ICELAND 2025

The Icelandic song and act were chosen on February 22nd through the show "Söngvakeppnin". Before the final there were two semis of five songs with the top three from each show qualifying to the final. The winner was selected through adding an equal weighting of televoting and international jury scores. Going to Basel is the duo VÆB with the song "Ròa" (Row)

Væb (pronounced 'vibe') are brothers Matthías Davíð and Hálfdán Helgi Matthíasson. Their first release was the album "Væb tékk" which was released in the autumn of 2022 from which came their first two singles. However it wasn't until 2023 when two collaborative singles - one with Ingi Bauer another with Herra Hnetusmjör - gave Væb their first entries onto the Icelandic Tónlistinn. They tried to represent Iceland last year with "Bíómynd" coming 4th in the final. However, this 'loss' had a silver lining, as Bíómynd was the most successfully commercial song out of all of the finalists and the only one to make it into the Icelandic top 10. Their music is mostly described as electro pop with European dance music and hip-hop hints.

The two brothers are joined on stage by three dancers who are in shiny floaty silver tracksuits while the siblings are in thicker, matt silver outfits with the band name on the chest. These also work well against the predominantly blue/white lighting in the background. The dancing is extremely energetic but also cleverly balances between a bit silly and technically difficult. The song has a good thumping beat which is nicely juxtaposed with a Celtic quality in the instrumental which (kind of) fits with the nautical theme. After a short intro we start with a rendition of the chorus on the backing tape which is danced along to. The beat continues into verse one where the Icelandic lyrics come thick and fast. The music becomes more low key during the pre-chorus before ramping up for the chorus. There is then a brief interlude as the gang of five get into a makeshift boat and do some humorous poses and dancing. Verse two follows as does a pared down chorus which is followed by another chorus - but with a key change. The song ends with the boys doing a choregraphed mic drop before the lights dim and they all walk away.

This song and production is very fun but also direct. The guys are not perfect singers, and you can tell that by how much vocal support is on the backing tape but this song is - pun intended - all about the vibe. The rapping is very syllabic and fits the driving beat. The fiddle instrumental makes for an odd instrumental and is slightly alluded to in the presentation too. The show is slick and simple and part of me hopes that this simplicity won't be messed about with too much. They have to be careful that they don't try and mess about with a formula that works but also trying to scale something from a small stage to something much, much bigger. As I have already mentioned, there were a lot of vocals on the backing track which is, of course, allowed. But if voters are feeling like it is a bit too much or that they are in some way miming, this might stop people voting - especially in the jury. That said, in a 100% teletvote semi-final, this should have enough attractors to see it through. This song is catchy and has a good sense of self but I feel this will be one of those songs that flies in the semi and crashes in the final.

ARTIST - VÆB 

SONG - Ròa

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Ingi Þór Garðarsson, Gunnar Björn Gunnarsson, H H Matthíasson, M D Matthíasson.