Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 8 November 2017
Song: 4 March 2018
Selected entrantAisel
Selected song"X My Heart"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (11th)
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 2018 2019►

Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The song that represented the country was selected internally and was performed by the singer Aisel, who was also internally selected by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV) to represent the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background[]

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Azerbaijan had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 2008.[1] Azerbaijan had won the contest on one occasion in 2011 with the song "Running Scared" performed by Ell/Nikki. Since their debut in 2008, Azerbaijan has had a string of successful results, qualifying to the final and placing in the top ten each year until 2014, including a third-place result in 2009 with the song "Always" performed by AySel and Arash and a second-place result in 2013 with the song "Hold Me" performed by Farid Mammadov. However, in 2014, Azerbaijan achieved their lowest placing in the contest to this point, placing 22nd in the final with the song "Start a Fire" performed by Dilara Kazimova. In 2017, Azerbaijan placed fourteenth with the song "Skeletons" performed by Dihaj.

Before Eurovision[]

Internal selection[]

On 8 November 2017, İTV announced that Aisel would represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[2] On 3 March 2018, İTV announced that Aisel would perform the song "X My Heart".[3] "X My Heart" was selected from three shortlisted songs from local and international songwriters based on the decision of İTV and an opinion survey that featured 300 participants from 31 European countries.[4]

"X My Heart" was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Sandra Bjurman. The song was presented on 4 March 2018 via the streaming service Spotify, while the official music video was released on 7 March 2018. In regards to the song, Aisel stated: "I feel a strong connection with the lyrics of the song, since believing in myself made me overcome several difficulties I had in my life. This is a message I want to send to everyone: believing in yourself can make you stronger than cannonballs."[3]

At Eurovision[]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Azerbaijan was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[5]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Azerbaijan was set to perform in position 1, preceding the entry from Iceland.[6]

Semi-final[]

Azerbaijan participated in the first semi-final, opening the show and preceding Iceland. At the end of the show, they were not one of the ten countries announced as qualifying for the final, making it the first occasion that Azerbaijan did not participate in a Eurovision final since their debut in 2008. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 94 points: 47 points from the televoting and 47 points from the juries.[7]

Voting[]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Azerbaijan[]

Points awarded to Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1)[8]
Score Televote Jury
12 points  Greece
10 points  Czech Republic
8 points
7 points  Macedonia
6 points
5 points  Albania
4 points  Austria
3 points  Greece  Estonia
2 points
1 point  Iceland

Points awarded by Azerbaijan[]

Detailed voting results[]

The following members comprised the Azerbaijani jury:[10]

Detailed voting results from Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1)[8]
Draw Country Jury Televote
F. Aghayev M. Tagiyev I. Efendiyeva-Khalilova T. Gahraman N. Jafarova Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Azerbaijan
02  Iceland 14 12 13 13 14 13 15
03  Albania 2 3 7 2 4 4 7 11
04  Belgium 17 17 17 16 17 17 9 2
05  Czech Republic 12 13 12 11 13 12 3 8
06  Lithuania 16 16 16 17 16 16 10 1
07  Israel 8 6 5 7 7 7 4 2 10
08  Belarus 1 1 2 4 3 1 12 1 12
09  Estonia 11 10 9 10 10 10 1 8 3
10  Bulgaria 9 9 10 9 9 9 2 7 4
11  Macedonia 4 4 1 5 6 5 6 17
12  Croatia 6 8 3 6 5 6 5 16
13  Austria 15 15 15 14 15 15 6 5
14  Greece 5 2 4 3 1 2 10 13
15  Finland 13 14 14 15 12 14 14
16  Armenia 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
17   Switzerland 7 7 8 8 8 8 3 12
18  Ireland 10 11 11 12 11 11 5 6
19  Cyprus 3 5 6 1 2 3 8 4 7
Detailed voting results from Azerbaijan (Final)[9]
Draw Country Jury Televote
F. Aghayev M. Tagiyev I. Efendiyeva-Khalilova T. Gahraman N. Jafarova Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Ukraine 9 7 2 8 5 5 6 3 8
02  Spain 18 15 10 14 11 14 24
03  Slovenia 7 11 15 13 24 11 25
04  Lithuania 24 13 20 11 20 20 16
05  Austria 14 12 11 20 8 12 15
06  Estonia 19 14 4 6 7 8 3 11
07  Norway 17 6 25 16 18 13 4 7
08  Portugal 16 26 26 17 26 23 26
09  United Kingdom 20 19 19 23 16 22 18
10  Serbia 5 1 3 1 4 2 10 21
11  Germany 10 16 13 5 10 9 2 8 3
12  Albania 1 2 1 4 3 1 12 19
13  France 21 20 21 15 19 21 12
14  Czech Republic 13 8 23 18 17 16 5 6
15  Denmark 25 17 18 25 22 24 13
16  Australia 26 9 22 21 13 19 23
17  Finland 12 18 14 9 23 15 22
18  Bulgaria 6 4 8 10 6 6 5 10 1
19  Moldova 4 5 6 3 2 4 7 7 4
20  Sweden 8 21 17 19 15 17 9 2
21  Hungary 2 3 7 2 1 3 8 17
22  Israel 11 10 12 12 12 10 1 1 12
23  Netherlands 23 25 16 26 21 25 14
24  Ireland 22 22 24 22 25 26 20
25  Cyprus 3 24 5 7 9 7 4 2 10
26  Italy 15 23 9 24 14 18 6 5

References[]

  1. ^ "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ Weaver, Jessica (9 November 2017). "Azerbaijan: It's AISEL for Eurovision 2018!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b Aderemi, Deban (3 March 2018). ""X My Heart" — Aisel reveals Azerbaijan song title ahead of Sunday reveal". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Adams, William Lee (27 February 2018). "Azerbaijan: Aisel will release her Eurovision song on 4 March…and has already shot her postcard". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Results of the First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  10. ^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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