The second semifinal of the Icelandic national final is on tonight!
One of the fan favorites, Svala, will also perform.
Svala, what or who did motivate you to apply for Songvakeppnin 2017?
The song “Paper” was not originally written for Söngvakeppnin. I wrote it with my husband Einar and our friends Lester Mendez and Lily Elise in Los Angeles where me and my husband have lived for 8 years now. We were writing songs for our band Blissful and “Paper” was one of the songs that came out of those sessions. I immediately loved the song and it was very personal for me and the lyrics we wrote are very personal as well. It was Einar who came up with the idea to apply for Söngvakeppnin. He thought the song would fit perfectly for the competition. I competed only as a songwriter in Söngvakeppnin in 2008 and did pretty well. I had not planned on competing again. But Einar convinced me so we went ahead and sent in our song very last minute. I’m very happy we did cause a lot of people are relating to it and that makes me very happy.
What is the song about?
The song is about someone who is going through a very difficult time. We all as humans deal with difficult things in our life, we all have that in common. “Paper” is about that. But it´s also about being a survivor and not backing down from your fears!!! We wanted to use the word paper as a metaphore for a soul or someones life. Cause with paper you can burn it, cut it, rip it, write on it, paint on it, make art out of it, wet it, crumple it up, make origami,glue it together and so on. I myself have dealt with severe anxiety throughout my life and music and singing is everything to me. I would not be here if it wasn´t for my songwriting and singing. And the song “Paper” is basically about that. We set it up as a bad relationship in the English version so it wouldn’t be so literal. But I feel that a lot of people can relate to the song and it’s lyrics.
Have you and your team started planning your stage performance? Can you give us any hint about it?
Yes we have. It’s all coming together now. I’m very busy at the moment cause I’m one of the four main judges on The Voice in Iceland so I haven’t been able to focus only on Söngvakeppnin but as soon as The Voice is over, I’ll be working on my performance with my team all day everyday. I can’t give any hints but I can tell you it will be beautiful.
Your style is quite unique. Do you think that will make you stand up in the crowd?
Thank you! It might. I’ve always dressed this way so I’m very used to it and I don’t really think about it in that way. But it might make me more memorable.
What’s your favorite Eurovision song?
There are a couple, but I’ve always loved the song Hasheket Shenish’ar by Shiri Maimon
Would you be so kind and tell us something interesting about yourself?
I adore licorice candy which I always buy loads of in Iceland when I’m there so I can bring it back to LA where I live. I adore cats and we have the most beautiful persian cat named Lucy. I am obsessed with science fiction books and movies. I read a new scifi book every month. I have my own clothing line called KALI which is sold on Lastashop.com. I love giving gifts to others more than receiving gifts myself. I’m named after my grandmother Svala who is one of my closest and best friends.
And do you have any message for our followers and Eurovision fans?
You are never alone!!! We are in this life together. Lead by love. Thank you for your support and be free to follow me on Facebook and Instagram.
