Turkey was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "", composed by Levent Çoker, with lyrics by Selma Çuhacı, and performed by Şebnem Paker. The Turkish participating broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), selected its entry through a national final.
Before Eurovision
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) developed in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996.
Competing entries TRT opened the submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries. 96 songs were ultimately submitted, from which, 10 were selected by jury panel for the national final.
Final TRT held the national final on 17 February 1996 at its television studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülent Özveren. Ten songs competed and the winner was determined by an expert jury.
+ Artist Song Lyricist Composer Place 1 Semih Bayraktar "Yoruldu Düşlerim" Çağatay Özkan Semih Bayraktar — 2 Suavi "Dön Gel Artık Bana" Suavi Saygan Suavi Saygan — 3 Suat Yıldırım & Zeynep Poyraz "Sevgiyle" Suat Yıldırım Zeynep Poyraz — 4 Coşkun Demir "Hep Bir Yarın Var" Selma Çuhacı Mine Mucur — 5 Şebnem Paker "Beşinci Mevsim" Selma Çuhacı Levent Çoker 1 6 Sedat Yüce "Vazgeç" Savaş Savaşan Savaş Savaşan 3 7 Pınar Karakoç & Tüzmen "Var mısın Söyle" Canan Tunç Erdinç Tunç 2 8 Nursel Mucu "Masal" Nursel Mucu Serkan Sönmez — 9 Şebnem Özsaran "Poyraz" Aysel Gürel Müfit Bayraşa — 10 Tüzmen "Bilirsin ya" Semih Güneri Semih Güneri —
At Eurovision On the night of the contest Şebnem Paker performed 1st in the running order preceding United Kingdom. At the close of the voting the song had received 57 points placing Turkey 12th. The Turkish jury awarded its 12 points to Ireland.Michael Kuyucu: Türkiye'nin Serüveni Eurovision, İstanbul, 2005, , pp.218-221 The members of the Turkish jury included Nursal Tekin, Taner Dedeoğlu, Erol Evgin, Melih Kibar, Sonat Bağcan, Nejat Çarkacı, Pınar Karakoç, İlter Yeşilay, Meral Geray, Pınar Türkoğlu, Müveddet Nil Özbay, Fatma Asuman Yıldırım, , Merter Beton, Murat Özcan, and Arsel Aktaç.
Voting Qualifying round
+ Points awarded to Turkey (qualifying round) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Turkey (qualifying round) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Final
+ Points awarded to Turkey (final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Turkey (final) Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
References