Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Azerbaijan participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared" written by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain James Farquharson. The song was performed by Ell and Nikki. The Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV) organised the national final Milli Seçim Turu 2011 in order to select the Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant to represent the nation at the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. 77 artists competed in the national final which consisted of nine shows: seven heats, a semi-final and a final. Five artists qualified to compete in the final on 11 February 2011 where a seven-member jury panel selected Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal as the winners to represent Azerbaijan as a duet. The song "Running Scared" was later internally selected and presented to the public on 14 March.

Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Country Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection processArtist: Milli Seçim Turu 2011
Song: Internal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 11 February 2011
Song: 14 March 2011
Selected entrantEll and Nikki
Selected song"Running Scared"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 122 points)
Final result1st, 221 points
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2010 • 2011 • 2012►

Azerbaijan was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 18, "Running Scared" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed second out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 122 points. In the final, Azerbaijan performed in position 19 and placed first out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 221 points. This was Azerbaijan's first win in the Eurovision Song Contest since their debut in 2008.

Background
Main article: Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2011 contest, Azerbaijan had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in 2008.[1] 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 including a third-place result in 2009 with the song "Always" performed by AySel and Arash. In 2010, Azerbaijan placed fifth with the song "Drip Drop" performed by Safura.

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 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 31 May 2010.[2] Azerbaijan had used various methods to select the Azerbaijani entry in the past, including internal selections as well as national finals to select both the artist and song. On 6 October 2010, İTV announced that they would organize a national final titled Milli Seçim Turu, which would result in the selection of a winning performer that would subsequently be given an internally selected song to perform at Eurovision.[3]

Before Eurovision

Milli Seçim Turu 2011

Milli Seçim Turu 2011 was the national final organised by İTV that selected the Azerbaijani contestant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The competition consisted of nine shows that commenced on 15 November 2010 and concluded with a winning artist on 11 February 2011. All shows were broadcast on İTV and streamed online via the broadcaster's website itv.az. The final was also broadcast in Georgia on 1 TV GPB, in Turkey on TRT as well as streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[4]

Format

The competition consisted of nine televised shows including seven heats and a semi-final, each held across five days between 15 November 2010 and 14 January 2011. During the first four days of each heat and the semi-final, each artist performed four cover versions of various songs: a foreign song on Monday, an Azerbaijani song on Tuesday, a former Eurovision song on Wednesday and a song of their choice on Thursday. The 50/50 combination of public voting via SMS and the votes of a jury panel determined the winner of each heat that advanced to the semi-final, which were announced on Friday. In the semi-final, the combination of public and jury voting determined the five qualifiers that advanced to the final on 11 February 2011. In the final, the winner was selected by the jury from the remaining artists.[5]

Competing artists

On 5 October 2010, İTV called for interested artists to apply for the competition by 15 October 2010. Eligible artists were those that were citizens of Azerbaijan or part of the Azerbaijani diaspora.[3][6] 120 applications were received and 77 artists were selected by the broadcaster for the competition based on criteria which included vocal and dance ability as well as stage presence.[7][8] Among the competing artists was Ilgara Kazimova, daughter of singer Aygun Kazimova.[9]

Heats

Seven heats were held over November and December 2010 at the İTV studios in Baku, hosted by Husniye Maharramova and Leyla Aliyeva. In each heat one artist was selected to advance to the semi-final based on the combination of a public and jury vote. Wildcards were also additionally awarded by the jury to selected acts, with these acts also advancing to the semi-final.

In heat 1, Tarik Yigit only participated in the first day of the first heat and was disqualified from the competition. On 6 December 2010, Nicola Barclay was awarded a jury wildcard in heat 3, however she later withdrew from the competition due to illness and changes in the competition format.[10] On 24 December 2010, Eldar Gasimov was awarded a jury wildcard in heat 6, and on 31 December 2010, Nigar Jamal was awarded a jury wildcard in heat 7.[11][12]

Heat 1 – 15–19 November 2010
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Khana Hasanova 4 7
2 Aygun Ismayilova 6 5
3 Adil Bakhishli 10 2
4 Tofig "Mr. Toto" Hajiyev 5 6
5 Chingiz Mustafayev 12 1
6 Tarik Yigit — —
7 Ulviyya Abbasova 3 8
8 Gulchohra Babayeva 2 9
9 Next 8 3
10 Zulfunaz Rajabova 7 4
Heat 2 – 22–26 November 2010
Draw Artist Points Place
1 East Groove 8 3
2 Fizza Nadirova 4 7
3 Sitara Nasirova 5 6
4 Emin Hasan 2 9
5 Nazrin Zarbaliyeva 3 8
6 Ulvi Rashidov 10 2
7 Gunay Alakbarova 7 4
8 Yegana Aghayeva 0 11
9 Shola Safaraliyeva 6 5
10 Ulviyya Talishinskaya 1 10
11 Nurlan Novrasli 12 1
Heat 3 – 29 November–3 December 2010[13][10]
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Dilshan Ibadova 3 8
2 Günay Ibrahimli 12 1
3 Khayyam Nisanov 8 3
4 Sevinj Aghashirinova 5 6
5 Kanan Gadimov 6 5
6 Nigar Babayeva 2 9
7 Orkhan Aghayev 7 4
8 Farid Mammadov 1 10
9 Nazir Aghayev 0 11
10 Nicola Barclay 10 2
11 Rinat Alimov 4 7
Heat 4 – 6–10 December 2010
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Said Ismayilzadeh 1 10
2 Aydan Rustamova 10 2
3 Arzum Khalilova 12 1
4 Emilia Yagubova 3 8
5 Ramin Guliyev 4 7
6 Chinara Nazarli 5 6
7 Milan Mammadov 2 9
8 Sabina Babayeva 8 3
9 Rahima Hasanalizadeh 6 5
10 Leyla Dadashova 0 11
11 Javanshir Hajiyev 7 4
Heat 5 – 13–17 December 2010
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Empathy 3 8
2 Elmar Asgarov 2 9
3 Altun Zeynalov 5 6
4 Emin Nasirli 10 2
5 Janana Zeynalova 1 10
6 Rovshan Jivishov 7 4
7 Jamila Hashimova 8 3
8 Aynishan Quliyeva 12 1
9 Gulnar Nabi-Chingiz 4 7
10 Dinara Jafarova 0 11
11 Orkhan Israfilov 6 5
Heat 6 – 20–24 December 2010[11]
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Ilgara Ibrahimova 12 1
2 Eldar Gasimov 10 2
3 Seyran Ismayilkhanov 6 5
4 Leyla Idrisova 4 7
5 Rustam Allazov 5 6
6 Sultan Mashadiyev 3 8
7 Elyana Ahmadova 8 3
8 Fuad Mustafazadeh 1 10
9 Sarkhan Mammadov 2 9
10 Diana Hajiyeva 7 4
Heat 7 – 24–31 December 2010[12]
Draw Artist Points Place
1 Orkhan Nasibov 0 12
2 Sabina Mammadova 6 6
3 Habil Ahmadov 1 11
4 Sadikh Aghamaliyev 3 9
5 Nigar Dargahzadeh 7 5
6 Ilhama Gasimova 12 1
7 Davud Asgarli 4 8
8 Lala Aliyeva 5 7
9 Tahir Guliyev 2 10
10 Gunay Ahmadova 8 4
11 Azad Shabanov 10 3
12 Nigar Jamal 12 2
Semi-final

The semi-final took place between 10 and 14 January 2011 at the İTV studios in Baku, hosted by Husniye Maharramova and Leyla Aliyeva. The nine artists that advanced from the preceding seven heats competed and Aynishan Quliyeva, Eldar Gasimov, Ilgara Ibrahimova, Ilhama Gasimova and Nigar Jamal were selected to advance to the final based on the combination of a public and jury vote.[14][15]

Semi-final – 10–14 January 2011
Draw Artist Televote Result
1 Chingiz Mustafayev 4,030 Eliminated
2 Nurlan Novrasli 18,750 Eliminated
3 Gunay Ibrahimli 1,033 Eliminated
4 Arzum Khalilova 11,744 Eliminated
5 Aynishan Quliyeva 17,202 Finalist
6 Ilgara Ibrahimova 30,147 Finalist
7 Eldar Gasimov 8,556 Finalist
8 Ilhama Gasimova 31,453 Finalist
9 Nigar Jamal 731 Finalist
Final

The final took place on 11 February 2011 at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva. The five artists that advanced from the preceding semi-final competed and Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal were selected by the jury as the winners to represent Azerbaijan as a duet. The jury consisted of Ismail Omarov (General Director of İTV), Lala Kazimova (president of The National Music Committee of Azerbaijan), Rauf Babayev (singer), Faiq Suceddinov (singer), Zulfiyya Khanbabayeva (singer), Zahra Badalbayli (musician and poet) and Menzer Nuraliyeva (representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan).[15] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, David Vendetta, 2010 Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant Safura, 2010 Georgian Eurovision entrant Sofia Nizharadze, 2011 Sammarinese Eurovision entrant Senit and 2011 Swiss Eurovision entrant Anna Rossinelli performed as guests.[15]

Final – 11 February 2011
Draw Artist
1 Nigar Jamal
2 Aynishan Quliyeva
3 Ilgara Ibrahimova
4 Eldar Gasimov
5 Ilhama Gasimova

Song selection

On 11 January 2011, İTV called for interested songwriters to submit their songs to the broadcaster by 10 February 2011. Songwriters could be of any nationality.[16] On 13 March 2011, İTV announced that Eldar and Nigar would be performing the song "Running Scared", written by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain James Farquharson. The song was presented on 14 March 2011 via the release of the official music video. "Running Scared" was selected based on the decision of İTV and a national jury panel from five songs shortlisted among 70 submissions from local and international songwriters.[17][18]

At Eurovision

Azerbaijan competed under number 18 in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest, on 10 May, and qualified for the final, placing 2nd with 122 points.[19] At the end of the final, Azerbaijan won the contest placing first with a score of 221 points. This was Azerbaijan's first win in the Eurovision Song Contest since their debut in 2008.[20][21] A later review of the split voting showed that the juries placed Azerbaijan second (behind Italy) but first in the televoting, which carried the song through to first.[22]

With their entry only receiving 5.14 points per country, Azerbaijan holds the record of the lowest average score for a winning song under the previous voting system (in place from 1975 to 2015). Under the current voting system (since 2016), no winning song has received this low average score per set of votes (number of voting countries × 2). Since the introduction of semi-finals and of the split jury-televoting system, they are also the third winner not to achieve first place in their semi-final (which was won by Greece), and not winning according to the juries' ranking (which placed Italy first).

Points awarded to Azerbaijan

Points awarded by Azerbaijan

References
  1. "Azerbaijan Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. Halliwell, Mits (31 May 2010). "EUROVISION 2011 - 14 countries already confirm participation for 2011". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  3. Hondal, Victor (6 October 2010). "Azerbaijan kicks off Eurovision 2011 selection". EscToday.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  4. Hondal, Victor (11 February 2011). "Tonight: National final in Azerbaijan". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Eurovision 2011 "Champions' League" to Take Off in Azerbaijan. Day.az. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  6. ""Eurovision-2011" national selection tour starts!". itv.az. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-10-16. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  7. "AZERBAIJAN - Update on Azeri selection; 77 proceed". Oikotimes.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  8. "AZERBAIJAN - Ictamai gets 120 submissions for national selection". Oikotimes. 19 October 2010. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  9. Daughter of Prominent Azerbaijani Singer Preparing for Eurovision. Day.az. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  10. "AZERBAIJAN - Scottish singer pulls out of the race". Oikotimes.com. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  11. Azerbaijan: Ilgara Ibrahimova to the final, Eldar Gasimov - wildcard.
  12. "Azerbaijan: Ilhame Gasinova and Nigar Jamal to the final". EscToday.com. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  13. "Azerbaijan: Nikola Barkley, wildcard in the final". EscToday.com. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  14. Date for Next Azerbaijan Eurovision 2011 Battle Determined. Day.az. 4 January 2011.
  15. "Azerbaijan 2011". Archived from the original on 2011-04-29.
  16. "Azerbaijan: Ictimai TV call for songs". esctoday.com. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  17. Repo, Juha (13 March 2011). "Azerbaijan: song and video appear online". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2011-04-26. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  18. Azerbaijan to Perform in Semifinal 1 Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine. I.Asad. Echo. 25 January 2011.
  19. "First Semi-Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  20. Bruce, Walker. "Blue can't but Ell and Nikki can". Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  21. "Grand Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  22. Bakker, Sietse (26 May 2011). "EBU reveals split televoting and jury results". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  23. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  24. "Results of the Grand Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
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