Azerbaijan in The Origin Song Contest 08

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

## Before TOSC

### ***AzeMelodiya Grand Prix 02***

*AzeMelodiya Grand Prix* *02* was the second edition of the Azerbaijani music competition that selected Azerbaijan's entry for the The Origin Song Contest 08.

#### **Competing entries**

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their song entries to İTV from 1 October 2019 to 29 October 2019. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, but songs were required to be performed by citizens of Azerbaijan. İTV received 72 entries, and a five-member selection committee chose 20 entries for the national final. The selection jury consisted of Leyla Aliyeva (television presenter), Tunzale Agayeva (author, composer and singer), Isa Melikov (composer and producer), Murad Arif (television presenter and singer) and Günay İbrahimli (singer).

#### **Semi-final 1**

The first semi-final took place on 25 January 2020 at the İTV Studio in Baku. Ten songs competed and five qualified to the final. A seven-member international jury first selected three songs to advance. The remaining seven entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional two qualifiers.

     Jury qualifier      Public vote qualifier

#### **Semi-final 2**

The second semi-final took place on 1 February 2020 at the İTV Studio in Baku. Ten songs competed and five qualified to the final. A seven-member international jury first selected three songs to advance. The remaining seven entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional two qualifiers.

     Jury qualifier      Public vote qualifier

#### **Final**

The final took place on 22 February 2020 at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top four entries advanced to the Gold Final based on a combination of votes from a regional jury vote from eight regions in Azerbaijan (50%) and a public vote (50%) consisting of votes submitted through SMS and online voting. A fifth act, "Sigaramin Dumani" performed by Albina feat. Mutus, was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post show. In the Gold Final, the winner was selected exclusively by a public vote. Voting commenced on 22 January 2020 and ended on 8 March 2020, with the winner being announced on 11 March 2020.

## At TOSC

The Origin Song Contest 08 will take place in Brussels, Belgium and will consist of two semi-finals on 2020 and a final on 2020. 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 6 April 2020, 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 12 in the first semi-final, following the entry from Switzerland and preceding the entry from Sweden.

### **Semi-final**

Azerbaijan performed 12th in the first semi-final, following the entry from Switzerland and preceding the entry from Sweden. 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 first 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 TBA, following the entry from TBA and before the entry from TBA.

## Voting

### **Points awarded to Azerbaijan**

Points Awarded to Azerbaijan (Semi-final)
 -5 points

Points Awarded to Azerbaijan (Final)
 -5 points

### **Points awarded by Azerbaijan**

#### **Split voting results**

The following five members comprised the Azerbaijani jury:

* Nargiz Birk-Petersen - television presenter and commentator
* Zahra Badalbeyli - musician
* Tofig Hajiyev - singer, television presenter
* Samira Allahverdi - singer, choreographer
* Isfar Sarabsky - musician, pianist, composer