"Gleðibankinn" was the Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986

Eurovision Song Contest 1986

The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 3 May 1986 in the Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway. It was the first occasion on which Norway played host to the contest...

, performed in Icelandic

Icelandic language

Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...

 by ICY

ICY

ICY was a vocal trio consisting of Pálmi Gunnarson, Helga Möller and Eiríkur Hauksson. They were the first Icelandic entrants to the Eurovision Song Contest, appearing at the 1986 final in Bergen...

, where singers Eiríkur Hauksson

Eiríkur Hauksson

Eiríkur Hauksson is an Icelandic heavy metal vocalist who is educated as a teacher.Eiríkur is considered to be a talented vocalist, able to adopt various styles...

, Helga Möller and Pálmi Gunnarsson

Pálmi Gunnarsson

Pálmi Gunnarsson is an Icelandic musician, who was involved in some of the country's most popular musical acts in the 1970s and into the 1980s, including Mannakorn and Brunaliðið...

 joined their efforts. This was Iceland's debut entry in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 and consequently the first time that Icelandic had been heard.

The song is an up-tempo number about "the bank of fun", which the band sings is where one's happiness is to be found. As they put it, "You don't deposit your empty blues in the Bank of Fun". Further, because happiness is stored in a bank, it can be withdrawn anytime one is feeling depressed.

In the Icelandic finals the song was performed by Pálmi alone, but before official submission, Eiríkur and Helga joined him. They had both competed with other songs in the Icelandic finals.

It was performed sixth on the night (following the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Ryder

Ryder (band)

Ryder was a purpose-made pop group led by Maynard Williams whose primary purpose was to represent the United Kingdom at the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen, Norway. Ryder performed the song "Runner in the Night" which was placed 7th. They were criticised in the media for being a particularly...

 with "Runner In The Night

Runner in the Night

"Runner in the Night", written by Maureen Darbyshire and composed by Brian Wade, was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, performed by the sextet Ryder, led by Maynard Williams....

" and preceding the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

' Frizzle Sizzle

Frizzle Sizzle

Frizzle Sizzle were a Dutch teenage girl group of the 1980s. The four members of the group were Karin Vlasblom , Laura Vlasblom , Mandy Huydts and Marjon Keller ....

 with "Alles heeft ritme

Alles Heeft Ritme

"Alles heeft ritme" was the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, performed in Dutch by Frizzle Sizzle.The song is up-tempo with a tropical-tinged musical arrangement, in which the point is made that there is nothing to be gained by worrying about being late or having to make deadlines...

"). At the close of voting, it had received 19 points, placing 16th in a field of 20.

It was succeeded as Icelandic representative

Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Iceland has entered the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since their debut in 1986. Iceland did not enter in 1998 and 2002 when prevented due to finishing outside qualification places the preceding years....

 at the 1987 Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1987

The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1987 in Brussels, Belgium after Sandra Kim's win the previous year. The presenter was Viktor Lazlo. Johnny Logan was the winner for Ireland with the song "Hold Me Now"...

 by Halla Margrét with "Hægt og hljótt

Hægt og hljótt

"Hægt og hljótt" was the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, performed in Icelandic by Halla Margrét Árnadóttir....

".