Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, and have selected their entry through a national selection, consisting of two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV. Eythor Ingi represented Iceland with the song "Ég á Líf", which scored 47 points and finished in 17th place in the grand final on 18 May 2013.
Six songs will compete in each of the two semi finals. Three songs will be chosen to qualify directly during each semi final night by combination of the televoting public and a professional jury. In addition to the televoting qualifiers, a jury had the ability to selected an additional wildcard qualifier from the remaining songs in both semi-finals to proceed to the final. In the final, the first round of voting consisted of the combination of jury voting and televoting, which determined the top two. The top two songs qualified to the second round of voting where televoting determined the winner, and will represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest of 2013. All the songs will be performed in Icelandic in both semi finals and the final, but it will be up to the winning composers to decide if their song will be performed in Icelandic or English in Malmö in May 2013.
Competing entries
Artists and composers could send in their entries to RÚV until 8 October 2012. Foreign songwriters can participate when they work together with an Icelandic songwriter. On 12 November 2012, RÚV revealed the 12 songs that will compete in the contest.
Shows
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 25 January 2013 where six competing artists presented their entries. The top three entries voted upon by a combination of televoting and jury voting proceeded to the final. The qualifiers were "Lífið Snýst" performed by Svavar Knútur Kristinsson & Hreindís Ylva Garðarsdóttir Hólm, "Ég á Líf" performed by Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson and "Meðal Andanna" performed by Birgitta Haukdal.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 26 January 2013 where six competing artists presented their entries. The top three entries voted upon by a combination of televoting and jury voting proceeded to the final. The qualifiers were "Til þín" performed by Jógvan Hansen & Stefanía Svavarsdóttir, "Vinátta" performed by Haraldur Reynisson and "Ég Syng!" performed by Unnur Eggertsdóttir.
Final
The final took place on 2 February 2013 where the seven entries that proceeded from the preceding two semi-finals competed. In the first round of voting, votes from a jury panel and public televoting determined the top two entries. "Ég á Líf" performed by Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson and "Ég Syng!" performed by Unnur Eggertsdóttir qualified to the second round. In the second round, televoting solely selected "Ég á Líf" performed by Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson as the winner in the second round.
At Eurovision
Iceland was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Iceland would perform 8th, following Bulgaria and preceding Greece. Iceland qualified from the second semi-final, placing 6th and scoring 72 points. At the second semi-final winners' press conference, Iceland was allocated to perform in the second half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Iceland would perform 19th, following Denmark and preceding Azerbaijan. Iceland placed 17th in the final and scored 47 points. Despite being a favorite to win the contest, the song placed 17th.
