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

Performing during the show in position 13, "Hatrið mun sigra" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first 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, failed to qualify to the final seven times.

[3] Since 2006, Iceland has used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, a method that continued for their 2019 participation.

Söngvakeppnin 2019 was the national final format developed by RÚV in order to select Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

[6] On 20 September 2018, RÚV opened the submission period for interested songwriters to submit their entries until the deadline on 22 October 2018.

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.

[8] The ten competing artists and songs were revealed and presented by the broadcaster during the television programme Kynningarþáttur Söngvakeppninnar on 26 January 2019.

"Ég á mig sjálf" performed by Kristina Skoubo Bærendsen was awarded the jury wildcard and also proceeded to the final.

On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.

The Icelandic performance featured the members of Hatari dressed in rubber outfits with harnesses and chains, designed by designers Karen Briem and Andri Hrafn Unnarsson,[18] with drummer Einar Hrafn Stefánsson placed on top of a metal globe on stage and joined by three dancers: Sólbjört Sigurðardóttir, Andrean Sigurgeirsson and Ástrós Guðjónsdóttir.

While the televoting points for Iceland were announced, members of Hatari unveiled banners displaying the Palestinian flag, which was met with loud booing throughout the arena.

[23] RÚV was later fined €5,000 by the EBU due to breaking the no-politics rule, with the broadcaster stating that they were "dissatisfied with the handling of the case and the proposed outcome" as the group's actions were their own responsibility.

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.

The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.