Azerbaijan has been represented at theEurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in2008. The Azerbaijani participating broadcaster in the contest isİctimai Television (İTV). Azerbaijan was the last country in theCaucasus to debut in the contest and the first to win.
Azerbaijan has won the contest once, in2011, with "Running Scared" performed byEll andNikki 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 four occasions, in 2018 and since 2023.
Prior to Azerbaijan's debut in theEurovision Song Contest, broadcasterAzerbaijan Television (AzTV) expressed interest in participating in the2007 contest, but the rules did not allow this as AzTV was not an active member of theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU). AzTV was denied active EBU membership on 18 June 2007, as it was considered too connected to the Azerbaijani government.[1] On 5 July,İctimai Television (İTV) became a full EBU member,[2] and on 15 October, it was given permission to take part in the contest by the EBU.[3] İTV has participated in the contest representing Azerbaijan since its53rd edition in 2008. İTV had already broadcast the contest in previous years, purchasing broadcasting rights from the EBU.
Azerbaijan's debut at Eurovision in 2008 proved to be successful, with "Day After Day" performed byElnur andSamir placing 8th with 132 points. In 2009, Azerbaijan achieved an improvement on their 2008 debut, coming third and receiving 207 points with "Always" byAysel andArash.
Azerbaijan's first Eurovision win came in2011, when "Running Scared" byEll andNikki triumphed.[4][5] 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" bySabina Babayeva finishing fourth with 150 points in 2012, and "Hold Me" byFarid 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, the country's lowest result in a Eurovision final to date.
Azerbaijan has since managed to reach top 10 only once, with "Truth" byChingiz finishing eighth in 2019. 2018 saw Azerbaijan's first non-qualification, with "X My Heart" byAisel failing to progress from the first semi-final, followed by "Tell Me More" byTuralTuranX failing to advance from the first semi-final in 2023, and "Özünlə apar" byFahree andIlkin Dovlatov failing to advance from the first semi-final in 2024. In 2025, Azerbaijan scored its worst-ever result when "Run with U" byMamagama finished last in the first semi-final.
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 presidentIlham Aliyev launched an inquiry into his country failing to award Russia any points in the 2013 final.[6] 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 fromCentral European Time. Azerbaijan issued a postage stamp dedicated to Ell and Nikki's win in 2011.[7][8]
The country spent₼300 million (€160 million) on hosting the 2012 contest, including building a completely new arena for the event.[9] As of 2024,[update] this is the largest amount of money ever spent by any host country on organising the contest.[10]
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.[14]
^Narmin Salmanova was supposed to announce the results, but due to alleged technical difficulties, the contest's executive supervisorMartin Österdahl announced them instead.
^Hajizade, Aysel (6 August 2025)."Azərbaycanı "Avroviziya"da "Səs Azərbaycan"ın qalibi təmsil edəcək? – Açiqlama" [Will the winner of "The Voice of Azerbaijan" represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision? – Statement].Azxeber (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved12 August 2025.O, Azərbaycanın "Avroviziyada" iştirak etməyəcəyi haqda yayılan məlumatların əsassız olduğunu bildirib. [She said that the information that Azerbaijan will not participate in Eurovision is baseless.]
^İmanov, Ramin (24 April 2025)."Safura yenidən Avroviziyada" [Safura is back at Eurovision].Songfestival Azerbaijan (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved24 April 2025.
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