Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Azerbaijan | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Member station | İTV |
| National selection events |
National Final
Internal Selection
|
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 9 (9 finals) |
| First appearance | 2008 |
| Best result | 1st: 2011 |
| Worst result | 22nd: 2014 |
| External links | |
| Eurovision Azerbaijan | |
| Azerbaijan's page at Eurovision.tv | |
 For the most recent participation seeAzerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 |
|
Azerbaijan made its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, after İctimai Televiziya (İTV) became an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). İTV had broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in previous years, purchasing broadcasting rights from the EBU. Azerbaijan is the last country in the Caucasus to participate: Armenia was the first one, in 2006, followed by Georgia in 2007.
Azerbaijan since their debut in 2008 has never missed the final. Four years after the country debuted at Eurovision, Azerbaijan won the contest in 2011, setting the record of the lowest average score for a winning song under the current voting system (in place since 1975), with only 5.14 points per country (including Azerbaijan) and 5.26 (without Azerbaijan). Azerbaijan reached the Top 5 in five consecutive contests - 3rd in 2009, 5th in 2010, 1st in 2011, 4th in 2012, and runner-up in 2013.
Azerbaijan's first try at Eurovision proved to be successful as the country qualified for the final from the first semi-final and came 8th with 132 points in the final evening.
Previously, another broadcaster, AzTV, wanted to participate in 2007, but EBU rules did not allow this as AzTV was not an active member of the EBU. AzTV was denied active EBU membership on 18 June 2007, as it was considered too connected to the Azerbaijani government. On 5 July, İTV became a full EBU member, and on October 15 it was given permission to take part by the EBU.
Azerbaijan's first Eurovision performance by Elnur and Samir made it in the top ten placed at number 8 with 132 points. In 2009 Azerbaijan achieved an improvement on their 2008 debut, coming third and receiving 207 points with the song "Always", performed by duo AySel & Arash.
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