Azerbaijan has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 18 times since making its debut in . The Azerbaijani participating broadcaster in the contest is İctimai Television (İTV). Azerbaijan was the last country in the Caucasus to debut in the contest and the first to win.
Azerbaijan has won the contest once, in , with "Running Scared" performed by Ell and Nikki setting the record for the lowest average score for a winning song under the 12-points voting system, with 5.26 points per country. The country achieved five consecutive top-five results in the contest between 2009 and 2013, finishing third (2009) and fifth (2010) before its 2011 win and fourth (2012) and second (2013) following its win. Azerbaijan has failed to advance from the semi-finals on five occasions, in 2018 and in every edition since 2023.
Participation Prior to Azerbaijan's debut in the Eurovision Song Contest, broadcaster Azerbaijan Television (AzTV) expressed interest in participating in the , but the rules did not allow this as AzTV was not an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). AzTV was denied active EBU membership on 18 June 2007, as it was considered too connected to the Azerbaijani government. On 5 July, İctimai Television (İTV) became a full EBU member, and on 15 October, it was given permission to take part in the contest by the EBU. İTV has participated in the contest representing Azerbaijan since its in 2008. İTV had already broadcast the contest in previous years, purchasing broadcasting rights from the EBU.
History Azerbaijan's debut at Eurovision in 2008 proved to be successful, with "Day After Day" performed by Elnur and Samir placing 8th with 132 points. In 2009, Azerbaijan achieved an improvement on their 2008 debut, coming third and receiving 207 points with "Always" by Aysel and Arash.
Azerbaijan's first Eurovision win came in , when "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki triumphed. With their entry only receiving 5.26 points per voting country, Azerbaijan holds the record of the lowest average score for a winning song under that voting system (in place from 1975 to 2015).
The country managed another two consecutive top five results, with "When the Music Dies" by Sabina Babayeva finishing fourth with 150 points in 2012, and "Hold Me" by Farid Mammadov second with 234 in 2013, but in 2014, Azerbaijan failed to place in the top ten for the first time since their debut, finishing 22nd. Azerbaijan has since managed to reach top 10 only once, with "Truth" by Chingiz finishing eighth in 2019.
2018 saw Azerbaijan's first non-qualification, with "X My Heart" by Aisel failing to progress from the first semi-final. A streak of non-qualifications began in 2023, when "Tell Me More" by TuralTuranX failed to advance. The subsequent three Azerbaijani entries, "" by Fahree and Ilkin Dovlatov in 2024, "Run with U" by Mamagama in 2025, and "Just Go" by Jiva in 2026, all also failed to qualify for the final, with "Just Go" recording the country's worst result to date.
Popularity of the contest Since Azerbaijan's debut in 2008, the contest has been extremely popular in the country. After placing in the top 10 at its debut in 2008 and also ending in the top 5 from 2009 to 2013, the contest became a matter of "national pride". The high importance of the contest within the country became evident in 2013, when the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev launched an inquiry into his country failing to award Russia any points in the 2013 final. Since 2009, the contest has consistently been the most watched show on Azerbaijani television, despite the fact that the contest is broadcast at midnight local time due to the time difference from Central European Time. Azerbaijan issued a postage stamp dedicated to Ell and Nikki's win in 2011.
The country spent () on hosting the 2012 contest, including building a completely new arena for the event. this is the largest amount of money ever spent by any host country on organising the contest.
Participation overview + Table key 1 First place 2 Second place 3 Third place ◁ Last place ◇ Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Elnur and Samir "Day After Day" English 8 132 6 96 Aysel and Arash "Always" English 3 207 2 180 Safura "Drip Drop" English 5 145 2 113 Ell and Nikki "Running Scared" English 1 221 2 122 Sabina Babayeva "When the Music Dies" English 4 150 colspan="2" Farid Mammadov "Hold Me" English 2 234 1 139 Dilara Kazimova "Start a Fire" English 22 33 9 57 Elnur "Hour of the Wolf" English 12 49 10 53 Samra "Miracle" English 17 117 6 185 Dihaj "Skeletons" English 14 120 8 150 Aisel "X My Heart" English colspan="2" 11 94 Chingiz "Truth" English 8 302 5 224 Efendi ◇ "Cleopatra" ◇ English ◇ colspan="4" Efendi "Mata Hari" English 20 65 8 138 Nadir Rustamli "Fade to Black" English 16 106 10 96 TuralTuranX "Tell Me More" English rowspan="4" colspan="2" 14 4 Fahree Ilkin Dovlatov "" English, Azerbaijani 14 11 Mamagama "Run with U" English 15 ◁ 7 Jiva "Just Go" English, Azerbaijani 15 ◁ 2
Hostings
YearLocationVenuePresentersImageBakuBaku Crystal HallLeyla Aliyeva, Eldar Gasimov and Nargiz Birk-Petersen
Awards received
Marcel Bezençon Awards
YearCategorySongPerformerComposerPlacePointsHost cityPress Award"When the Music Dies"Sabina BabayevaAnders Bagge, Sandra Bjurman, Stefan Örn, Johan Kronlund BakuArtistic Award"Hold Me"Farid MammadovDimitris Kontopoulos Malmö
Related involvement Heads of delegation Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others. YearHead of delegation–Adil Karimli–, Husniyya Maharramova–Tamilla Shirinova, Leyla Quliyeva–Isa Melikov–Vasif Mammadov
Commentators and spokespersons The contest is aired on İTV with notable commentators include Azer Suleymanli and Murad Arif.
YearCommentatorSpokesperson rowspan="2" Murad Arif and Leyla AliyevaHusniyya Maharramova and Isa Melikov Leyla Aliyeva Leyla Aliyeva and Isa Melikov Husniyya Maharramova Husniyya Maharramova Tamilla Shirinova Leyla Aliyeva Safura Alizadeh Konul Arifgizi and Saleh Bagirov Konul Arifgizi Tamilla Shirinova Sabina Babayeva Kamran Guliyev Tural Asadov Azer Suleymanli Murad Arif Faig Aghayev Murad Arif and Husniyya MaharramovaEll and Nikki Murad Arif Azer Suleymanli Narmin Salmanova Nurlana Jafarova Aysel Teymurzadeh and Aga Nadirov Safura Alizadeh Azer Suleymanli and Aysel Zahidgizi Sabina Babayeva
Stage directors
YearStage director(s)Rennie Miro & Filip AdamoFokas EvangelinosÅsa Engman and Nicoline RefsingAmbra SucciRoine SöderlundhNaila MammadzadehFokas EvangelinosMads Enggaard, Konstantin Tomilchenko & Aleksandr BratkovskyMads EnggaardMads EnggaardMads Enggaard
Photo gallery
See also
Armenia–Azerbaijan relations in the Eurovision Song Contest – Relations between the two countries in the Junior and Senior Eurovision Song Contests. Azerbaijan in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Notes
References