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Svala ”My song is about not backing down from your fears and not giving up!”

By Nathan Stella On Feb 27, 2017

We have had the chance to have a nice interview with the lovely Svala Björgvinsdóttir from Iceland, who will be participating in Söngvakeppnin 2017 in hopes of representing Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest later this year.
Read it here below!

Congratulations on being selected for Söngvakeppnin, Svala! What was your first reaction when you heard it?

Thank you sweetie. I was happy when I heard my song which I co-wrote with Einar, Lester and Lily Elise got through. Fun times ahead and it means I get to spend some time in Iceland. I´ve lived in Los Angeles for 8 years.

Svala is one of the coaches in The Voice Iceland

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I´ve been a recording artist and songwriter for as long as I can remember. My first single came out in Iceland when I was 9 years old. I was kind of born into the music industry in Iceland because of my father Bo Halldorsson who has been one of the most successful singers in Iceland since the late 60´s. I´ve released two solo albums, numerous singles, I was signed with EMI in America, formed my band Steed Lord in 2006 which has been quite successful worldwide. Me and Steed Lord released three studio albums and many music videos which we directed ourselves. Our music has been on very famous tv shows in America, it has been on So You Think You Can Dance 7 times, been on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and also on many MTV reality shows and so on and so forth. I moved to Los Angeles in 2009 where I live with my husband Einar and our persian cat Lucy. I´m one of the four main coaches/judges on the famous tv show The Voice in Iceland. We just finished our second season and Team Svala was amazing. I just started a new band called Blissful last year and our single “Elevate” came out in august last year and has over 200 thousand plays on Spotify. I started my own clothing line KALI four years ago and we produce all the garments in downtown LA. I love sci fi movies and books, cats, licorice candy and writing poetry.

What is your song about?

My song is about a person going through a very difficult time. We as human beings have that in common that we have to deal with difficult things in life. And “Paper” is about the relationship you have with yourself or with life, of with another person, addiction, depression or whatever you are going through that´s hard. It´s about also not backing down from your fears and not giving up. What doesn´t kill us makes us stronger. The word paper in the lyric is a metaphore for someones soul or life.

What made you decide to participate in Söngvakeppnin?

It wasn´t my decision to participate. My husband Einar who wrote the song with us came up with that idea. We wrote the song a year ago in LA. The song was extremely personal and special to me and Einar thought Söngvakeppnin would be a perfect stage for the song. I competed as a songwriter in Söngvakeppnin in Iceland in 2008 but had other artists perform my songs then. It was a fun experience but I never planned to compete again as a songwriter and performer. But life is full of surprises and I took a couple of hours to think it over and then I just decided to compete. I´m glad I did cause it´s been a cool experience. Performing live is my all time favourite thing to do so I´m super excited to perform my song Paper in the preliminaries in Iceland.

What would it mean to you to win Söngvakeppnin?

It would be awesome! It would be a HUGE honour for me to compete for Icelands behalf in Ukraine. My father competed for Icelands behalf in 1996 with his song “Núna” and I remember being a teenger watching him on tv compete in Ireland and I was so proud of him and my country. There are a couple of really great songs competing in Söngvakeppnin now and it´s gonna be very exciting to see who wins this year. It´s also a big opportunity to promote your music on a much bigger stage in front of millions. So it would be pretty epic for me if I would win.

What kind of music do you listen to yourself?

I listen to a lot of instrumental music, movie soundtracks, classical music but I also love Tove Lo, Rihanna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Empire Of The Sun, LP, Zayn, Future, Era Istrefi, Daft Punk, The Weeknd and The Beach Boys. I listen to music all day and all night and there are so many artists and bands that I adore. Hard to name a few.

What is your favourite food?

Indian and italian food. I also love sushi.Do you have a favourite Eurovision song?

The first song that comes to mind is Euphoria with Loreen. I love her and that song. It has all the elements that make a perfect pop smash.

What’s your favourite song right now?

If You Let Me with Sinead Harnett and GRADES

Do you have a message for the readers of ESCBubble?

Sending you light and love and hugs. Follow me on my insta:

https://www.instagram.com/svalakali/

Thanks a lot for doing this interview, Svala, and good luck in Söngvakeppnin!

Give a listen to Svala’s entry here:

Svala ”My song is about not backing down from your fears and not giving up!”

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