorite to not even qualifying for the final.

The spokesperson who revealed Iceland's votes for other countries was RUV host and Miss Iceland 2003 winner Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir.^[1]

References

Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Artists 1980s ICY Halla Margrét Beathoven Daníel Ágúst 1990s Stjórnin Stefán & Eyfi Heart 2 Heart Inga Sigga Bo Halldórsson Anna Mjöll Paul Oscar 1998 Selma 2000s August & Telma Two Tricky 2002 Birgitta Jónsi Selma Silvia Night Eiríkur Hauksson Euroband Yohanna 2010s Hera Björk Sigurjón's Friends Greta Salóme & Jónsi Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson Pollapönk María Ólafsdóttir Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir
Songs 1980s "Gleðibankinn" "Hægt og hljótt" "Þú og þeir (Sókrates)" "Það sem enginn sér" 1990s "Eitt lag enn" "Draumur um Nínu" "Nei eða já" "Þá veistu svarið" "Nætur" "Núna" "Sjúbídú" "Minn hinsti dans" 1998 "All Out of Luck" 2000s "Tell Me!" "Angel" 2002 "Open Your Heart" "Heaven" "If I Had Your Love" "Congratulations" "Valentine Lost" "This Is My Life" "Is It True?" 2010s "Je ne sais quoi" "Coming Home" "Never Forget" "Ég á líf" "No Prejudice" "Unbroken" "Hear Them Calling"
(Note : Entries scored out are when Iceland did not compete)