Icelandic Eurovision hopeful Kristín Sesselja will almost certainly sing her entry in English if she reaches the Söngvakeppnin final. 

Sesselja’s song, Óbyggðir, is bound by the rules to be performed in Icelandic in the semi-final of the competition on Saturday. 

Artists taking part in the competition can choose to perform in English in the final. 

Asked by The Euro Trip if she would change the language of the song for the final, Sesselja said: “I would probably do the English version. 

“Eurovision fans are like ‘You need to do the Icelandic version’. They love to hear the native language of songs. 

“For me, music is about my expression. Expressing myself in a way that other people can relate to me and therefore feel seen, it wouldn’t make sense for me to – if I were to go to Eurovision – to have a song that only 360,000 people would understand.” 

Óbyggðir was originally written in English with the title Terrified and had to be translated into Icelandic before it was submitted to Icelandic broadcaster RÚV. 

“Translating it was really hard. I was doing it the night before the deadline as I was putting it off. 

“I was sending in two songs so I had to translate those two. It was really frustrating but kind of fun at the same time. When it got accepted I changed it a lot. 

“I had to change the melody and it was an interesting process. My mum helped me so she’s credited as a songwriter.” 

Norwegian singer-songwriter Tiril Beisland was also involved in the songwriting process. Beisland attempted to represent her country at Eurovision this year, falling short in the third semi-final of Melodi Grand Prix with her song Break It. 

Kristín Sesselja will open the second semi-final of Söngvakeppnin on Saturday (February 25).

Featured image – RÚV