Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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.

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)Dimitris Kontopoulos
Sandra Bjurman
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (11th, 94 points)
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Background
Main article: Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest

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, Samra 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 5" (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.

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)
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

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Azerbaijani jury: [7]

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 Iceland14121313141315
03 Albania237244711
04 Belgium17171716171792
05 Czech Republic12131211131238
06 Lithuania161616171616101
07 Israel8657774210
08 Belarus11243112112
09 Estonia11109101010183
10 Bulgaria9910999274
11 Macedonia441565617
12 Croatia683656516
13 Austria15151514151565
14 Greece5243121013
15 Finland13141415121414
16 Armenia18181818181818
17  Switzerland778888312
18 Ireland10111112111156
19 Cyprus356123847
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 Ukraine972855638
02 Spain18151014111424
03 Slovenia7111513241125
04 Lithuania24132011202016
05 Austria1412112081215
06 Estonia19144678311
07 Norway1762516181347
08 Portugal16262617262326
09 United Kingdom20191923162218
10 Serbia5131421021
11 Germany1016135109283
12 Albania1214311219
13 France21202115192112
14 Czech Republic1382318171656
15 Denmark25171825222413
16 Australia2692221131923
17 Finland1218149231522
18 Bulgaria64810665101
19 Moldova456324774
20 Sweden8211719151792
21 Hungary237213817
22 Israel1110121212101112
23 Netherlands23251626212514
24 Ireland22222422252620
25 Cyprus32457974210
26 Italy1523924141865

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. Aderemi, Deban (3 March 2018). ""X My Heart" — Aisel reveals Azerbaijan song title ahead of Sunday reveal". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  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.
  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.
  7. 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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