| Eurovision Song Contest 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Iceland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Heats: 6 October 2007 – 12 January 2008 Second Chance: 12 January 2008 Semi-finals: 19 January 2008 26 January 2008 2 February 2008 9 February 2008 Final: 23 February 2008 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Eurobandið | |||
| Selected song | "This Is My Life" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (8th, 68 points) | |||
| Final result | 14th, 64 points | |||
| Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "This Is My Life" written by Örlygur Smári, Paul Oscar and Peter Fenner. The song was performed by the duo Euroband. Songwriter Paul Oscar represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Minn hinsti dans" where he placed twentieth in the competition. The Icelandic entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected through the national final Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2008, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV). The selection consisted of eleven heats, a Second Chance round, four semi-finals and a final, held between 6 October 2007 and 23 February 2008. Eight songs ultimately competed in the final, where "This Is My Life" performed by Eurobandið emerged as the winner exclusively through public televoting. The duo was renamed as Euroband for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Iceland was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 12, "This Is My Life" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 24 May. This marked the first time that Iceland qualified to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. It was later revealed that the Iceland placed eighth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 68 points. In the final, Iceland performed in position 11 and placed fourteenth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 64 points.