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.

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 five times.

Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that continued for their 2017 participation.

Söngvakeppnin 2017 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.

[5] On 20 September 2016, RÚV opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 28 October 2016.

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.

The twelve competing artists and songs were revealed and presented by the broadcaster during the television programme Kynningarþáttur Söngvakeppninnar on 20 January 2017.

The top two entries advanced to a second round of voting, the superfinal, where the winner, "Paper" performed by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, was determined solely by televoting.

The LED screens displayed white, blue and green lines and shapes with strobe lighting used during the performance, which also featured the use of a wind machine.

[16][17][18] Svala was joined by five off-stage backing vocalists: Anna Sigríður Snorradóttir, Fanny Kristín Tryggvadóttir, Hrönn Svansdóttir, Íris Guðmundsdóttir and Óskar Einarsson.

[4] At the end of the show, Iceland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.

Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.

In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.