Despite initial doubts in September that Azerbaijan would not be broadcasting and therefore participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, preparations are well underway as Azerbaijan continues its search for the country’s next Eurovision representative in Liverpool in May.
Azerbaijan’s 2023 representative
This week, Azerbaijani Head of Delegation Vasif Mammadov revealed that the Azerbaijani selection is not short of songs with great potential, with over 200 songs being submitted for consideration.
According to 12Xal, the majority of the songs have been written by international songwriters and composers. However, Mammadov did stress that their goal was to ensure that local composers were also part of the songs up for consideration.
Whilst the writing credits of Azerbaijan’s Eurovision entries often feature international songwriters and composers, it is clear that the ultimate goal is to showcase Azerbaijani composers at the Eurovision Song Contest and demonstrate that their local talent shows as much promise as those external to their own nation.
Based on the selection process, if there are local and foreign songs that meet the same criteria, we will give priority to the local song. That is, we really want the music of the Azerbaijani composer to be played at the competition. Let's show that we also have talented composers.Vasif Mammadov, via 12 Xal
It is expected that the selection of songs and representatives will be finalised by the end of January.
Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest
Since their debut in 2008, Azerbaijan has competed at Eurovision 14 times. From 2009 to 2013, they achieved a top 5 streak, where in 2011, Ell and Nikki went one step further by achieving the country’s first win with “Running Scared”. It received a total of 221 points in the Grand Final. In 2022, Nadir Rustamli represented Azerbaijan with his emotional and powerful ballad, “Fade to Black”. He placed 16th and received a total of 106 points in the Grand Final, with 97% of those points coming from the national juries.
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