Sjonni's Friends | |
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| Origin | Iceland |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 2011 (2011) |
| Members | Gunnar Ólason Vignir Snær Vigfússon Pálmi Sigurhjartarson Matthías Matthíasson Hreimur Örn Heimisson Benedikt Brynleifsson |
Sjonni's Friends (Icelandic:Vinir Sjonna) were an Icelandictribute band also known at times asSigurjón's Friends. The band formed in early 2011 when the Icelandic singerSjonni Brink (real name Sigurjón Brink) died just days before he was to perform his entry "Aftur heim" atSöngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins, the Icelandic national final for theEurovision Song Contest 2011.
On 12 February 2011, the group won theIcelandic national selection;Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2011 with the song "Aftur heim". The original artist was meant to beSigurjón Brink himself, however on 17 January 2011 before he was set to compete in the third semi-final, Sigurjón unexpectedly died, due to natural causes, at his home inGarðabær.[1] Sigurjón's family decided upon reflection that they would like for the song to remain in the competition, and that it should be performed by a tribute band, formed after his death, consisting of Sigurjón's musician friends.[2]
The group made it past the first semi-final into the final, where the group won the right to representIceland in theEurovision Song Contest 2011.
Band member Gunnar Ólason had previously represented Iceland in theEurovision Song Contest 2001 as part of the bandTwo Tricky.
The actual Eurovision competition was held inDüsseldorf,Germany in May 2011 where the formation Sjonni's Friends sang "Coming Home", an English version of "Aftur heim".
The first semi-final took place inEsprit Arena in Düsseldorf on 10 May 2011. Nineteen country entries, including Iceland, took part. Sjonni's Friends performed fourteenth, finishing 4th (6th at the televoting and 3rd with the jury vote). They moved to the finals of the competition that were held on 14 May 2011 with 25 finalists taking part. They were the 21st entry to perform. They came 20th overall with 61 points.
Members of the band were:
Some have continued with solo singing careers. Vignir Snær Vigfússon came back in 2014 to take part inSöngvakeppnin 2014, the qualification rounds for selecting Icelandic song for the2014 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Elsku þú", but failed to win. Matthías Matthíasson also returned inSöngvakeppnin 2020 with the song "Dreyma", but also failed to win.
| Preceded by | Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 | Succeeded by |
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