2 Iceland - Is It True? - Yohanna

2 - 218 pts / 1 - 174 in semi 1

Icelands entry Is It True? by Yohanna (Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir) won the first semi and ended 2nd in the final. It equals Icelands best result from 1999 when Selma ended 2nd with All Out Of Luck.

At 18 Jóhanna is a relative newcomer to the Icelandic music scene but in true Icelandic tradition she has recorded some songs for childrens cds as a young teen.

Her debut album Butterflies and Elvis was released in 2008. (see below)

Yohanna also has a MySpace with tracks from her debut album.

Listen to Is It True? and all other Icelandic contenders at the RÚV Söngvakeppni page.
You can also listen to the original demo version by Tinatin here at reverbnation and read all about it at Tinatins MySpace blog.

There was a little discrepancy with the songwriting credits, but in the end it was all a storm in a glass of Vodka and all has been solved amicably.

BTR Radio follows the Moscow adventures of co-composer Tinatin (see below) and the Icelandic delegation. Tinatin is a DJ at the station and there will be daily reports and pictures at the BTR site. Also check out Tinatin's Russkiy In The Mix radio shows with the latest in Russian Dance & Pop.

Also check out the Iceland blog at the Eurovision family.

The promo kit for Moscow features a 1-track promo cd (pic below) and a dvd.

The picture on top is another 1-track cdsingle issue.*

The DVD-rom disc in the presskit has five versions as mp3:

Is It True? - English

Is It True? - English/French

Is It True? - English/German

Is It True? - English/Russian

Is It True? - English/Spanish

These versions only have the second verse in the 'foreign' language, the rest of the song, including refrains, is in English.

So these are different versions from the foreign language versions that are on the Yohanna YouTube channel. I don't think the full foreign language version have been released anywhere else.

Remix

A remix of Is It True has now been officially released on the compilation CD Somarstjörnur 2009. This various artists album includes Icelandic summer tracks also including preselection song Got No Love by Elektra in an acoustic version and a new track by Hera Björk

The digital release is at Tónlist, the album is issued by Hands Up Music.

- versions -

Is It True? - Eurovision version - 1 track cds & promo ♫

Is It True? - First version - on CD Söngvakeppni 2009

Is It True? - demo by Tinatin

Si tu sais - French version

Я не сплю - Russian version

Si te vas - Spanish version

War Es Nur - German version

Is It True? - remix - on CD Somarstjörnur 2009
Is It True? (live) - short live version on CD Latabæjarhátíð í Höllinni. This is a concert of the Icelandic version of kids TV show Lazytown at which Johanna guests.

plus the mixed language version mentioned above

1 track CDsingle

* The one track cdsingle (top pic) was issued in a CD-case prior to the contest (No label). The same picture sleeve is used for the 1-track cdsingle in cardsleeve released in Sweden (Lionheart Universal, LHICDS -0125, limited). (now at BeaRecords)

Butterflies and Elvis

new: Butterflies and Elvis, Yohanna's 2008 album is released in Sweden and Norway on July 15, now including Is It True? as the first track.

(Warner Sweden WMS 5540229)

-

Charts
Finland top 20: 4, 6, 15, -

Norway top 20: 12, 3, 11, -

Switzerland top 100: 74, 9, 52, -

Denmark top 40: 21, 16, -

Sweden top 60: 3, 2, 7, 3, 3, 3, 5, 7, 17, 13, 17, 15, 16, 20, 24, 31, 37, -, 49, -, 33, 41

Ireland top 40: 28, -

Belgium (Flemish charts): 36, 23, -

U.K. top 100: 49, -

The CD with all Icelandic preselection songs (pictured) including Yohanna's

first version of the winner is out now (Sena SCD 425)

The CD is available at BeaRecords. or digitally at Tónlist.

Meanwhile: Tinatins Thinking of Someone Else 4-track EP is available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster and other major international digital outlets throughout the US, UK and Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Coverversion 2010
South African singer Lee Scott recorded Is It True in Afrikaans as Wens Ek Kon on his CD Die Enigste Manier (EMI South Africa).

The album also features coverversions of Fairytale (Norway) and What If We (Malta).
It's available at Kalahari.