Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018: Difference between revisions

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country	Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 8 November 2017; Song: 4 March 2018
Selected entrant	Aisel
Selected song	"X My Heart"
Selected songwriter(s)	Dimitris Kontopoulos; Sandra Bjurman;
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (11th)
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Latest revision as of 16:13, 23 August 2023

Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "X My Heart" written by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Sandra Bjurman. The song was performed by Aisel, who was internally selected by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV) to represent the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Aisel's selection as the Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant was announced on 8 November 2017, while the song "X My Heart" was presented to the public on 4 March 2018.

Azerbaijan was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "X My Heart" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Azerbaijan failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since its first entry in 2008. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed eleventh out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 94 points.

Background[edit]

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 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 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.

The Azerbaijani national broadcaster, İctimai Television (İTV), broadcasts the event within Azerbaijan and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. İTV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 11 August 2017.^[2] Azerbaijan had used various methods to select the Azerbaijani entry in the past, including internal selections of both the artist and song, as well as national finals to select their artist followed by an internal selection to determine the song. Between 2011 and 2013, Azerbaijan organized a national final titled Milli Seçim Turu to select the performer, song or both for Eurovision. In 2014, the broadcaster utilised an existing talent show format titled Böyük Səhnə where the winning performer would subsequently be given an internally selected song. Since 2015, the broadcaster internally selected both the artist and song that represented Azerbaijan, a procedure which continued for the selection of their 2018 entry.^[3]

Before Eurovision[edit]

Internal selection[edit]

Both the artist and song that represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was selected internally by İTV. On 8 November 2017, the broadcaster announced that a national jury panel had selected Aisel as the Azerbaijani Eurovision contestant.^[4]^[5] On 3 March 2018, İTV announced that Aisel would be performing the song "X My Heart". The selection of the song was based on the decision of İTV and participants of an opinion survey that featured 300 music and television industry experts as well as Eurovision fans from 31 European countries; "X My Heart" received the most positive votes among three shortlisted entries with 87%.^[6] "X My Heart" was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Sandra Bjurman, and was presented on 4 March 2018 via the streaming service provider Spotify. The official music video was later released on 7 March 2018.^[7] 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."^[7]

Promotion[edit]

Aisel made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "X My Heart" as the Azerbaijani Eurovision entry. On 7 April, Aisel performed during the Eurovision Pre-Party, which was held at the VEGAS Kuntsevo shopping mall in Moscow, Russia.^[8] Between 8 and 11 April, Aisel took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Rabin Square.^[9] On 18 April, Aisel performed "X My Heart" during the bTV talk show programme Slavi's Show in Bulgaria.^[10]

At Eurovision[edit]

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.^[11]

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 open the show and perform in position 1, before the entry from Iceland.^[12]

The two semi-finals and final were broadcast in Azerbaijan on İTV with commentary by Azer Suleymanli. The Azerbaijani spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Azerbaijani jury during the final, was Tural Asadov.

Semi-final[edit]

Aisel took part in technical rehearsals on 29 April and 3 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 7 and 8 May. This included the jury show on 7 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.^[13]

The Azerbaijani performance featured Aisel performing with four backing vocalists/dancers, all dressed in white. The performance featured Aisel moving around triangular slabs that light up in white LEDs as well as the use of smoke effects and augmented reality that displayed a glittery effect.^[14]^[15] The performance was directed by Fokas Evangelinos. The four backing vocalists/dancers that joined Aisel on stage were Hugo Baptista, Rui Andrade, Salomé Caldeira and Sandra d'Andrade. An additional off-stage backing vocalist, Stefania Rizou, was also part of the performance.^[16]

At the end of the show, Azerbaijan was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Azerbaijani failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since its first entry in 2008. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 94 points: 47 points from both the televoting and the juries.^[17]

Voting[edit]

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.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Azerbaijan and awarded by Azerbaijan in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Azerbaijan[edit]

Points awarded to Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1)^[18]
Score	Televote	Jury
12 points		Greece
10 points	Czech Republic	Cyprus Israel
8 points
7 points	Albania Portugal	Macedonia
6 points
5 points	Croatia Israel Macedonia	Albania
4 points	Austria
3 points	Greece	Estonia
2 points
1 point	Iceland

Points awarded by Azerbaijan[edit]

Points awarded by Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1)^[18]
Score	Televote	Jury
12 points	Belarus	Belarus
10 points	Israel	Greece
8 points	Czech Republic	Cyprus
7 points	Cyprus	Albania
6 points	Ireland	Macedonia
5 points	Austria	Croatia
4 points	Bulgaria	Israel
3 points	Estonia	Switzerland
2 points	Belgium	Bulgaria
1 point	Lithuania	Estonia

Points awarded by Azerbaijan (Final)^[19]
Score	Televote	Jury
12 points	Israel	Albania
10 points	Cyprus	Serbia
8 points	Ukraine	Hungary
7 points	Norway	Moldova
6 points	Czech Republic	Ukraine
5 points	Italy	Bulgaria
4 points	Moldova	Cyprus
3 points	Germany	Estonia
2 points	Sweden	Germany
1 point	Bulgaria	Israel

Detailed voting results[edit]

The following members comprised the Azerbaijani jury:^[20]

Mubariz Tagiyev [az] (jury chairperson) – singer
Faig Aghayev – singer
Ilaha Efendiyeva-Khalilova [az] – young soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, soprano
Tunzala Gahraman – jazz singer
Nurlana Jafarova [az] – TV presenter

Detailed voting results from Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1)^[18]
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
Draw	Country	F. Aghayev	M. Tagiyev	I. Efendiyeva-Khalilova	T. Gahraman	N. Jafarova	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)^[19]
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
Draw	Country	F. Aghayev	M. Tagiyev	I. Efendiyeva-Khalilova	T. Gahraman	N. Jafarova	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[edit]

^ "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (11 August 2017). "Azerbaijan: Ictimai confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". Esctoday. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ "Oh Mammadova! Aisel to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision in 2018". eurovision.tv. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ Weaver, Jessica (9 November 2017). "Azerbaijan: It's AISEL for Eurovision 2018!". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ ""Eurovision" təmsilçimiz Aysel Məmmədova kimdir?". musavat.com (in Azerbaijani). 8 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ Adams, William Lee (27 February 2018). "Azerbaijan: Aisel will release her Eurovision song on 4 March…and has already shot her postcard". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b Aderemi, Deban (3 March 2018). ""X My Heart" — Aisel reveals Azerbaijan song title ahead of Sunday reveal". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Zwart, Josianne (30 March 2018). "Moscow gets ready for Eurovision 2018 preparty". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
^ "Israel: Watch the performances at Israel Calling 2018 Party in Tel Aviv". INFE. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
^ "Aisel, 18 April, 2018". slavishow.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ 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.
^ "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^ "Lisbon 2018: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
^ Cobb, Ryan (29 April 2018). "Day 1: There's augmented reality for Aisel and Azerbaijan – REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ Cobb, Ryan (3 May 2018). "Day 5: Aisel explores a triangular world for Azerbaijan – PREDICTION & REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ García, Belén (30 March 2018). "Azerbaijan: Aisel presents onstage team". ESCPlus. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ "First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^ ^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.
^ ^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.
^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

[1] "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.

[2] Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (11 August 2017). "Azerbaijan: Ictimai confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". Esctoday. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[3] "Oh Mammadova! Aisel to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision in 2018". eurovision.tv. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[4] Weaver, Jessica (9 November 2017). "Azerbaijan: It's AISEL for Eurovision 2018!". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[5] ""Eurovision" təmsilçimiz Aysel Məmmədova kimdir?". musavat.com (in Azerbaijani). 8 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[6] Adams, William Lee (27 February 2018). "Azerbaijan: Aisel will release her Eurovision song on 4 March…and has already shot her postcard". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.

[:0-7] Aderemi, Deban (3 March 2018). ""X My Heart" — Aisel reveals Azerbaijan song title ahead of Sunday reveal". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.

[8] Zwart, Josianne (30 March 2018). "Moscow gets ready for Eurovision 2018 preparty". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2021.

[9] "Israel: Watch the performances at Israel Calling 2018 Party in Tel Aviv". INFE. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

[10] "Aisel, 18 April, 2018". slavishow.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[11] 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.

[Draw-12] "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

[13] "Lisbon 2018: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[14] Cobb, Ryan (29 April 2018). "Day 1: There's augmented reality for Aisel and Azerbaijan – REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[15] Cobb, Ryan (3 May 2018). "Day 5: Aisel explores a triangular world for Azerbaijan – PREDICTION & REVIEW". escXtra. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[16] García, Belén (30 March 2018). "Azerbaijan: Aisel presents onstage team". ESCPlus. Retrieved 31 October 2022.

[17] "First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

[2018detailedsemi-18] "Results of the First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[2018detailedfinal-19] "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[20] Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

v t e Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation	2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022 2023 2024
Artists	Aisel Arash Aysel Sabina Babayeva Chingiz Dihaj Ilkin Dovlatov Efendi Fahree Eldar Gasimov Elnur Hüseynov Nigar Jamal Dilara Kazimova Farid Mammadov Nadir Rustamli Safura Samir Samra TuralTuranX
Songs	"Always" ~~"Cleopatra"~~ "Day After Day" "Drip Drop" "Fade to Black" "Hold Me" "Hour of the Wolf" "Mata Hari" "Miracle" "Özünlə apar" "Running Scared" "Skeletons" "Start a Fire" "Tell Me More" "Truth" "When the Music Dies" "X My Heart"
Note: Entries scored out signify where Azerbaijan did not compete Armenia–Azerbaijan relations in the Eurovision Song Contest