Congratulations (Silvía Night song)

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Congratulations
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 entry
Country Iceland
Artist(s) Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir
As Silvía Night
Language English
Composer(s) Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson
Lyricist(s) Silvia Night
Place in Semifinal 13th
Points in Semifinal 62
Lyrics from Diggiloo Thrush

Congratulations (often known by its Icelandic title of Til hamingju Ísland, which translates to English as "Congratulations Iceland") was the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in English by Silvía Night.

Composed by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson and with lyrics written by the fictional character singing it, the song generated considerable controversy at the Contest. The lyrics are essentially in praise of the wisdom of the Icelandic voters in selecting Silvía to represent them in the first place. She sings, for example, "So congratulations, I have arrived/I'm Silvia Night and I'm shining so bright/Eurovision nation, your dream's coming true/You've been waiting and waiting for me to save you", thus contending that the other entries of that year are things to be saved from. Silvía's song, on the other hand, is described as being "hot, okay, really not too gay". The Icelandic original continued this theme further, with one line running "Congratulations Iceland, that I was born here". Silvía also sings "Let's meet next year in Iceland", a reference to the Contest tradition of hosting rights going to the previous year's winner.

The controversy came, however, with the line "The vote is in, I'll fucking win", a contravention of the Contest's policy on expletives (although a previous French entry had contained an obscenity in French, this was the first occasion on which an English-language one was to be heard). Contest executive supervisor Svante Stockselius formally informed the Icelandic delegation that the lyrics as written were in violation of the rules, however Silvía claimed at her press conferences that she would "fucking say what I fucking want". Interestingly, one set of lyrics published online featured the line "they say I win", prior to the formal objection being lodged.

Over the course of the rehearsals, Silvía continued to perform the lyrics as originally written. Her second dress rehearsal also featured abuse of the floor manager, whom she called a "fucking retard". According to the BBC commentator at the semi-final, this last remark was misheard by some as "fucking Greek", a slight on Athens, where the Contest was being held. Thus, when the song was eventually performed in the semi-final, it was greeted with jeers from much of the audience.

In the event, the lyrics were changed to "The vote is in, I'll freaking win", however the official CD of the Contest entries had already been pressed with the original lyrics.

The Contest performance featured Silvía beginning the song on top of a large stiletto shoe. At the line "wham, bam, boom", two backing dancers jumped through fake walls to appear on stage with her. The "phonecall from God" section was done by having a telephone receiver fall from a large candy cane on the left side of the stage.

Commentary both before and after Sylvía's performance stressed the fact that she was a television character, rather than a real person. Her entire appearance, therefore, was in fact something of a joke at the expense of the Contest - something Silvía herself picked up on when arguing at a press conference that people intending to enter the Contest as a joke should not do so.

As Iceland had not qualified for the final at the 2005 Contest, the song was performed in the semi-final. Here, it was performed twenty-third (following Bosnia and Herzegovina's Hari Mata Hari with Lejla). At the close of voting, it had received 62 points, placing 13th in a field of 23 - failing to qualify for the final and thus ensuring that Iceland's next Contest appearance would be in the semi-final.

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