Set initially selected item in Select list in Angular2

Okay, so I figured out what the problem was, and the approach I believe works best. In my case, because the two objects weren't identical from a Javascript perspective, as in: they may have shared the same values, but they were different actual objects, e.g. originalObject was instantiated entirely separately from objects which was essentially an array of reference data (to populate the dropdown).

I found that the approach that worked best for me was to compare a unique property of the objects, rather than directly compare the two entire objects. This comparison is done in the bound property selected:

<select [ngModel]="originalObject">
    <option *ngFor="let object of objects" [ngValue]="object" [selected]="object.uniqueId === originalObject.uniqueId">{{object.name}}</option>
</select>

Update to angular 4.X.X, there is a new way to mark an option selected:

<select [compareWith]="byId" [(ngModel)]="selectedItem">
  <option *ngFor="let item of items" [ngValue]="item">{{item.name}}
  </option>
</select>

byId(item1: ItemModel, item2: ItemModel) {
  return item1.id === item2.id;
}

Some tutorial here