Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

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Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 28 February 2020
Song: 10 March 2020
Selected entrantEfendi
Selected song"Cleopatra"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Luuk van Beers
  • Alan Roy Scott
  • Sarah Lake
Finals performance
Final resultContest cancelled
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2019 • 2020 • 2021►

Azerbaijan originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Cleopatra" performed by Samira Efendi. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background[]

Main article: Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2020 Contest, Azerbaijan had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 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 and 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 2018, Azerbaijan placed eleventh in the semi-final with the song "X My Heart" performed by Aisel, making it the first occasion that Azerbaijan did not participate in a Eurovision final since their debut in 2008. The year after, Chingiz with "Truth" brought Azerbaijan back into the top 10, finishing in 8th place with 302 points.

Before Eurovision[]

Internal selection[]

On 19 January 2020, İTV announced that both the artist and song that would represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 would be selected internally. Their announcement called for interested songwriters to submit their songs to the broadcaster by 7 February 2020. Songwriters could be of any nationality.[2] On 28 February 2020, İTV announced that Samira Efendi would represent Azerbaijan. The selection of Efendi as the Azerbaijani Eurovision contestant was based on the decision of İTV and participants of an opinion survey that featured international music and television industry experts from five potential performers: Efendi, Elvin Novruzov, Jabrail Rasulov, and Riad Abdulov.[3] On 10 March 2020, İTV announced that Efendi would be performing the song "Cleopatra".[4]

"Cleopatra" was written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake. The song was presented on 10 March 2020 via the release of the official music video. In regards to the song, Efendi stated: "'Cleopatra' is a song about trusting your gut instinct, standing up for yourself and being a 'queen' even when things get tough and especially if someone betrays or hurts you. It is truly a song about freedom, a celebration of all cultures and all sexualities and it’s a song that is meant to inspire people to be who they are and to be proud of themselves just as Cleopatra was. She was a queen who went through love, heartbreak, and betrayal, but she stood up for herself and is now remembered as an icon of strength and femininity."[5]

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 28 January 2020, 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. Georgia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[6] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled.

In the Eurovision Song Celebration YouTube broadcast in place of the heats, it was revealed that the song would have performed 12th, between Croatia and Cyprus.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ Granger, Anthony (19 January 2020). "Azerbaijan: iTV Opens Call For Songs For Eurovision 2020". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ Herbert, Emily (28 February 2020). "Azerbaijan: Samira Efendi to The Eurovision Song Contest 2020". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (10 March 2020). "Azerbaijan: Samira Efendi unveils her Eurovision entry 'Cleopatra'". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2020-03-11. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Azerbaijan releases Efendi's Eurovision 2020 song 'Cleopatra'". eurovision.tv. 10 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-03-18. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. ^ Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  7. ^ Eurovision Song Contest (14 May 2020). "Part two of Eurovision Song Celebration". Retrieved 3 June 2020.
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