News (World)

Iceland flew the pansexual pride flag at Eurovision & fans loved it

Daði og Gagnamagnið waving the pansexual pride flag
Daði og Gagnamagnið waving the pansexual pride flag Photo: Screenshot

Iceland’s entry into the Eurovision Song Contest waved the pansexual pride flag at the competition’s semifinals earlier this week, marking perhaps the first time that the pan flag has appeared in the beloved annual music contest.

Hulda Kristín Kolbrúnardóttir, who is a backup singer with Daði og Gagnamagnið, waved the magenta, yellow, and cyan flag as the group greeted the world at Thursday’s semifinals.

Related: Hungary pulls out of Eurovision, allegedly due to homosexuality and LGBTQ representation

“Correct me if I’m wrong but I think that’s the first time we’ve seen the pansexual pride flag at #Eurovision,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast annually since 1951 and is an institution in Europe. Each year, countries in the the European Broadcasting Area – which includes Europe and also neighboring countries like Israel and Morocco – enter a singer or a band in the competition to represent their nation in the realm of pop music.

Some participants have gone on to pursue successful music careers, like Julio Iglesias, ABBA, and Céline Dion, who sang for Switzerland in 1988 even though she’s Canadian. Even Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley’s career was helped with a performance at Eurovision.

Last year was the first year that it wasn’t held, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, a member of Daði og Gagnamagnið tested positive for COVID-19, and the group was barred from performing live at the contest in Rotterdam. Instead, a recording of their rehearsal performance will be used.

“I’m healthy,” dancer Jóhann Sigurður Jóhannsson said on social media. “It’s difficult because we’ve worked so hard and I really wanted this and it’s been so long in the making.”

“We’re really proud of our rehearsal [performance] and I’m hoping we will make Icelanders proud and make our supporters proud.”

“I’m generally very sad about the whole situation,” he said.

Dutch beauty YouTuber Nikkie de Jager is hosting the competition this year. She came out as transgender last year after she was threatened with blackmail.

The finals will air tomorrow night.

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