Eurovision Song Contest 2008 | ||||
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Country | Azerbaijan | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Land of Fire | |||
Selection date(s) | 2 February 2008 | |||
Selected entrant |
Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh |
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Selected song | "Day After Day" | |||
Finals performance | ||||
Semi-final result | Qualified (6th, 96 points) | |||
Final result | 8th, 132 points | |||
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Azerbaijan's selection for an entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 took place in the form of a national selection on 2 February 2008. Initially, the Azeri broadcaster held castings calls for artists interested to represent the nation at the international competition. Behind closed doors, several candidates were selected by a jury to advance to the next round. These candidates were condensed to three participants: Elnur Hüseynov, Aynur Isgandarli, and the band Unformal.
İTV spearheaded a selection campaign and developed a show that is set to feature Eurovision stars such as Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winner Ruslana, Eurovision Song Contest 2007 winner Marija Serifovic, and Eurovision Song Contest 2003 winner Sertab Erener. In addition to terrestrial broadcast, the final will be transmitted on Turkish television TRT (TRT2, TRT Türk, TRT International), Georgian GEGT and a live television bridge with Lithuanian LRT. The show will also be streamed live through the official Eurovision website channel, ESCtv.
The national final started at 17:30 CET and the winners press conference was set to start at 19:30 CET. The winner of the national competition was decided by a combination of jury and televoting results, however, the selection determined the performer; it was an option for the song to be changed.
The winner was Elnur Hüseynov feat. Samir Javadzadeh with the song Day After Day.
Azerbaijan made its début in the Eurovision taking part in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008. It qualified as the fourth country pulled out and will be in the Eurovision final on Sunday 24 May 2008. Azerbaijan was drawn 20th in the Final. In the final the Azerbaijani duet Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh finished 8th with 132 points.