Iceland 2024: Hera Bjork with ‘Scared of Heights’
In one of several notable upsets in national final season, Hera Bjork will return to Eurovision again after seeing off Bashar Murad in Songvakeppnin.
Well, what could have been the longest review in history we could instead just label this as an NQ and be done with it but it might be worth summarising some points for the sake of it and maybe for future reference:
This was a weak songvakeppnin and the wrong choice if no narrative was present- Bashar’s entry was the most deserving.
Being generous however, Bashar’s entry with 0 narrative might have qualified (some similarities to Belgium last year I guess) but achieved nothing of note. People pretending ‘Wild West’ was a worthy package are being disingenuous. Of course, these things and the emotions drawn out don’t exist in a vacuum and this package can’t be transplanted to any old ‘jon sigurdjonson’ but still…
We will never know how Bashar would have ended up overall but my prediction would have been around 6th-10th. Obviously, Iceland are in for a far worse result and the flaws in having a superfinal for maximising scoring is on display more than ever here.
If representation is more important than the result however, the superfinal does ensure a more satisfactory outcome for the majority. Far more people in Iceland did not want to become a false flag operation for Palestinian sympathy than did and that has to be respected. That’s not me taking sides and the same would apply were Iceland to have parachuted in an Israeli if situations/sentiment were reversed. Countries winning based on diaspora or sympathy does not sit easy * cough, Ukraine 2022, cough *, but at least let it be that own country’s. Ukraine this year feels strong enough in the field to warrant it’s position and I hope Israel themselves if they make it to Malmo get a result within reason for their proposition- good or bad.
It is both better for the contest and makes our jobs easier that Iceland, very narrowly, opted to end these debates here.
At the end of that diversion, yeah, there’s no case that can be made for Hera qualifying and obviously not winning. Iceland are a capable country but have sent worse in the past and I do hope for Hera as a friend of the contest not to get an embarrassing points total. That is possible with this song being both dated and complete filler with the comparison’s to the infamous ‘Embers’ (UK 2021) very appropriate. Old father time has also caught up to Hera’s vocals since 2010 too. The fact Iceland are still under 100-1 is based off the small lingering chance there is a turnaround on either RUV’s part or Hera’s and that Bashar would jump in. We are technically not 100% clear yet but the odds of that multiplied by the odds Bashar would be anyway do not seem to add up.
Personal Rating: 3/10
Competitive Rating: 1/10
Early Prediction: Semi 1 12th-15th