We all know that Iceland is a small country. It’s got a population of just over 300,000 people. But does that mean it needs to outsource its World Cup anthem to another country?
Yes, apparently so. 2012 Songvakeppnin contestant Magni has paired up with Radspitz, Germany’s #1 party band, to record a World Cup anthem that sounds like it’s come straight out of an Irish Pub.
Oh…what’s that? It was filmed at the Dubliner in Bayreuth, Germany? Oh, that makes sense. In fact, all the images of Iceland were obtained via a Creative Commons license – so it’s a World Cup song made from a bar with stock footage.
Digging a little deeper, it turns out that Radspitz (Germany’s #1 party band and Germany’s #1 Iceland fans, apparently) actually recorded a version of this song in English, and just repurposed most of the existing video for the Magni bits:
What makes the whole thing even more laughable is that Magni and Radspitz had already collaborated on a far more impressive tribute to Iceland and its football fans (even if it does feature Magni Skyping in vocals from his home studio.)
But the real question here is why Iceland has had to go international, when it’s clearly got this football and singing talent at home. I’m not talking about Hannes Dor Haldorson, who famously directed the Greta and Jonsi video. I’m talking about Guðmundur Þórarinsson, the actual Icelandic football player who entered Songvakeppnin 2018.
You couldn’t have gotten him to write a song for the World Cup? Because his video, featuring him wandering aimlessly through the stunning nature of Iceland while the wind gently ruffles his hair – that seems to be a far better representation of the country and its infinite possibilities. Want to be a star footballer and a music star? Go to Iceland, where you can do both.
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