Meet María who represents Iceland in Eurovision 2015 By Kolbeinn Tumi Daðason 15. febrúar 2015 22:30 María's performance on Saturday took people's breath away. Vísir/Andri Marinó 21 year old countrygirl, María Ólafsdóttir, will represent Iceland in this years Eurovision song contest in Vienna in May. María stunned the Icelandic nation with her performance of the song Unbroken in the qualifiers on Saturday and couldn't believe the result. "I'm still realizing what has happened," Maria said in an interview with Visir today. María wrote the lyrics along with the StopWaitGo trio which composed the song. Seven songs competed in the final round of the Icelandic qualifiers. It came down to María and Fridrik Dór with his song, Once Again. StopWaitGo also wrote Once Again and therefore were responsible for both songs in the final. The trio consists of Asgeir Orri Asgeirsson, Palmi Ragnar Asgeirsson and Saethor Kristjansson. There were two rounds of voting in the final. In the first round of voting, a jury panel and televoting, on a 50/50 basis, determined the top two songs. These two entries advanced to the superfinal, where the two songs were performed again. This time the winner was determined by televoting only. Icelanders went overboard on social media during the competition. One of the things that caught people's attention was María's answer to the question what was her favorite band. The answer, Birgitta Haukdal and Írafár. Birgitta represented Iceland in Eurovision in 2003 with the song Open Your Heart. "I used to be a huge fan of Írafár and Birgitta Haukdal. She was my idol so it was the first thing I thought of." Many viewers believe there are similarities between María and Birgitta. She laughs and says she's heard that many times before. But won't the 21 year old be nervous on stage in Austria's capital knowing that 200 million viewers around the world will be watching? "I'll just focus on singing to the camera and imagine I'm alone in my room singing."One of Írafár's most popular songs, Eg sjálf (Myself) María is from Blönduós, a small town in Húnavatnssýsla in the north of Iceland. Despite her young age she has experience from performing amongst others in The Sound of Music at one of Reykjavik's big theaters.María and Friðrik Dór waiting for the announcement Saturday night. María was the one who celebrated.Vísir/Andri MarinóUnbroken lyrics — María ÓlafsdóttirStep at a timeinto the distanceone foot in front of the otherA step at a timetry to forget youalthough you said foreverI’m letting goGoA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeAnd I’ve got a feelingIt’s either now or neverI’m letting goGoA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverI’m letting goGoGoTimeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenYeah, yeah…Yeah, yeah…Forever News in English Tengdar fréttir Iceland jails former Kaupthing bank bosses Four former bosses from the Icelandic bank Kaupting have been sentenced to between four and five and a half years in prison in the Surpreme Court of Iceland. 12. febrúar 2015 16:15 Stunning timelapse of sudden weather change in Iceland Those who have visited Iceland over the years have no doubt heard the local saying: "If you don't like the weather, just wait fifteen minutes". 10. febrúar 2015 22:17 Whales will be counted this summer The plan is to assess the stock size of whales and if the whales are increasing. 13. febrúar 2015 15:08 My opinion: Jón Gnarr - God does not exist I have been fascinated by the idea of God since I was a kid. 14. febrúar 2015 07:00 Mest lesið Ása hyggst selja húsið og flytur ásamt börnum sínum Erlent Kosningavaktin: Íslendingar ganga að kjörborðinu Innlent Læknar á lokastigi og nýr taktur hjá kennurum Innlent Frægasti köttur landsins týndur Innlent Enginn drukkinn jólasveinn í jólaþorpi Hafnarfjarðar Innlent Ráku háttsettan herforingja sem sakaður var um lygar Erlent Sundhnúksgígaröðin að verða búin Innlent Á bak við auglýsingarnar um Dag en skráður í Samfylkinguna Innlent Engar ruslatunnur í Grindavík Innlent Kæla öll „hraunaugu“ og loka þeim Innlent
21 year old countrygirl, María Ólafsdóttir, will represent Iceland in this years Eurovision song contest in Vienna in May. María stunned the Icelandic nation with her performance of the song Unbroken in the qualifiers on Saturday and couldn't believe the result. "I'm still realizing what has happened," Maria said in an interview with Visir today. María wrote the lyrics along with the StopWaitGo trio which composed the song. Seven songs competed in the final round of the Icelandic qualifiers. It came down to María and Fridrik Dór with his song, Once Again. StopWaitGo also wrote Once Again and therefore were responsible for both songs in the final. The trio consists of Asgeir Orri Asgeirsson, Palmi Ragnar Asgeirsson and Saethor Kristjansson. There were two rounds of voting in the final. In the first round of voting, a jury panel and televoting, on a 50/50 basis, determined the top two songs. These two entries advanced to the superfinal, where the two songs were performed again. This time the winner was determined by televoting only. Icelanders went overboard on social media during the competition. One of the things that caught people's attention was María's answer to the question what was her favorite band. The answer, Birgitta Haukdal and Írafár. Birgitta represented Iceland in Eurovision in 2003 with the song Open Your Heart. "I used to be a huge fan of Írafár and Birgitta Haukdal. She was my idol so it was the first thing I thought of." Many viewers believe there are similarities between María and Birgitta. She laughs and says she's heard that many times before. But won't the 21 year old be nervous on stage in Austria's capital knowing that 200 million viewers around the world will be watching? "I'll just focus on singing to the camera and imagine I'm alone in my room singing."One of Írafár's most popular songs, Eg sjálf (Myself) María is from Blönduós, a small town in Húnavatnssýsla in the north of Iceland. Despite her young age she has experience from performing amongst others in The Sound of Music at one of Reykjavik's big theaters.María and Friðrik Dór waiting for the announcement Saturday night. María was the one who celebrated.Vísir/Andri MarinóUnbroken lyrics — María ÓlafsdóttirStep at a timeinto the distanceone foot in front of the otherA step at a timetry to forget youalthough you said foreverI’m letting goGoA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeAnd I’ve got a feelingIt’s either now or neverI’m letting goGoA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverA step at a timeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenA step at a timeGet out of the darknessAnd into the lightForeverI’m letting goGoGoTimeI pick up the piecesTry putting them back togetherTill I’m unbrokenUnbrokenYeah, yeah…Yeah, yeah…Forever
News in English Tengdar fréttir Iceland jails former Kaupthing bank bosses Four former bosses from the Icelandic bank Kaupting have been sentenced to between four and five and a half years in prison in the Surpreme Court of Iceland. 12. febrúar 2015 16:15 Stunning timelapse of sudden weather change in Iceland Those who have visited Iceland over the years have no doubt heard the local saying: "If you don't like the weather, just wait fifteen minutes". 10. febrúar 2015 22:17 Whales will be counted this summer The plan is to assess the stock size of whales and if the whales are increasing. 13. febrúar 2015 15:08 My opinion: Jón Gnarr - God does not exist I have been fascinated by the idea of God since I was a kid. 14. febrúar 2015 07:00 Mest lesið Ása hyggst selja húsið og flytur ásamt börnum sínum Erlent Kosningavaktin: Íslendingar ganga að kjörborðinu Innlent Læknar á lokastigi og nýr taktur hjá kennurum Innlent Frægasti köttur landsins týndur Innlent Enginn drukkinn jólasveinn í jólaþorpi Hafnarfjarðar Innlent Ráku háttsettan herforingja sem sakaður var um lygar Erlent Sundhnúksgígaröðin að verða búin Innlent Á bak við auglýsingarnar um Dag en skráður í Samfylkinguna Innlent Engar ruslatunnur í Grindavík Innlent Kæla öll „hraunaugu“ og loka þeim Innlent
Iceland jails former Kaupthing bank bosses Four former bosses from the Icelandic bank Kaupting have been sentenced to between four and five and a half years in prison in the Surpreme Court of Iceland. 12. febrúar 2015 16:15
Stunning timelapse of sudden weather change in Iceland Those who have visited Iceland over the years have no doubt heard the local saying: "If you don't like the weather, just wait fifteen minutes". 10. febrúar 2015 22:17
Whales will be counted this summer The plan is to assess the stock size of whales and if the whales are increasing. 13. febrúar 2015 15:08
My opinion: Jón Gnarr - God does not exist I have been fascinated by the idea of God since I was a kid. 14. febrúar 2015 07:00