Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

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Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 17 January 2009
Song: 3 March 2009
Selected entrantAySel and Arash
Selected song"Always"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 180 points)
Final result3rd, 207 points
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, making their second appearance at the contest. Arash and Aysel Teymurzadeh represented Azerbaijan at the contest as a duo after Teymurzadeh was internally selected by the Azeri broadcaster, İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti (İTV).[1][2] Initially Arash was the author of the selected song and was later invited to perform it alongside Teymurzadeh.

Before Eurovision[]

Internal selection[]

On 24 October 2008, İTV announced that the national final Land of Fire 2009 would select the Azerbaijani entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.[3][4] Their announcement called for interested artists to apply for the competition by attending auditions held between 24 October 2008 and 8 November 2008. Eligible artists were those that were citizens of Azerbaijan or part of the Azerbaijani diaspora.[5] However on 16 January 2009, İTV announced that both the artist and song that would represent Azerbaijan would be selected internally instead due to a lack of quality of the applicants. Their announcement called for interested songwriters to submit their songs to the broadcaster by 22 January 2009. Songwriters could be of any nationality.[6]

On 17 January 2009, İTV announced during a press conference that Aysel Teymurzadeh would represent Azerbaijan. The selection of AySel as the Azerbaijani Eurovision contestant was based on the decision of İTV and a seven-member jury panel from 40 applications received.[1][2] The jury consisted of Ismail Omarov (General Director of İTV), Ibrahim Guliyev (Executive director of the Azerbaijani Culture Friends Foundation), Farhad Badalbeyli (rector of the Baku Academy of Music), Lala Kazimova (president of The National Music Committee of Azerbaijan), Murad Adigozelzade (director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall), Menzer Nuraliyeva (representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan) and Farhad Hajiyev (representative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan). On 5 February 2009, İTV announced that AySel would be performing the song "Always" in a duet with Iranian-Swedish singer Arash.[7] "Always" was selected from 30 submissions from local and international songwriters in a similar broadcaster and jury decision.[8]

"Always" was written by Arash Labaf, Robert Uhlmann, Marcus Englöf, Johan Bejerholm, Alex Papaconstantinou, Anderz Wrethov and Elin Wrethov. The song was presented on 3 March 2009, while the official music video was released on 19 March 2009.[9] In regards to the song, AySel stated: "I'm 19 and I can tell you that I was in love. But now I'm waiting for such a strong and engrossing feeling in my life, like that one we are singing about with Arash in our song. I cant wait to find that special someone that only one whom will spell my name and all the mountains are high!"[10]

At Eurovision[]

Aysel and Arash in the Green Room during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

As part of their promo tour, Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash visited Slovenia, Romania and Sweden before heading to Moscow for their final rehearsals.[11]

The international team behind AySel & Arash included experts from Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Azerbaijan itself. The outfits Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash wore on stage were designed by the Swedish couturier Lars Wallin.[12]

During the rehearsals in Moscow, the Azerbaijan representatives were visited by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Azerbaijan's entry was regarded as a favourite[13] and had been predicted by many as being likely to finish in the top five in the final.[14][15][16]

Since Azerbaijan is not one of the "Big Four" nor the host of the 2009 contest, it had to compete in one of the two semi-finals. According to the draw for semi-finals, Azerbaijan competed in Semi-final 2 on May 14. The country was seeded 11th in the order of performance.[17] During the Final on May 16, the Azerbaijani duo finished third with 207 points.[18] Televoters awarded the Azerbaijani entry 2nd place, while the juries ranked Azerbaijan 8th.[19]

Azerbaijani entry received votes from 34 out of 41 countries of the Contest, Azerbaijan excluded. Azerbaijan's third place is considered a great success for the country, which participated in the contest only for the second time.[20]

AySel & Arash became the winners of the 4th Annual ESC Radio Awards in the category of the Best Group.[21]

Voting[]

Points awarded to Azerbaijan[]

Points awarded by Azerbaijan[]

Detailed voting results[]

Detailed voting results from Azerbaijan (Final)[19][24] hide
Draw Country Results Points
Jury Televoting Combined
01  Lithuania 4 4 1
02  Israel
03  France
04  Sweden
05  Croatia 8 8 5
06  Portugal
07  Iceland
08  Greece 2 2
09  Armenia
10  Russia 3 7 10 6
11  Azerbaijan
12  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 5 2
13  Moldova 7 5 12 7
14  Malta 1 1
15  Estonia 6 6 4
16  Denmark
17  Germany
18  Turkey 12 12 24 12
19  Albania 3 3
20  Norway 4 10 14 8
21  Ukraine 10 8 18 10
22  Romania 6 6 3
23  United Kingdom 2 1 3
24  Finland
25  Spain

Controversies[]

Votestacking allegations[]

After the finish of Eurovision 2009, some Belarussian media reported that unknown people allegedly paid Belarussian students to vote for Azerbaijan, and supposedly even transported them to the Belarussian-Lithuanian border in 10 buses. The cost of whole action is claimed to be about 55 million roubles.[25] They voted for Azerbaijan with the help of Belarusian SIM cards and then received Lithuanian cards to do the same. “Always” received high votes from Belarus (10) and Lithuania (5), being even ahead of Russia in Belarus. The head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Belarus, which numbers tens of thousands of people,[26] Natik Baghirov said that he did not know anything about the action, and that the song received support from the entire Europe, not just Belarus and Lithuania, while Sergey Malinovsky, Belorussian jury member of the Eurovision, openly doubted that such vote irregularity could take place, and believed that the Azerbaijani song received public support because of its catchy melody and good performance.[25][27][28] However, European Radio for Belarus had an unofficial confirmation from the Minsk auto parks that they do it every year for various countries.[25][27]

Video clip controversies[]

Following the protests of Azerbaijani officials, Eurovision's Russian hosts removed from the video of the Armenian performers the image of the monument We Are Our Mountains, which is located in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.[29] In response, the edited image was used as a background by Armenian Public Television during the announcement of the voting results in Armenia.

Azerbaijan's reel depicted Maqbaratoshoara and Segonbad monuments, the symbols of the cities of Tabriz and Urumieh in the Azerbaijan region of Iran.[30] The Armenian media have complained that while Eurovision forbade demonstration of the Armenian monument located in Nagorno-Karabakh region after the protest of Azerbaijani government, it allowed the inclusion of the Iranian monuments.[31][32]

State surveillance and questioning of voters[]

In August 2009 a number of Azerbaijanis who had voted for Armenia's entry during the contest were called in for questioning at the Ministry of National Security in Baku, during which they were accused of being "unpatriotic" and "a potential security threat".[33] One of those questioned later said that he was told by his interrogators that they had the names and addresses of 43 Azerbaijanis who had voted for Armenia.[34]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Floras, Stella (2009-01-17). "Azerbaijan: Aysel Teymourzadeh to Eurovision". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Azerbaijan: Aysel Teymoruzadeh to Moscow". Oikotimes. 2009-01-17. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  3. ^ van Tongeren, Mario (2008-10-24). "Azerbaijan: İTV kicks off national selection". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  4. ^ Floras, Stella (2008-11-02). "Azerbaijan begins quest for Eurovision 2009 participant". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  5. ^ "Azerbaijan 2009".
  6. ^ Klier, Marcus (2009-01-16). "Azerbaijan: Eurovision performer selected". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  7. ^ Siim, Jarmo (2009-02-12). "Azerbaijan to send a duet to Eurovision". EBU. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  8. ^ Marco Brey. Azerbaijani entry written by Arash. Eurovision.tv. 5 February 2009.
  9. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (19 March 2009). "Azerbaijan: Arash and Aysel release video". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  10. ^ Floras, Stella (3 March 2009). "Azerbaijan: Eurovision entry released". Esctoday. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  11. ^ (in Russian) Svitlana Loboda Invited Aysel and Arash to Ukrainian Party, Soraya Kept Fingers Crossed for Azerbaijani Duo... Day.az. 2 May 2009
  12. ^ (in Russian) Aysel and Arash's Fashion Designer Reveals Secrets. Day.az. 15 May 2009.
  13. ^ (in Russian) Main Eurovision Judge Considers Azerbaijani Entrants Favourites. Day.az. 8 May 2009
  14. ^ (in Russian) Svitlana Laboda: Aysel-Arash Duo Has Chance to Land in Top 5. Day.az. 16 May 2009
  15. ^ (in Russian) Artur Gasparyan: Azerbaijani Duo Might Count Itself Qualified to Top 3 at Eurovision in Moscow. Day.az 16 May 2009
  16. ^ (in Russian) Nikolai Baskov: Azerbaijani Duo Has Real Chance to Win in Eurovision. Day.az. 15 May 2009
  17. ^ "Second Semi-Final of Moscow 2009". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  18. ^ Norway in 'Fairytale' Eurovision win Archived September 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. RTÉ.ie. 17 May 2009.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Bakker, Sietse (31 July 2009). "Exclusive: Split jury/televoting results out!". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  20. ^ www.oikotimes.com. Europe falls in love with talented duo[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ ESC Radio Awards 2009 Archived December 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Moscow 2009". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b "Results of the Grand Final of Moscow 2009". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - Full Results". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (XLS) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c Did Azerbaijan “bribe” Belarus and Lithuania to vote at “Eurovision”? // European Radio for Belarus, by Zmіtser Panyamonau, Hanna Balahovich. 2009-05-19
  26. ^ Минск и Баку теперь связывает прямой авиарейс, MIR TV, 01.03.2007 19:50
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b "Азербайджан "подкупал" голосование на "Евровидении" в Беларуси и Литве? Belarusian Partisan, 19.05.2009". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  28. ^ Белорусам платили по 100 тысяч за Азербайджан, 2009-05-19 14:49:09, Змитер Понемонов, Анна Балахович Archived May 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ EurasiaNet Civil Society. Armenia and Azerbaijan: Eurovision Contest Puts Musical Twist on Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute.
  30. ^ "Ayandeh News, Haraj Sarmaayeh Farhangi Tabriz dar Eurovision 2009 (Putting the cultural heritage of Tabriz on Sale at Eurovision 2009), 11 Khordad 1388 (June 1, 2009), accessed: June 3, 2009 at "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2009-06-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "Eurovision 2009: Baku assumes the right to Armenian monument, Iranian mausoleum of poets".
  32. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2009-05-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. ^ "Azerbaijanis in Eurovision probe". BBC News. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  34. ^ RFE/RL Armenia Report - 14 August 2009, "Azeris Questioned Over Eurovision Vote For Armenia".
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