Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. The country was represented by Şebnem Paker and Grup Etnic with the song “Dinle” written by Mehtap Altıntemiz and composed by Levent Çoker. Both Şebnem Paker and Levent Çoker had represented Turkey in the contest of the preceding year.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1997 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Turkey | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National Final (20. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali) | |||
| Selection date(s) | 1 March 1997 | |||
| Selected entrant | Şebnem Paker | |||
| Selected song | "Dinle" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 3rd, 121 points | |||
| Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
20. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali
The final took place on 1 March 1997 at the TRT Studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülent Özveren and Meltem Ersan. Ten songs competed and the winner was determined by an expert jury.
| Final – 1 March 1997 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
| 1 | Burcu Güneş | "Gece" | Günay Çoban, Müfit Bayraşa | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | Serdar Aydemir | "Aşkıma İnan" | Hakan Süersan | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | Şebnem Özsaran | "Dördüncü Boyut" | Semih Güneri | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Şebnem Paker & Group Ethnic | "Dinle" | Mehtap Alnıtemiz, Levent Çoker | 10 | 1 |
| 5 | Sevan Deniz | "Hiç Gitme" | Sevan Deniz | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | Tüzmen & Elçin Engin | "Şarkı" | Hale Turan, Şansal Engin | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Tuba Önal | "Sevda Bu Dostun" | Kadriye Bayraşa, Müfit Bayraşa | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | Erdal Çelik | "Seninle" | Erdal Çelik | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Pınar Karakoç | "Sen Nerede Ben Orada" | Selma Çuhacı, Erdinç Tunç | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | Ece Sandallı | "Sevda" | Çetin Akcan, Ece Sandallı | 0 | 7 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the contest Şebnem performed 2nd in the running order, following Cyprus and preceding Norway. At the close of the voting, Dinle had received 121 points placing Turkey 3rd. This was the best result Turkey had ever reached at the contest up to that time, and will remain so until their victory in 2003. 18 participants voted for Dinle. The Turkish jury awarded its 12 points to Malta.[1]
Points awarded to Turkey
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded by Turkey
| 12 points |  Malta |
| 10 points |  Slovenia |
| 8 points | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 7 points |  United Kingdom |
| 6 points |  Ireland |
| 5 points |  Italy |
| 4 points |  Spain |
| 3 points |  Hungary |
| 2 points |  France |
| 1 point |  Netherlands |
References
- Michael Kuyucu: Türkiye'nin Serüveni Eurovision, İstanbul, 2005, ISBN 975-8823-93-0, pp.222-229
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Note: Entries scored out are when Turkey did not compete | |||||||||||||||