Azerbaijan have confirmed that they will be joining us in Vienna for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest!
Ictimai TV, the Azeri broadcaster, confirmed the news earlier today.
After success with talents shows like Böyük sehne or Milli Seçim Turu Team Wiwi thinks that’ll likely be the eventual method Baku uses to select their contestant for Vienna 2015.
The news isn’t too surprising: Azerbaijan have been very pro-active at Eurovision since their debut in 2008.
That being said, there were some eyebrows raised when Ictimai “doubted” the results of the 2014 contest. This was after Dilara Kazimova finished a highly disappointing 22nd place in the final, the lowest in the country’s history.
Even with their result in Copenhagen though, Azerbaijan remain one of the most successful countries in recent years, having finished in the top five in five consecutive years, also winning with Ell & Nikki in 2011.
They’re sure to be a force to be reckoned with again and we’re excited to see just who they’ll be sending this year!
@ David: You couldn’t understand what Dilara SINGED at all? Because she has bad pronunciation? I am sorry, did you just say SINGED?
Thanks to the well-wishers. I am sure my country will learn from last year’s performance and come back with something different. Dilara is a very nice person, FYI. I’ve never met her personally, but my close friends are friends with her. When it comes to the UK being above Azerbaijan for once, LEAPerce, I am also disappointed. But I don’t let my disappointment lead me into a xenophobic rant. London has the best music industry in the world, after Los Angeles. If you, Brits, don’t take the contest seriously, and don’t send a deserving team and expect to win or… Read more »
@ESCaddict
What makes “Start a fire” a quality song ?
I am really intrigued ….The fact that it sounds like one of the most average ballads on Earth actually does not make it quality …. The whole performance was so lackluster and trying to sell such a song in 2014 …… NO ………Would have worked in 1993?…… MAYBE!!!!
Azerbaijan should be very proud of Dilara & “Start a Fire”. What is most important is that Azerbaijan entered a quality song. No one, including the blogger, should just focus on the ranking.
A country should enter the best song they have available and not accept a second rate song because it was written locally.
I am glad they are returning in 2015.
I was so pleased to see Azerbaijan below the UK. It won’t happen often so I had to savour it! I’m glad the most corrupt country in eurovision failed, but no so glad that they are returning. Their songs are SO dull, hate them!
“Start A Fire” was the first entry from Azerbaijan that I really, really liked, and it was a lovely performance. I hope the final result for this song won’t mean that they won’t dare to take more chances (as this one was rather different from their previous entries) and instead, they return to sending a more generic and bland song. When it comes to their future participation, my biggest wish is that they send a song written by native musicians and sung in Azerbaijani. Instead of hiring Swedish songwriters and producers, it would be nice to hear what Azerbaijan themselves… Read more »
Dilara is a sweet heart during this year. But I agree that her place for this year was very deserving.
I’m pretty glad with the last Azerbaijani result. There is a number of reasons. First, it was a classy song with a deep meaning in it. I was not expecting the Eurovision audience to get it. That would surprise me if they did. Plus, the stage performance was not exactly what I wanted. Third, Azerbaijan needed to get lower results in order to stop using the same songwriters every year. Hopefully, this year will be different. We can expect a song from Murad Arif or maybe Govhar Hesenzade again. I don’t care if it is a foreigner or a local,… Read more »
Azerbaijan-Countr of the best entries,talents–Good Luck to Land of Fire///
good luck my land of fire
I think a ballad in the Azeri language would be lovely.
Azerbaijan… well I like the most of their entries tbh. This year I was amazed by the video and I was sure for a top 5… however apart from that vocals were awful, the staging was a mess… Like staging it was a great idea yes, but Dilara should have act better in the stage and not smiling all the time, it’s not a happy song… So what Azerbaijan should first of all find id they continue this show that they have is a great singer, with an – at least- ok accent. Then about the song… I honestly dont… Read more »
*worst placing; sorry.
DR: True, but it’s Turkey, who gave three different decisions last year; I see it as possible (though unlikely) that they participate despite their statements. Moroccan participation would be great, but the “we’re applying for EBU membership” story has been the same for the last few years to no result, so until further notice, I don’t see it as likely.
@Calvin
Morroco is more than a long shot they could join esc as a second broadcaster is seeking to join EBU with hope of sending an entry to Eurovision 2015.
Turkey has in the past week or so said they are not going to Vienna.
I think Dilara’s song wasn’t good, all of my friends and I think it was sleepy
I really wish Azerbaijan would send a songwriter from the country itself… and hopefully this next time they make the vocalist and the song align together well (unlike this year). 2012 and 2013 had some amazing vocals and it was a real letdown to see what happened with Start a Fire.
I actually think Running Scared was a well-performed entry, a good song, and Azerbaijan’s best song so far, although really in a year with as many strong entries as 2011 it’s understandable that people are still shaking their heads about the victory.
Dilara’s was the only Azerbaijan song that I liked, and it gave them their worse placing! Oh, well. I’ve been keeping a participation chart (listed below) and will update it accordingly. Countries that have already given some indication of confirmation: 29. Poland 30. Latvia 31. Bulgaria 32. Serbia Countries with no reason to withdraw (and who will, therefore, probably return): 33. Italy 34. San Marino 35. Ukraine (although their political situation could preclude entry, they are entering JESC, so I don’t see them withdrawing from actual Eurovision) 36. Slovenia 37. Moldova 38. Albania Your guess is as good as mine:… Read more »
I liked their entries in 2009 somewhat 2010, 2012 and 2013. The song sounded awful live this year and when I watched it live I knew it was gonna flop…it was just really really boring.
Good, I was worried they’d flip out after their 2014 result, withdraw, and move along to Turkvizyon with their best friend Turkey. Honestly, I don’t care that Azerbaijan outsources their songwriters and producers. Many countries do that, Azerbaijan just gets all the heat for it. They consistently send strong songs (except for 2008 which I think everyone can agree on and 2009 in my opinion) and I can’t wait to see what they send this year.
Yeeeeyyyy i liked all azerbaijan’s songs…. mainly 2010, 2012 and 2014
So the fire is going to burn the house down next year … and one wonders: with the help of another Swedish music team behind both songwriting and production? What will it be? A cheesy dance crap a la 2009? Or a stunning ballad with class and poise and remarkable vocals a la 2012 and 2014 … ruined sadly by the on-going difficulty of not being sufficiently good at English? Nonetheless, they have enough money to pay anybody to give them the one thing themselves are too scared of doing on their own: a song! Apart from last year (sadly)… Read more »
2014 was the first year Azerbaijan got the result it deserved .. Hopefully a sign of things to come