Reaction: Iceland, Eurovision 2020 [Jonny Woo Reacts] - Dadi Freyr "Think About Things" (Could Win)

My Reaction to THINK ABOUT THINGS, the Iceland, Eurovision 2020 entry.
With its unusual choreography, invested team effort, fun disco vibes and Napolean Dynamite-esque geek-chic, this one could win?!
It's up against Lithuania of course - with similar fun choreography and disco vibes. What do you think?

[@hildurjohannsdottir7094]

Loved your reaction and of course the speedo reaction of our song this year. All the love from Iceland 😊

[@andreaj.9531]

The song is about his newborn daughter and how he cant wait to get to know her and what she thinks about things

[@katinkaridde-coffey6493]

It could very well be a winner of ESC 2020.

[@101Reykjavik]

His name is Daði Freyr, the og Gagnamagnið means "and the data amount", being the band.
Da-thi with a voiced th, so basically take the English word 'this', add da in front and skip the s. 🙂 Freyr is more difficult to explain, the F is just a normal f, r is a trilled or rolled r that's not common in English (there's a soundbite under the wiki page Pronunciation of English r). ey is like the a in face.
Gagna-magnith: The a is more like in British can't, open and front rather than the American a. The g's are hard like in English gap and gain and the ð is also voiced like in the, this and that.
Hope that helps!

[@karenrobertsdottir4101]

Good transcription of Daði as "Da-thi" - I'd been transcribing it as "Da-thee", but "thi" is more accurate, there's no "ee" sound, more of an "ih" sound, like in pig. I'd add a caveat to what you wrote, however, where you write "the g's are hard like in English gap and gain". It depends which G you're talking about. The G in "og" is a breathy h-sound in the back of the mouth made by constricting the throat, and the o is sort of an "oa" dipthong, so you get this sort of "oah". The first G in Gagnamagnið is technically between that of an English G and and English K. It's unvoiced, like an English K, but it's unaspirated, like an English G. And lastly the second and third gs in Gagnamagnið give a sound sort of like GOCK-na-MOCK-nith, but it devoices the vowel (preaspiration), and is in effect like adding the back-of-the-mouth throat-restricted g to the word.
I'd also clarify that re: the R in Freyr, Icelandic Rs are an alveolar trill, the exact same R as in Spanish. If the R is short, it often reduces to just an alveolar tap (if you can't trill your Rs, just do an alveolar tap - tongue tapping on just below the alveolar palette (e.g. right behind the upper teeth) ). So it's basically the English word "FRAY", with a trilled R, followed by an alveolar tap. But not "FRAYER" - it's only one syllable, no extra vowel inserted at the end. And okay, if we want to get picky, the vowel is more like "eh" than "ay" in sound. ;)
I've struggled with translating the band name, because as you note, "The Data Amount" is the literal translation, but nobody uses that phrase in English. People use the phrase "data limits" in the same context (e.g. like a cellphone data plan), but I can't think of a simple English word or phrase that represents the amount of data you''ve used *so far* on your data plan. I kind of prefer to use the translation "Daði Freyr and the Data Limits", even though that's not entirely right, as it sounds more natural than "Daði Freyr and the Data Amounts". It's funny that the English is the hard part on this for me, as it's my native language; maybe I've just lived here too long ;) Maybe "Daði Freyr and the Data Usage"? That sounds natural in English, no?

[@101Reykjavik]

@@karenrobertsdottir4101 Thanks for explaining Icelandic to me. Best, the native Icelandic speaker who has a Masters degree in Icelandic. 🙂

[@karenrobertsdottir4101]

@@101Reykjavik Did the fact that this conversation is in English not clue you in to the fact that it's being directed at non-Icelandic speakers reading it? Or did you think I saw the name Védís and a discussion of pronunciation nuance and assumed "útlendingur"?
If you don't want a discussion of pronunciation and translation nuance, that's fine. But that doesn't ban me from writing about it. This is a TH-cam comments section, not a private chat; if you start a thread about pronunciation, expect replies about pronunciation.
And if you want to make it about you, then fine, we can discuss the fact that your statement that Gs are hard like in English gap and gain is flat wrong. That og isn't pronounced "Ogg", or anything remotely like that. Or if you restrict yourself only to the word "gagnamagnið", even the first G in Gagnamagnið isn't the same as an English G (same aspiration, different voicing). GN certainly isn't found in English; English has no preaspiration.
To be more specific:
* The G in "og" is "ɣ" in IPA
* The first G in "gagnamagnið" is alternatively "c" or "k⁼" in IPA
* By contrast, the English "hard G" is "ɡ" in IPA
You should know IPA, and should know these facts, if you have a masters degree in Icelandic.
And lastly, as a native Icelandic speaker, why *wouldn't* you take the word of a native English speaker that "data amounts" isn't a normally used phrase in English? If you go up to an English speaker and ask them, "What are the data amounts on your phone?" I doubt they'll have any clue what you're talking about. Try it.

[@YTVB4]

My nr.1 💖💖💖

[@nouzanam]

Oh I love your reviews! Keep them Coming Jonny!

[@stefanbjorgvindagbjartsson6190]

Love your reaction, Jonny. Greetings from Athens.

[@stefan9523]

You have almost the same name as me

[@rosabjorgvinsdottir3342]

I'm from Iceland 😊😊 Fun Fact: The background singer with the glasses is his sister and the curly haired girl with the glasses is his wife 😊❤

[@765angelbell]

So agreeing. It moved The Roop to a competition. The Roop were a safe winner and no longer. I love Lithuania's song so much. This year is BIG! So many great songs and so many will not qualify. I'll be sentimental to see great songs not making it to the final. I can't pick a favorite anymore.

[@jackcullen7034]

I like the wind machine moment, with Iceland's take on "bisexual lighting". I think if they get tracksuits with popper buttons and rip them off for a reveal, a la Bucks Fizz, then there's NO STOPPING THEM!

[@chdimas]

Miss your reactions... Self confidence... That is the key for this Icelandic entry.. You are so on target... Anyway...
Good luck with your show

[@onotad]

If you can say Gangnam style then you can say gagnamagn :)

[@JohnsPepper]

actually nooo

[@elvarungunnarsdottir4624]

Daaa•th•ee

[@drummerinn]

🇮🇸🔥

[@vindheimar2631]

I woted for Daði

[@SHjorvar]

Gagnamagn literally means Bandwidth in Icelandic