Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eight songs ultimately competed in the final, where "This Is My Life" performed by Eurobandið emerged as the winner exclusively through public televoting.[2] Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that continued for their 2008 participation.Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.The seventeen shows in the competition took place at the RÚV studios in Reykjavík during the television programme Laugardagslögin, hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir and Gísli Einarsson.[3] Thirty-three songs in total competed in Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008, where the winner was determined after eleven heats, a Second Chance round, four semi-finals and a final.[5] A jury selected three of the eleven wildcards for the Second Chance round on 12 January 2008, during which the top two songs, as determined by public televoting qualified to the semi-finals.[16][17] On 25 April, Euroband performed during the UKEurovision Preview Party event which was held at the Scala Club in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Paddy O'Connell.[19] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries.[20] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Iceland was set to open the show and perform in position 1, before the entry from Sweden.[25] The backing vocalists that joined Euroband were: Grétar Örvarsson, Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir, Hera Björk Þórhallsdóttir and Pétur Örn Guðmundsson.
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