From Iceland — Go Iceland!
Published May 10, 2013
If there is something that really unites Icelanders, it is probably the annual Eurovision. On May 18, all of Iceland will be glued to the television and cheer Eythór Inga Gunnlaugsson when he performs the song “Ég á líf” for all of Europe. They’ll party all right, but the good time will be punctuated by some serious oohs and aaahs and whoops when it’s revealed how many points our friends in Europe are giving us.
While the number of parties in the recent elections confirms that there are many opposing voices in Iceland, there will be one unanimous voice when it comes to Eurovision, and that is Eyflór Ingi Gunnlaugsson. It took a while to get there – people argued about everything from the way he was wearing a patch – but as soon as he steps on stage in Malmö, they’ll all be behind him.
If Eurovision seems like a strange contest to take seriously—come on, it’s pretty kitsch—consider that it’s one of the few international contests Iceland can compete in on an equal footing. And as it turns out — again and again — Icelanders love to work, to bask in the limelight, to be the best in the world.
In a group of 321,857 — give or take a few — there will naturally be fewer star athletes who win gold medals in, say, the Olympics than in other countries. The exception is handball. Icelanders are relatively good at it for one reason – perhaps because Americans think it’s a game for elementary school kids – or for another.
When the Icelandic handball team competed in the finals of the 2008 Olympics, statistics from the local utility company indicate that people did not even get up to go to the bathroom. When the team returned, they were received with great pomp and circumstance, and the president presented each player with a Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Falcon – arguably the most honorable award given in Iceland.
With handball, Iceland only gets a chance to shine once every four years, but with Eurovision it’s once a year. And every year, it’s the same “we’ll definitely win this time” story — never mind the last time and the time before that. Icelanders will be possessed by the “in it to win it” mentality. This is actually a bit scary, as Eythór Ingi told us. It’s like Eurovision turns Icelanders into monsters.
If you really have no idea what Eurovision is because you live in, say, the US, check out our comprehensive guide with everything you need to join this wildly ethnic party.