Sjonni's Friends, "Coming Home" [Icelandic Music]

So after highlighting a number of great Icelandic performers, it may seem a bit odd to end the week with a Eurovision song, but, well, it actually seems sort of fitting at the same time.

If you’re not familiar with Eurovision, you must read this. (And then get ready for next year’s competition.)

Sjonni’s Friends was Iceland’s 2011 entry, which somehow managed to make it all the way to the semi-finals. It’s not that this is a bad song, it’s just, well, very Eurovision-y. But what’s most notable about this song is the story behind it.

This song was written by Sigurjon ‘Sjonni’ Brink, who died before the Icelandic national final for the Eurovision Contest. Rather than pack up and give up, his friends decided to perform Sjonni’s song anyway, eventually becoming Iceland’s official Eurovision representative. Which, in the end, is a very nice tribute for their friend.

And this being Eurovision and all, I have to include a bit of odd, so here’s the official band description from the Eurovision website:

This is a group of six individuals who have one thing in common. Palmi is the old and wise one, Hreimur is the innocent and sincere one, Matthias provides the comic relief, Benedikt is the good-looking, cheerful one, Vignir is the silent, mysterious type and Gunnar is the bad boy. Together they are Sjonni‘s Friends.