Paul Oscar

The youngest of seven childrenPaul Oscar's siblings are Ásdís (born 21 August 1954), Sigrún (Diddú) (born 8 August 1955), Lucinda Margrét (born 7 June 1957), Matthías Bogi (born 25 May 1959), Johanna Steinunn (born 19 February 1962) and Arnar Gunnar (born 11 February 1964): {{Cite web |title=Sigrun Hjalmtysdottir |url=http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/vefir/comenius/people/diddu.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020182623/http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/Vefir/comenius/people/diddu.htm |archive-date=20 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Barnaskoli Vestmannaeyja}}. of Hjálmtýr E. Hjálmtýsson, a bank clerk, and Margrét Matthíasdóttir, a writer,{{Cite web |title=Sigrun Hjalmtysdottir |url=http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/vefir/comenius/people/diddu.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020182623/http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/Vefir/comenius/people/diddu.htm |archive-date=20 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Barnaskoli Vestmannaeyja}} Paul Oscar was born on 16 March 1970 in Reykjavík.{{IMDb name|0387053|Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson)}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. As a child he displayed artistic talent in drawing, writing fairy tales and singing – his mother had him sing for the women in her sewing club and at family birthday parties.{{Cite web |last=Inga Rós Gunnarsdóttir |last2=Eva Maria Jónsdóttir |title=Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson |url=http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/vefir/comenius/people/pall.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020182729/http://vestmannaeyjar.ismennt.is/Vefir/comenius/people/pall.htm |archive-date=20 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Barnaskoli Vestmannaeyja}} He also spent much time singing in choirs and in media commercials,{{Cite web |last=Richard Ammon |date=2003 |title=Pall Oskar, musician |url=http://www.globalgayz.com/g-iceland.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021072548/http://globalgayz.com/g-iceland.html |archive-date=21 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Global Gayz.com}} and recorded his first album at the age of seven.{{Cite web |last=Matt Koymasky |last2=Andrej Koymasky |date=25 August 2004 |title=Páll Óskar |url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioo1/oska1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029204749/http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioo1/oska1.html |archive-date=29 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Matt & Andrej Koymasky Home}} His first leading role in a professional theatre production was at 12 years of age in the musical version of Rubber Tarzan, a popular Danish children's novel by Ole Lund Kirkegaard (1940–1979). His voice broke two weeks after the musical's last performance, and he did not sing for the next few years.

Although Paul Oscar's family encouraged his musical talent, his parents did not get along with each other, and he was bullied by his schoolmates. Paul Oscar recalled: "My nickname was Little Palli, and Palli was chubby, nerdy, someone who never got jokes right, who was afraid of other men." At age 13, he realized that he found men attractive, and came out to his family at 16. "For the first day, there was nice talk of acceptance, though my father did raise his voice. On the second day, and the third, and the fourth, there was this terrible silence. They treated me like an alien." However, his mother was supportive. She said: "If Páll has the talent to fall in love, he should nurture that talent. And he has as much a right to sit down at my table with his partner as anybody else does with their partner."{{Cite web |last=Bart Cameron |date=5 August 2005 |title=Why the Gay Pride Festival isn't for Páll Óskar |url=http://www.grapevine.is/default.aspx?show=paper&part=fullstory&id=588 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20061117045429/http://www.grapevine.is/Default.aspx?show=paper&part=fullstory&id=588 |archive-date=17 November 2006 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Grapevine: Reykjavik's English Language Newspaper |issue=11}}

Paul Oscar rediscovered his voice at the age of 18, singing bass with the Hamrahlíð college choir for two years. In 1990 he won a talent contest for his college; later that year at the time of his graduation, he played Frank-N-Furter to great success in the college's production of The Rocky Horror Show. Around the same time, he began appearing in drag shows at a notorious Reykjavík nightclub. After the club closed, he became a radio jockey on independent radio station FM 90,9. He also appeared in a film, Svo á jörðu sem á himni (As in Heaven, 1992).{{imdb title|0105504|Svo á jörðu sem á himni}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007.

File:PaulOscar-ScalaLondon-20080425.jpg party at the Scala nightclub in London – photographed on 25 April 2008]]

In the summer of 1993, Paul Oscar left Iceland for New York City, where he met fellow Icelanders Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sigurjón Kjartansson who were then on tour with heavy metal band HAM. They helped him release his first album, Stuð (Groove). In October 1993, Paul Oscar started singing with a band called Milljónamæringarnir (The Millionaires), which released the albums Milljón á mann (A Million for Each, 1994),{{Cite web |title=Páll Óskar |url=http://www.icelandicmusic.com/Music/ViewBiography.aspx?AuthorID=2894 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Tónlist.com}} Allur pakkinn (The Whole Lot, 1999) and Þetta er nú meiri vitleysan (This is Completely Foolish, 2001).

The year 1995 saw Paul Oscar make his début as a solo artist. In that year he formed his own recording company, Paul Oscar Productions (P.O.P.) and released an album of ballads entitled Palli which he personally arranged, performed and produced. It was the best-selling Icelandic album of 1995. This was followed by his album Seif in 1996.

Paul Oscar was Iceland's entrant in the annual Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. He performed the song "Minn hinsti dans" ("My Final Dance"), which he co-wrote, backed by four women dressed in latex playing suggestively on a sofa behind him. Although the song only reached 20th place in a field of 25, the daring presentation attracted wide attention, especially amongst gay audiences, and made him known internationally.{{Cite web |date=2002 |title=Eurovision Song Contest : Iceland 1997 Paul Oscar Minn Hinsti Dans |url=https://www.esc-history.com/details.php?key=0772 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=ESC History [The Eurovision Song Contest History]}} In 1998 he was invited to appear in A Song for Eurotrash,{{imdb title|0202591|A Song for Eurotrash}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. a one-off special of the British Channel 4 TV series Eurotrash that was based on the Eurovision Song Contest. He also presented a musical feature Popp i Reykjavík (Pop in Reykjavík).{{Cite web |last=Wim Van Hooste |date=6 October 2007 |title=Popp i Reykjavik aka Pop in Reykjavik (1998) – movie review |url=http://icelandicmusic.blogspot.com/2007/10/popp-i-reykjavik-aka-pop-in-reykjavik.html |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=I Love Icelandic Music}}

Paul Oscar worked with easy-listening group Casino on their album Stereo (1998). He followed this with three albums: the English-language album Deep Inside (1999); and two collaborations with harpist Monika Abendroth, Ef ég sofna ekki (If I Won't Sleep Tonight, 2001) and Ljósin heima (The Lights at Home, 2003) (his sister Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú) also appeared on the latter album). His musical range spans traditional Icelandic songs, ballads, love songs in the style of Burt Bacharach, disco, house and techno.

File:Páll.jpg

At home in Reykjavík, Paul Oscar performs regularly as a disc jockey in clubs and appears on radio and TV shows. He was a judge in the third season of Idol stjörnuleit (Idol Starsearch, 2005), Iceland's version of the UK reality TV series Pop Idol; and in The X Factor (2006), also modelled on the UK's The X Factor. In 2002 he appeared as Dr. Love in the teenage movie Gemsar (Made in Iceland).{{imdb title|0309626|Gemsar}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. In 2018 he starred in the Borgarleikhúsið production of Rocky Horror Show that set attendance records.{{Cite news |last=Helgason |first=Stígur |date=1 February 2018 |title=Rocky Horror tvöfaldaði forsölumet Mamma Mia |language=is |publisher=RÚV |url=https://www.ruv.is/frett/rocky-horror-tvofaldadi-forsolumet-mamma-mia}}

He has a reputation for being brash, even rude, when it comes to discussing gay concerns, especially gay sex. Matthías Matthíasson, Director of Samtökin '78, Iceland's gay and lesbian rights group, has commented: "He says things I could never say. But he is an exquisite addition to the gay voice in Iceland." As a gay activist, Paul Oscar helped to organize a Gay Pride Festival in Reykjavík in 2005.

Paul Oscar has said he realizes that "as a working place Iceland will be too small for me. Actually, it already is. But I am an Icelander. I will always keep a home here. My roots are so valuable to me. I wouldn't change them for a sack of gold."

Image:pall-oskar.jpg

Regarding his personal life, Paul Oscar has said: "I have a lot of work still to do. I have had three relationships that, from the outside, looked picture perfect, I suppose. But they were actually quite rotten, false, and abusive to me. What I am doing now is learning to fall in love with myself."

Paul Oscar's father Hjálmtýr E. Hjálmtýsson (5 July 1933 – 12 September 2002),{{IMDb name|1445564|Hjálmtýr Hjálmtýsson}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. with whom he had a difficult relationship, had roles in the Icelandic comedies Með allt á hreinu (On Top, 1982),{{imdb title|0177924|Með allt á hreinu}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. Löggulíf (A Policeman's Life, 1985),{{imdb title|0241696|Löggulíf}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. and Karlakórinn Hekla (The Men's Choir, 1992).{{imdb title|0107307|Karlakórinn Hekla}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007. His older sister, Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú), is an opera singer.

Paul Oscar was a supporter of boycotting the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, due to it being held in Israel. Speaking of the issue on Icelandic radio station Rás 1 on 5 February, he made remarks about Jewish people infiltrating European countries and thus making it hard for them to condemn Israeli policies:

“The reason why the rest of Europe has been virtually silent is that Jews have woven themselves into the fabric of Europe in a very sly way for a very long time. It is not at all hip and cool to be pro-Palestine in Britain,” he said, saying at the interview’s conclusion: “The tragedy is that Jews learned nothing from the Holocaust. Instead, they have taken up the exact same policy of their worst enemy.”

He later apologized and retracted his statement.{{Cite web |date=6 February 2019 |title=Icelandic Icon Makes Anti-Semitic Remarks Regarding Eurovision, Takes It Back And Apologises |url=https://grapevine.is/news/2019/02/06/icelandic-icon-makes-anti-semitic-remarks-regarding-eurovision-takes-it-back-and-apologises/ |access-date=7 February 2019}}

“I made judgements and generalisations about Jewish people. … I take full responsibility for these words, take back my remarks about Jewish people, they are wrong and hurtful. I will take responsibility in actions, from this point forward, and will never again speak ill of the Jewish people, wherever in the world they may live.”

• Stuð (Groove, 1993)
• Palli (1995)
• Seif (1996)
• Deep Inside (1999)
• Ef ég sofna ekki (If I Won't Sleep Tonight, 2001) (in collaboration with harpist Monika Abendroth)
• Ljósin heima (The Lights at Home, 2003) (with Monika Abendroth and Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú))
• Allt fyrir ástina (All in the Name of Love, 2007)
• Silfursafnið (The Silver Collection, 2008)
• Páll Óskar - Box (6 plötur fyrir 1) (compilation, six albums in one, 2014)
• Kristalsplatan (2017)

• "Minn hinsti dans" (My Final Dance, 1997) (Iceland's Eurovision Song Contest 1997 entry)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oecd6PcbotA]
• "Allt fyrir ástina" (All in the Name of Love, 2007)
• "International" (2007)
• "Betra Lif" (2007)
• "Er þetta ást?" (2008)
• "Þú komst við hjartað í mér" (2008)
• "Sama hvar þú ert" (2008)
• "Gordjöss á esperantó" (in Esperanto, 2010)
• "La Dolce Vita" (2011)
• "Ást sem endist" (2015)

{{Portal|Iceland}}

• List of Icelandic writers

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Cite web |last=Ammon |first=Richard |date=2003 |title=Pall Oskar, musician |url=http://www.globalgayz.com/g-iceland.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021072548/http://globalgayz.com/g-iceland.html |archive-date=21 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Global Gayz.com}}
• {{Cite web |last=Koymasky |first=Matt |last2=Andrej Koymasky |date=25 August 2004 |title=Páll Óskar |url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioo1/oska1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029204749/http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioo1/oska1.html |archive-date=29 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Matt & Andrej Koymasky Home}}
• {{IMDb name|0387053|Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson)}}. Retrieved on 1 November 2007.
• {{Cite web |title=Páll Óskar |url=http://www.icelandicmusic.com/Music/ViewArtist.aspx?AuthorID=2894 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Tónlist.com}}

• {{Cite web |title=Briefly about history of Icelandic music |url=http://www2.hi.is/page/briefly_about_history_of_icelandic_music |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130073204/http://www2.hi.is/page/briefly_about_history_of_icelandic_music |archive-date=30 November 2007 |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies}}
• {{Cite web |last=D'Entremont |first=Jim |date=December 2006 |title='Hidden folk' no longer |url=http://www.guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=5127F579-3C0C-4D5C-9C4C127BFB40C98B |access-date=1 November 2007 |publisher=The Guide}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.myspace.com/palloskar Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar) at MySpace Music]
• [http://eurokdj.free.fr/search/eurodb.php?name=Paul+Oscar Paul Oscar at KDJ Eurodance Ltd. – The Eurodance Encyclopædia]

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| before= Anna Mjöll
with "Sjúbídú"

| title= Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest

| years= 1997

| after= Selma
with "All Out of Luck"

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest|state=collapsed}}

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1997|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{good article}}

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Paul Oscar

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Category:Icelandic DJs

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Category:LGBTQ DJs

Category:Gay singers

Category:Gay songwriters

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Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

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Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants