Iceland sends viral entry ‘Think About Things’ by Daði Freyr
After four years of missing out on a spot in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Iceland came back with a vengeance last year when they reached top 10 with Hatari’s eye-catching performance of their techo punk pop tune ‘Hatrið mun sigra’. After that success, the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV decided to select their 2020 contestant through national final Söngvakeppnin too. Daði Freyr and band Gagnamagnið emerged victorious and will fly the Icelandic flag in Rotterdam in May.
In the weeks before the final of the Icelandic national final, Daði’s ‘Think About Things’ certainly started to go viral with a lot of high profile American Twitter profiles sharing the music video. Just before that, Icelandic media seemed to have picked up the news that Netflix was sponsoring Iceland’s Eurovision 2020 performance, after filming in the country for the upcoming Eurovision movie by Will Ferrell.
To be completely honest, this viral hype seemed a bit contrived to me, as I could not understand what made this song so special that everybody wanted share it. This however does not mean that I think it is a bad tune. ‘Think About Things’ is insanely catchy, has a swinging funky rhythm, an undeniable chorus and a joyous, carefree vibe. Daði performs the song with a band in which is wife plays keys and he sings the song for their baby daughter, as he is wondering what she is thinking about things now.
The stage act follows the lead of the music video: they are wearing jumpers with their own animated faces on it and they do the simple, slightly comical dance moves. As if the song was not catchy enough yet, they made the whole staging into something instantly memorable. Daði is a strong vocalist and he sells the quirkiness of the whole thing convincingly, even when the wind machine is on halfway through. Iceland will have to compete with Lithuania in the silly dance moves department and both will for sure be some of the most talked about contestants of this year. Juries might not fall for ‘Talk About Things’ as much, but this sure will be a hit with televoters. Another top 10 result for Iceland is well within reach.
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