Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
| Eurovision Song Contest 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Azerbaijan
|
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) | 17 January 2009 (singer) 5 February 2009 (song) |
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| Selected entrant | AySel and Arash | |||
| Selected song | "Always" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (2nd, 180 points) | |||
| Final result | 3rd, 207 points | |||
| Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, making their second appearance at the contest. Arash and Aysel Teymurzadeh represented Azerbaijan at the contest as a duo after Teymurzadeh was internally selected by the Azeri broadcaster, İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti (İTV). Initially Arash was the author of the selected song and was later invited to perform it alongside Teymurzadeh.
A multi-artist national final, similar to last year's Land of Fire, was planned to be held by İTV. However, after the quality of the entries was deemed poor, İTV decided to hold an internal selection for the artist that will represent Azerbaijan in the 2009 contest.
On 17 January it was revealed that Aysel Teymurzadeh, a nineteen-year-old R&B singer, has been selected to represent Azerbaijan at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia. She was selected by a seven-member jury appointed by İTV. A press conference was held by İTV later on in the day, Teymurzadeh was presented as the Azerbaijani representative. On 5 February it was announced that the same jury unanimously chose the song Always written by and performed as a duet with Iranian-Swedish singer and entertainer Arash among 30 proposed songs sent to an open call.
As part of their promo tour, Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash visited Slovenia, Romania and Sweden before heading to Moscow for their final rehearsals.
The international team behind AySel & Arash included experts from Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Azerbaijan itself. The outfits Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash wore on stage were designed by the Swedish couturier Lars Wallin.
During the rehearsals in Moscow, the Azerbaijan representatives were visited by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Azerbaijan's entry was regarded as a favourite and had been predicted by many as being likely to finish in the top five in the final.
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Wikipedia