Winner | Reykjavík City Library’s 2023 Christmas Song

The results of the Reykjavík City Library's 2023 Christmas Song Contest were announced at a festive ceremony in the City Library in Úlfarsárdalur last Friday, December 8th. The jury consisted of Hildur Björgvinsdóttir, project manager at the Communications and Innovation Department of the City Library, Þorgrímur Þorsteinsson, musician and specialist at the City Library in Úlfarsárdalur, and Jón Ólafsson, chairman of the jury, who is well known to Icelanders for his work in music and the media, among other things in the band Nýdönsk. 
 
17 songs were submitted to the competition this year from all over the world, but 7 of them were submitted outside of Iceland; Dallas in the USA, Wrexham in Ireland, England, Slovenia and Poland. The foreign contestants were asked how on earth they found our cute little contest in Iceland and most of them had found it by specifically searching for Christmas song contests on the Google search engine by entering the keywords "christmas song contest". 
 
The songs were very diverse, among other things you could hear pop, electronic music, country, popular songs, folk tunes and beautiful ballads. The lyrics were also of various kinds, some related to the festivities, others to anticipation, the Christmas spirit and the good feeling of Christmas. The performers were of all ages and the song writers as well. Therefore, the jury had a difficult task before them to reach a conclusion. However, they all had a special liking for a cute pop song with beautiful lyrics and a good message. It was the song "Það snjóar á alla" by songwriter Jens Einarsson. 

Who is the songwriter of the Reykjavík City Library's 2023 Christmas Song? 

Jens was born in Hafnarfjörður but grew up with his parents in a group of eight siblings in Höfn in Hornafjörður. He moved to Reykjavík in 1985 and lived in the capital area and in the south until he moved to Egilsstadir 7 years ago. Jens has worked as an editor, journalist and photographer for most of his life. His main hobby, apart from music, is horse riding. 

How did the song come about? 

When Jens was contacted and informed about the results, he said that he unfortunately could not attend the ceremony himself as he lives in Egilsstaðir. However, his two children who sing the song would come in his place. He added that we shouldn't expect small children as they are all grown up adults today, parents to children of their own.  It became evident that the song was written quite a few years back. 
 Siblings Torfhildur and Vilhelm Örn when they were younger

The song was simply an idea for a Christmas gift to family and friends, in 2005 or 2006. Jens had then gotten himself an M-box, which many people may remember, and started recording his own music for fun. His children, Torfhildur Hólm and Vilhelm Örn, were 13 and 8 years old when they sang the song with the help of their friends, Bára and Áslaug, back-up singers. A childhood friend and classmate from Höfn in Hornafjörður, Grétar Örvarsson, a known musician in Iceland, was in charge of accompaniment and arrangement. 

The siblings playing in the snow a few years back

What are the young singers doing today? 

Torfhildur Hólm is a nurse, her husband's name is Þórir Rúnar Sveinsson and they have three sons. Vilhelm Örn is an electrician, his wife's name is Karen Mjöll Þorfinnsdóttir and they have one daughter. 

At the result ceremony in Úlfarsárdalur

Where can you listen to the Reykjavík City Library’s 2023 Christmas Song? 

You can now listen to the song "Það snjóar á alla” on the streaming services by clicking on the links below.
In addition, Jens has his own channels on Spotify and on SoundCloud, where you can access his music. 

ÞAÐ SNJÓAR Á ALLA 

Snjókornin falla,  

ég finn það þó varla 

þau kyssast og bráðna,  

framan í mér. 

Þau sikksakka niður,  

í brjóstinu friður 

í búðinni kliður,  

fólkið kemur og fer. 

Það styttist til jóla,  

frídaga í skóla 

og hjartað það skoppar,  

innan í mér. 

Ég má ekki gleyma,  

ég bið Guð að geyma 

þá sem hvergi eiga heima,  

fólk með sár inn í sér. 

Viðlag: 

Það eru jól fyrir alla, konur og kalla 

með kosti og galla, fólk eins og mig. 

Það snjóar á ríka, en fátæka líka 

já fátæka og ríka, fólk eins og þig. 

Höf: Jens Einarsson