Azerbaijan in The Origin Song Contest 07

Azerbaijan took part in the seventh edition of The Origin Song Contest. İTV, the Azerbaijani broadcaster, organised the national final *AzeMelodiya Grand Prix*.

## Before TOSC

### ***AzeMelodiya Grand Prix***

*AzeMelodiya Grand Prix* was the Azerbaijani music competition that selected Azerbaijan's entry for the The Origin Song Contest 07. The show was hosted by Tural Asadov and Husniye Maharramova.

#### **Competing entries**

The competition featured five competing songs written by composers who İTV invited for the competition. The composers both created the song and selected the performer for their entry with the approval of İTV. All songs were required to be in Azerbaijani and foreign composers were allowed to partake in the competition. The competing artists and song titles were revealed on 6 May 2019. The invited composers were:

* Elvin Novruzov
* Govhar Hasanzadeh
* Ismail Asadov
* Murad Arif
* Nicat Gulmammadov

 L'veen
 LEMAN
 Murad Arif & Günel Zeynalova
 The Half

#### **Final**

The final took place on 30 July 2019 at the İTV Studio in Baku. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top two entries advanced to the Gold Final based on a combination of votes from six international jury groups (50%) and a public vote (50%) consisting of votes submitted through SMS and online voting. In the Gold Final, the winner was selected exclusively by a public vote.

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## At TOSC

The Origin Song Contest 07 will take place in Minsk, Belarus and will consist of two semi-finals on 2019 and a final on 2019. According to TOSC rules, all nations with the exceptions of the "Big 6" (The host country and the top 5 placed countries of the previous edition) 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.

On 2 October 2019, the allocation draw for the semi-finalists took place, where the semi-finalists were drawn into the two semi-finals. Azerbaijan was drawn to perform in position 18 in the second semi-final, following the entry from Andorra, closing the semi-final.

### **Semi-final**

Azerbaijan performed last in the second semi-final, following the entry from Andorra. At the end of the show, Azerbaijan was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed TBA in the semi-final, receiving a total of TBA points.

### **Final**

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. Azerbaijan was drawn to compete in the second half, in the position 23, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Denmark.

### **Voting**

Voting during the semi-finals involved each country awarding 12,10, 8-1 points to their ten favourite songs and deducting 1, 2 and 3 points from their three least favourite songs. Voting during the final involved each country awarding 12,10, 8-1 points to their ten favourite songs and deducting 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 points from their five least favourite songs.

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 will be released shortly after the grand final.

#### **Points awarded to Azerbaijan**

Points Awarded to Azerbaijan (Semi-final 2)
* Italy
* Monaco
 5 points
 * Spain
* United Kingdom
 * Liechtenstein

Points Awarded to Azerbaijan (Final)
 * Luxembourg
 5 points
 * Czech Republic
* France
* Ireland
* Ukraine
* Netherlands
* Greece
 -5 points
 * Estonia
* Iceland
* Moldova
* Slovakia
* Denmark
* Sweden

### **Points awarded by Azerbaijan**

#### **Split voting results**

The following five members comprised the Azerbaijani jury:

* Tunzale Agayeva - chairperson - author, composer, singer
* Murad Arif - singer, songwriter, television presenter
* Samra Rahimli - singer
* Murad Dadashov - producer
* Elvin Novruzov (L'veen) - singer, songwriter