608/917 Stefan & Eyfi: Nina (Iceland 1991)

A singer named Nina has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest several times. We remember among others the Spanish Nina from 1989, Nina Radojčić who took part for Serbia in 2011, Finnish Nina Åström from 2000, the Italian Nina Zilli taking part in 2012 and Nina Badrić who represented Croatia the same year. More than once has Nina also been the subject of a love song that has been sung on the Eurovision stage. So it was also in 1991, when the Eurosong 608 took part for Iceland.

The Icelandic entry in 1991 was composed by Eyjólfur Kristjánsson who also sang the song with Stefán Hilmarsson, who had previously represented Iceland three years earlier. The 1991 song was a powerful ballad with a strong performance from the duo. Unfortunately it didn't catch the juries attention and finished only 16th among 22 participants.

Maybe it was the icelandic language that made the juries not to notice this perfect song (which to me sounds much better in it's original language than in english), it might also be due to the dreaded second position in the running order. Still, I'd put my blame on the mediocre performance of the RAI orchestra and the lousy sound acoustics of studio 15 of Cinecittá for the bad result of the Icelandic entry.

To me this song is one of the best songs from the small Scandinavian country ever in the Eurovision Song Contest. The best way to listen to the song is to find the studio versio  at Spotify where you can hear the passion, the seamless cooperation between the two singers and the great string arrangement crowning the recording. A perfect Eurosong.

My points 4/5.