Armenia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Qami" written by Sevak Khanagyan, Anna Danielyan and Viktorya Maloyan. The song was performed by Sevak Khanagyan. The Armenian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final Depi Evratesil 2018, organised by the Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV). The national final and consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten entries competed in each semi-final with the top five from each semi-final qualifying to compete in the final on 25 February 2018. "Qami" performed by Sevak Khanagyan was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from an international jury and a public televote.
Armenia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing during the show in position 16, "Qami" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Armenia placed fifteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 79 points.
Background
Prior to the 2018 contest, Armenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in 2006. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been fourth place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2008 with the song "Qélé, Qélé" performed by Sirusho and in 2014 with the song "Not Alone" performed by Aram Mp3. Armenia had, to this point, failed to qualify to the final on only one occasion in 2011. The nation briefly withdrew from the contest in 2012 due to long-standing tensions with then host country Azerbaijan. In 2017, "Fly with Me" performed by Artsvik placed eighteenth in the final.
The Armenian national broadcaster, Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV), broadcasts the event within Armenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. AMPTV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 27 October 2017. Armenia has used various methods to select the Armenian entry in the past, such as a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However internal selections have also been held on occasion. Between 2014 and 2016, the broadcaster internally selected both the artist and the song. The broadcaster opted to organize a national final titled Depi Evratesil to select the Armenian performer for the 2017 contest, with the song being internally selected. However, AMPTV announced along with their participation confirmation that Depi Evratesil would once again be organized but would select both the artist and the song for the 2018 contest.
Before Eurovision Depi Evratesil 2018 Depi Evratesil 2018 (Towards Eurovision 2018) was the second edition of the national final Depi Evratesil and selected the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The competition commenced on 19 February 2018 with the first of two semi-finals and concluded with a winning song and artist during the final on 25 February 2018. All shows in the competition took place at the AMPTV studios in Yerevan, hosted by Gohar Gasparyan and broadcast on Armenia 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's website 1tv.am.
Format The national final took place over three stages and consisted of three shows. The first stage was a submission period where artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply by submitting their entries online. Twenty entries were selected to proceed to the second stage of the competition. The second stage consisted of the semi-finals which took place on 19 and 22 December 2018 with ten entries competing in each show. The top five from each semi-final proceeded to the third stage, the final which took place on 25 February 2018. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining ten entries. The results of each of the three shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from an international jury panel and a public vote. The public were able to cast their votes via SMS, and both the public and jury vote developed an overall ranking which were converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned to the competing entries.
Competing entries On 27 October 2017, AMPTV announced an online submission period with a deadline of 15 December 2017. Artists were required to be aged at least 16 and are of Armenian citizenship or heritage, and were also required to submit a cover version of another song along with their entry submission. Songwriters worldwide were able to submit songs. The broadcaster received more than 100 entries at the closing of the deadline. A jury panel selected twenty entries to proceed to the national final, which were announced on 27 December 2017. Among the competing artists was Tamar Kaprelian who represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as part of the group Genealogy. Artist Song Songwriter(s)AlternatiV "Stare at Me" Sargis Burnazyan Amalia Margaryan "Waiting for the Sun" Vahram Yanikyan, Amalia Margaryan Angel "Heartbeat" Anzhela Barseghyan, Vahram Yanikyan Arman Mesropyan "What You Hide" Vahram Yanikyan Asmik Shiroyan "You & I" HAJ, Neil Ormandy, Marli Harwood Gata Band "Shogha" () Andranik Manukyan Gevorg Harutyunyan "Stand Up" Astghik Grigoryan, Gevorg Harutyunyan, Liana Aramyan Hayk Kasparov "Enamórame" Rafael Artesero Herrero, José Juan Santana Rodriguez Kamil Show "Puerto Rico" Vahram Petrosyan, Arthur Abgar Lusine Mardanyan "If You Don't Walk Me Home" Lusine Mardanyan, Gagach Derkhorenyan Maria's Secret "Escape" Jorj Tonoyan Mariam "Fade" Mariam Petrosyan Mger Armenia "Forever" Arsen Barsamyan, Arshavir Stepanyan Nemra "I'm a Liar" Van Yeghiazaryan Robert Koloyan "Get Away With Us" Robert Koloyan, Arthur Armeni Mnatsakanyan, Grigor Kyokchyan Sevak Khanagyan "Qami" () Sevak Khanagyan, Anna Danielyan, Viktorya Maloyan Suren Poghosyan "The Voice" Georgios Kalpakidis, Natasha Turner, Jonas Gladnikoff Tamar Kaprelian "Poison (Ari Ari)" () Tamar Kaprelian, Sebu Simonian, Harutyun Der-Hovagimian, Ovsanna Khublaryan, Yana Karapetyan, Sanahin Papazian Tyom "Follow the Ocean" Gevorg Gevorgyan, Inna Mkrtchyan Zhanna Davtyan "Unbreakable" Nikolayn Egibyan, Zhanna Davtyan
Shows
Semi-finals Two semi-finals took place on 19 and 22 February 2018. In each semi-final ten entries competed and the top five qualified to the final by the 50/50 combination of votes from a six-member international jury and a public vote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured Armenian 2017 Junior Eurovision entrant Misha with "Boomerang" in semi-final 1, and Syuzanna Melqonyan with "Euphoria", "Rise Like a Phoenix" and "1944" in semi-final 2.
+ Semi-final 119 February 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Gevorg Harutyunyan "Stand Up" 31 6 2,261 12 18 2 2 Angel "Heartbeat" 22 1 54 1 2 10 3 Lusine Mardanyan "If You Don't Walk Me Home" 44 10 313 3 13 4 4 Zhanna Davtyan "Unbreakable" 31 7 259 2 9 8 5 Mger Armenia "Forever" 28 4 1,898 8 12 5 6 Nemra "I'm a Liar" 66 12 2,125 10 22 1 7 Hayk Kasparov "Enamórame" 27 3 361 4 7 9 8 Tamar Kaprelian "Poison (Ari Ari)" 31 5 543 5 10 6 9 Robert Koloyan "Get Away With Us" 42 8 789 6 14 3 10 Gata Band "Shogha" 26 2 1,512 7 9 7
+ Song Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Juror 6 Total 1 "Stand Up" 2 8 8 7 2 4 31 2 "Heartbeat" 5 4 5 4 3 1 22 3 "If You Don't Walk Me Home" 12 1 4 10 7 10 44 4 "Unbreakable" 3 2 10 3 6 7 31 5 "Forever" 1 5 3 1 10 8 28 6 "I'm a Liar" 10 12 12 12 8 12 66 7 "Enamórame" 7 6 2 2 4 6 27 8 "Poison (Ari Ari)" 4 7 7 6 5 2 31 9 "Get Away with Us" 8 3 6 8 12 5 42 10 "Shogha" 6 10 1 5 1 3 26 International Jury Members : (Artistic director) : Mart Normet (Producer) : Zita Kaminska (TV director) : Tali Eshkoli (TV producer, Eurovision expert) : Evi Papamichael (ESC Head of Delegation) : Mateusz Grzesinski (ESC Head of Delegation)
+ Semi-final 222 February 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Maria's Secret "Escape" 30 5 237 3 8 7 2 Arman Mesropyan "What You Hide" 19 2 301 4 6 9 3 Kamil Show "Puerto Rico" 15 1 1,917 10 11 5 4 Suren Poghosyan "The Voice" 27 4 202 2 6 10 5 Amalia Margaryan "Waiting for the Sun" 56 10 1,913 8 18 2 6 AlternatiV "Stare at Me" 42 7 172 1 8 8 7 Tyom "Follow the Ocean" 27 3 336 5 8 6 8 Sevak Khanagyan "Qami" 59 12 4,146 12 24 1 9 Mariam "Fade" 34 6 898 7 13 4 10 Asmik Shiroyan "You and I" 42 8 740 6 14 3
+ Song Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Juror 6 Total 1 "Escape" 10 5 5 5 4 1 30 2 "What You Hide" 3 4 1 8 1 2 19 3 "Puerto Rico" 1 1 2 1 2 8 15 4 "The Voice" 2 8 6 3 5 3 27 5 "Waiting for the Sun" 8 10 8 10 10 10 56 6 "Stare at Me" 7 7 4 7 12 5 42 7 "Follow the Ocean" 4 6 3 4 6 4 27 8 "Qami" 12 3 12 12 8 12 59 9 "Fade" 6 5 7 2 7 7 34 10 "You and I" 5 12 10 6 3 6 42 International Jury Members : Gordon Bonello (Show producer, creative director) : Molly Plank (Executive producer) : (TV and radio presenter) : Jan Bors (TV producer) : Olga Salamakha (TV producer) : Natia Mshvenieradze (International projects manager)
Final The final took place on 25 February 2018. The ten entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner, "Qami" performed by Sevak Khanagyan, was selected by the 50/50 combination of votes from a nine-member international jury and a public vote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured Armenian 2017 Eurovision entrant Artsvik with "Fly with Me" and "No Fear". + Final25 February 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Sevak Khanagyan "Qami" 84 12 11,391 12 24 1 2 Gevorg Harutyunyan "Stand Up" 40 3 2,849 5 8 7 3 Lusine Mardanyan "If You Don't Walk Me Home" 54 7 343 1 8 8 4 Kamil Show "Puerto Rico" 35 2 5,961 10 12 4 5 Amalia Margaryan "Waiting for the Sun" 64 8 3,507 7 15 3 6 Nemra "I'm a Liar" 75 10 5,815 8 18 2 7 Mariam "Fade" 47 5 1,445 4 9 5 8 Mger Armenia "Forever" 31 1 3,364 6 7 9 9 Robert Koloyan "Get Away with Us" 41 4 872 2 6 10 10 Asmik Shiroyan "You and I" 51 6 1,229 3 9 6
+ Song Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Juror 6 Juror 7 Juror 8 Juror 9 Total 1 "Qami" 10 3 12 12 10 12 6 7 12 84 2 "Stand Up" 1 8 4 2 5 8 3 6 3 40 3 "If You Don't Walk Me Home" 4 6 2 6 3 10 8 10 5 54 4 "Puerto Rico" 2 1 1 5 12 7 1 5 1 35 5 "Waiting for the Sun" 7 7 7 10 7 4 12 8 2 64 6 "I'm a Liar" 8 4 10 7 8 6 10 12 10 75 7 "Fade" 5 5 5 8 6 3 5 4 6 47 8 "Forever" 6 10 3 1 2 2 2 1 4 31 9 "Get Away with Us" 12 2 6 3 1 1 7 2 7 41 10 "You and I" 3 12 8 4 4 5 4 3 8 51 International Jury Members : Nicola Caligiore (ESC Head of Delegation) : Olga Salamakha (TV producer) : (Artistic director) : Natia Mshvenieradze (International projects manager) : Gordon Bonello (Show producer, creative director) : Mart Normet (Producer) : Ovi (Singer-songwriter, producer) : Edoardo Grassi (ESC Head of Delegation) : Christer Björkman (Producer, Singer)
Preparation Sevak Khanagyan filmed the official video for "Qami" following his win at Depi Evratesil 2018, which was directed by Arthur Manukyan and featured fashion designs by Aram Nikolyan. The video was previewed on 16 March and released via the official Eurovision Song Contest's YouTube channel on 21 March 2018.
Promotion