Azerbaijan in the 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 artist(s) | Aisel | |||
| Selected song | "X My Heart" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (11th, 94 points) | |||
| Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
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 Aisel as the Azerbaijani entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[2]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final.
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.
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.
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Azerbaijani jury: [3]
- Mubariz Tagiyev – Chairperson – singer
- Faig Balagha – singer
- Ilaha Efendiyeva Khalilova – young soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, soprano
- Tunzala Gahraman – jazz singer
- Nurlana Jafarova – TV presenter
Points awarded to Azerbaijan
| Points awarded to Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Televote | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Jury | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded by Azerbaijan
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| Split voting results from Azerbaijan (Semi-final 1) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| F. Balagha | M. Tagiyev | I. E. Xalilova | T. Qahraman | N. Cafarova | 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 |
| Split voting results from Azerbaijan (Final) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| F. Balagha | M. Tagiyev | I. E. Xalilova | T. Qahraman | N. Cafarova | 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
- ^ "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ Weaver, Jessica (2017-11-09). "Azerbaijan: It's AISEL for Eurovision 2018!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.