ICELAND – The branch of the Húsavík Museum of Exploration dedicated to Eurovision opened its doors yesterday, Friday 15 October. The residents of the small Icelandic town were looking forward to the inauguration.
The interesting thing is that in the now-famous fishing village is expected within the next week the first meeting of the committee that will select the 10 songs of the two semifinals of Söngvakeppnin 2022.
We remind you that the national final will take place on March 5, 2022, while the two semifinals will precede February 19 and 26.
Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson, the president of the Húsavík Museum, had announced earlier this year that the Eurovision Museum was expected to open its doors. The Icelandic government has approved a € 13,000 grant since last February to support the project.
The Eurovision Museum is divided into three sections:
- One dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest as a whole
- One in the history of the Icelandic participation and the national final Söngvakeppnin
- And one in the Netflix movie “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga”.
The film definitely deserves special mention and treatment. Not only did it make the humble fishing village famous and it brought an unexpected increase in tourism. Many of the tourists and interested visitors of the Museum are Americans, who learned about Eurovision through the film.
Greta Salome was the guest of honour at the opening of the Museum, representing Iceland at Eurovision 2012 (“Never forget”, with Jonsi) and 2016 (“Hear them calling”).
Today we officially open the room dedicated to the history of Iceland in the Contest. We have in display Daði og Gagnamagnið’s sweaters (2020-21), Hatari’s hammer (2019), Silvía Night’s underwear (2006) and much, much more 😍 pic.twitter.com/dM3z1H0WfT
— The Húsavík Eurovision Exhibition (@eurohusavik) October 15, 2021
According to the inspirer and founder of the Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson, this is an attempt to regenerate the city after the Covid-19 pandemic:
“We partnered with the EBU, the Icelandic state channel RÚV, but also with OGAE Iceland to implement our idea. The ABBA Museum in Stockholm also helped us. The exhibits will be rotated from time to time, so a visit to the Museum will be a dynamic and interesting experience over time. ”
