Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and selected their singer in the national final Milli Seçim Turu, which was organised by the public broadcasters İTV.[1]Farid Mammadov represented Azerbaijan with the song "Hold Me", which finished in 2nd place scoring 234 points in the grand final.[2]
National final
Heats
70 singers were split in eight heats with eight or nine singers in each. Weekly heats consisted of five shows aired from Monday to Friday, with a foreign song performed on Monday, an Azerbaijani song on Tuesday, a past-year Eurovision song on Wednesday, a song with a special focus on performance on Thursday and a song of the singer's own choice on Friday. The winner of each quarter-final, chosen by SMS voting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%) qualified for the final.
The final was held on 14 March 2013 at the Buta Palace in Baku, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva and Tural Asadov. The winner was chosen by SMS voting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%).
Farid Mammadov at the second semi-final dress rehearsal in Malmö.
Azerbaijan was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May.[3] In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Azerbaijan would perform 4th, following Macedonia and preceding Finland.[4]
Azerbaijan qualified from the second semi-final.[5] At the second semi-final winners' press conference, Azerbaijan was allocated to perform in the second half of the final.[6] In the final, the producers of the show decided that Azerbaijan would perform 20th, following Iceland and preceding Greece.[7]
The Azerbaijani entry was awarded one of the three Marcel Bezençon Awards, which honour the best of the competing entries for the 2013 Contest in different areas of achievement. Azerbaijan received the Artists Award, which was voted for by the international broadcasting commentators.[8]