Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
| Eurovision Song Contest 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Azerbaijan
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Milli seçim turu 50% jury, 50% televote |
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| Selection date(s) |
Heats: 28 November 2011 - 27 January 2012 Semifinal: 30 January 2012 - 3 February 2012 Final: 100% jury 12 February 2012 |
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| Selected entrant | Sabina Babayeva | |||
| Selected song | "When the Music Dies" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 4th, 150 points | |||
| Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 as host in Baku and selected their entry in a series of competitive heats and a national final Milli seçim turu, which was organised by Azerbaijani broadcaster İTV. Azerbaijan was represented by Sabina Babayeva in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, on 26 May 2012, with the song "When the Music Dies", as the 13th act. She came fourth overall with 150 points.
A total of 119 songs were submitted to İTV. The selection process was the same as in 2011, with the exception that the number of the contestants was reduced to 72 singers. They were then split in eight heats with nine singers in each. The voting was 50% jury voting and 50% televoting. Weekly heats consisted of five shows aired from Monday to Friday, with a foreign song performed on Monday, an Azerbaijani song on Tuesday, a past-year Eurovision song on Wednesday, a song with a special focus on performance on Thursday and a song of the singer's own choice on Friday. The selected contestants included three-year candidate Azad Shabanov, as well as candidates from the previous year's selection tour: Altun Zeynalov, Empathy, Emin Hasan, Rustam Allazov, Janana Zeynalova, Orkhan Nasibov, Sabina Babayeva, Ramin Guliyev, Kanan Gadimov, Adil Bakhishli, Ulvi Rashidov, Rinat Alimov, Habil Ahmadov, and Khana Hasanova. Applicants from abroad included Yan Kashepava from the United States and Vlada Akhundova from Russia.
The song "When the Music Dies" was selected internally by jury. Written by Swedish composers Anders Bagge, Sandra Bjurman, Stefan Örn, and Johan Kronlund, the song is a symbiosis of Western and traditional Azeri tunes. It is sung entirely in English.
Azerbaijan, as the last year's winner, hosted the contest, and therefore automatically qualified for the final, on 26 May.
The draw that determined the semi-finals and running orders was held on 25 January 2012. As a result of this draw, Azerbaijan (along with Italy and Spain) voted in the first semi-final, held on 22 May.
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