Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2013, Blaðsíða 2

We are now officially accepting nominations
for “Tourist of the year 2013.” Please submit
your nominations to editor@grapevine.is to
be considered. We will read them, post them
to our website and print the best one come
next January.
Note: To be eligible, the tourist (this can be
you) must have visited Iceland in 2013.
Submit your entry at www.touristoftheyear.is

× 2013
January 11
- February 7
Issue 1
Missing
Your Free Copy
TOURIST OF THE YEAR
TH
E G
RA
PE
VI
NE
M
US
IC
AW
AR
DS

Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
www.froken.is
Member of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25.000 copies.
Editor In Chief:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Managing Editor:
Anna Andersen / anna@grapevine.is
Editorial:
+354 540 3600 / editor@grapevine.is
Advertising:
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+354 40 3610
Publisher:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601 / publisher@grapevine.is
Editorial | Anna Andersen
TRACK OF THE ISSUE
You know that feeling when you have ten
different things to do in a day, and rather
than sulk and stress you just wake up and
do them. Then halfway through the day you
realise how nicely everything is coming
together, and a wave of ‘happy’ hits you?
Well, that’s what listening to Útidúr’s new
track “Vultures” feels like.
The song off of their newest album,
‘Detour,' is led by about a minute of a
steady beat and piano tinkling before the
lead singer, Gunnar Örn, comes in with his
Beirut-like vocals. That is, if Beirut sang
with a heavy Icelandic accent. Listen to the
addictive tune while walking down Austur-
stræti and find joy in knowing that the only
way anyone can understand the delight
that is happening between your two head-
phones is by the smile in your eyes. PY
Útidúr – Vultures
Download for FREE at www.grapevine.is
ÁFRAM ÍSLAND!
Anna’s 24th Editorial
WILL YOU BE
GRAPEVINE’S
‘TOURIST OF
THE YEAR 2013’?
If there’s one thing that
really unites Icelanders,
it’s probably the an-
nual Eurovision Song
Contest. On May 18,
the whole of Iceland
will be glued to the TV,
cheering Eyþór Ingi
Gunnlaugsson on as
he performs the song “Ég á líf” before all of Eu-
rope. They will be partying all right, but the good
time will be punctuated by some serious oohs
and aaahs and oophs as it’s revealed how many
points our pals in Europe give us.
While the proliferation of parties in the recent
elections confirms that there are many conflict-
ing voices in Iceland, there will be one unani-
mous voice when it comes to Eurovision, and
that’s Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson. It took a while
to get there—people bickered about everything
down to the way he wore a Band-Aid—but as
soon as he steps onto the stage in Malmö, they
will all be standing behind him.
If Eurovision seems like a strange competi-
tion to take seriously—come on, it’s a pretty
kitschy affair—consider that it’s one of few inter-
national competitions that Iceland can compete
in on equal footing. And, as it turns out—again
and again—Icelanders love to win, to bask in the
spotlight, to be the best in the world.
In a pool of 321,857—give or take a few—there
will naturally be fewer star athletes winning gold
medals at, for instance, the Olympics, than there
are in other countries. The exception is handball.
Icelanders are relatively good at that for one rea-
son—maybe it’s because Americans think it’s a
game for elementary school kids—or the other.
When the Icelandic handball team competed
in the 2008 Olympic finals, statistics from the
local utility company suggest that people didn’t
even get up to use the toilet. When the team re-
turned, they were greeted by much pomp and
circumstance and the president awarded each
player a Knight’s Cross in the Order of the Fal-
con—arguably the most honourable of awards
given out in Iceland.
With handball, Iceland only gets a chance to
shine once every four years, but with Eurovision,
it’s once every year. And every year it’s the same
“we will definitely win this time” story—never
mind last time and the time before that. Iceland-
ers become possessed with an “in it to win it”
mentality. It’s really a bit scary, as Eyþór Ingi told
us. It’s like Eurovision turns Icelanders into mon-
sters.
There’s more about that on page 16, and if you
really have no idea what Eurovision is because
you live in, say the United States, turn the page
to a comprehensive guide with everything you
need to take part in this wildly nationalistic party
Cover by:
Döðlur
Photo by:
Axel Sigurðarson
Clothes by:
Jör by Guðmundur Jörundsson
Stylist:
Hrefna Sigurðardóttir
Make Up:
Vigdís Jónsdóttir
2
Contributing Writers:
Larissa Kyzer
Kári Tulinius
Sam Knight
Valur Gunnarsson
Bob Cluness
Scott Scholz
Chris D'Alessandro
Dru Morrison
Doug Levy
Patricia Þormar
Björn Teitsson
Alda Kravec
Journalist & Listings editor:
Rebecca Louder / rebecca@grapevine.is
Editorial Interns:
John Wilkins/ johnwilkins@grapevine.is
Tómas Gabríel Benjamin / gabriel@grapevine.is
Parker Yamasaki / parker@grapevine.is
Art Director
Hörður Kristbjörnsson / hoddi@grapevine.is
Design:
Guðmundur Úlfarsson / giu@grapevine.is
Photographer:
Alísa Kalyanova / www. alisakalyanova.com
Music Manager:
Bob Cluness / bob@grapevine.is
Sales Director:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson / helgi@grapevine.is
Distribution manager:
distribution@grapevine.is
Proofreader:
Jim Rice
Listings:
listings@grapevine.is
Submissions inquiries:
editor@grapevine.is
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+354 540 3605 / subscribe@grapevine.is
General inquiries:
grapevine@grapevine.is
Founders:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson,
Oddur Óskar Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times a year by Fröken ltd.
Monthly from November through April, and fortnightly from May
til October. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole
or in part without the written permission of the publishers. The
Reykjavík Grapevine is distributed around Reykjavík, Akureyri,
Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarnes, Keflavík, Ísafjörður and at
key locations along road #1, and all major tourist attractions and
tourist information centres in the country.
You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored (no arti-
cles in the Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles. The opinions
expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 5 — 2013
YO
UR F
A
CE HE
R
E
FUN TRIVIA QUESTION
Taken from the educational trivia game Instant Iceland
Q: Iceland has never won the Eurovision Song Contest, but in 2009 an Icelandic
singer came in second. She used the name Yohanna, but what was the name of
her song?
A Is it True?
B Is it You?
C Is it Me?
Turn to page 28 for the answer!

YOUR FREE COPY THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELAND
We
Will
Definitely
Win
This Time
Just like last time,
and the time before that…
× 2013
May 10 - 23
Issue 5
Complete
Reykjavík Listings
Lots of
cool events+ Download the FREE Grapevine Appy Hour app!Every happy hour in town in your pocket. Available on the App store and on Android Market.
EUROVISION:
ICELANDERSPOLITICS TRAVEL LITERATURE MUSIC
Partying with the
Pirates
No lifeguard at the
gene pool?
Go to Greenland!
Go on! Go!
Meet Iceland’s only
steam punk
D.I.Y. or DIE!
www.fontana.is
Be in your
element
GEOTHERMAL
STEAM ROOMS
THERMAL
BATHS
SAUNA
The perfect rest stop between Thingvellir and Geysir
Opening hours: Weekdays 13-21 and Weekends 11-21
Make sure your Golden Circle tour completes the geothermal experience
Visit the Laugarvatn Fontana wellness centre. Relax in steam rooms over a natural
hot spring and open air thermal baths. Afterwards try local delicacies in our café.
Ask us how the locals at Laugarvatn use the steam baths!