Six songs competed in each semi-final with the top three as selected by a public televote alongside a jury wildcard advancing to the final.

Performing during the show in position 8, "Ég á líf" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May.

Since the introduction of a semi-final to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Iceland has, to this point, only failed to qualify to the final three times.

In 2012, Iceland managed to qualify to the final and placed twentieth with the song "Never Forget" performed by Greta Salóme and Jónsi.

[2] Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that continued for their 2013 participation.

Söngvakeppnin 2013 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.

The final was also broadcast via radio on Rás 2 and streamed online at the Eurovision Song Contest official website eurovision.tv.

However, exceptions would be made for minor collaborations with foreign songwriters as long as two-thirds of the composition and half of the lyrics are by Icelandic composers/lyricists.

[9][10] RÚV presented the songs between 14 and 16 January 2013 during the Rás 2 radio programmes Morgunútvarpið, Virkum morgnum, Poppland and Síðdegisútvarpið.

The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Ég á líf" performed by Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson, was determined solely by televoting.

[16] In early March 2013, Eythor Ingi filmed the official music video for "Ég á líf" at the Barónsstíg venue in Reykjavík and at the Icelandic oceans.

[17][better source needed] The video, directed by Guðmundur Þór Kárason with graphics by Tómas Ingi Ragnarsson, was presented to the public on 15 March 2013 during a press conference held at the Vodafone Iceland Headquarters in Reykjavík.

[18] During the press conference, it was announced that "Ég á líf" would be performed in Icelandic at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The stage colours were blue and the LED screens displayed images of Iceland which included the sea, houses and lighthouses.

[23][24] The backing vocalists that joined Eythor Ingi were: Bergþór Smári Jakobsson, Einar Þór Jóhannsson, Hannes Heimir Friðbjarnarson and Kristján Gíslason.

This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.