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© Azerbaijan Public Television
EBU decided 15 October
Confirmed: Azerbaijan to participate in Eurovision 2008
Today, Ismayil Omarov, head director of iTV received the official letter which makes possible the participation of the country in the 2008 Eurovision Song Conest to be held in Belgrade.
The selection process took place earlier this month and it was judged by the Heydar Aliyec Foundation, Culture and Tourism Ministry and Youth and Sport Ministry. The jury was made up of Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov, professor Nargiz Pashayeva, director of Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Akif Malikov, music composers Vagif Garayzada and Faig Sujaddinov, and finally the music artist Tarana Muradova.
Almost 40 singers partipated in the process including pop group Rast, Roya, Samir Bagirov, Irada Ibrahimova, Ilhama Gasimova, Ayaz Gasimov, Samira, Nurlan Novrasli, Khayyam, Elton Huseynaliyev and Elnara. No details are yet available about whether the final selection will be internal or a national final will be used to determine the final round of the selection.
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@ Owen
"anything that means all the parties work together in a less bitchy and personal way can only be a good thing"
Agree. But PR itself WON'T achieve this. You still have the same party polictics whether you use PR or 1st past the post. What needs to change is the whole outlook of parties - the politicians themselves need to change, grow up and try to engage the electorate again in a sensible way.
I voted for Labour in 1997 and I honestly did not vote for them because of PR. That wasn't even a consideration for me. In fact I didn't even realise it was one of their promises...... I'm glad it didn't happen though.
Yes - other countries have used PR for many, many years but we have used our system for a lot lot longer than most. And, we have never had the problem of ultra right wing nationalism or other extremes.
Sadly, with the current situation in the UK, PR could be very dangerous, giving a louder voice to extemists (on either side) and i'm sure that the majority of people don't want that. So - for all its faults - I'd stick with our current system anyday - one of the oldest and most developed in the world.
I'm sure Cyndi wouldn't have managed to end up higher than any Eastern country...
however... you have your opinion and I have mine - and we will see next year that Western countries don't have any chance to end up high...
@ Kathrin - They don`t have to send " big names ", just good songs. A unknown singer like Cyndi would have done well, because she had a good song. National and international fame means nothing at the ESC - else Switzerland would have won this year.
@ Max - Yes, we lost time cause you still think the Big 4 and western countries made no mistake and tried the best the could. You are free to believe so but it is neverthless wrong. Your arguments don`t convince me, sorry.
@ pissa rreira
1) I don`t think bad songs did better than good songs this year. It was a good top 10 - maybe even a good top 15.
2) Western countries asked for the televote cause there simpyl weren`t so many eastern ones. The fist to ask about it were Germany, the UK, Sweden and Switzerland
3) There were much better songs after the televote - many of them were at least a national success. If they are so bad, why should million people vote them ?
4) I am not the biggest Verka fan but she is no one hit wonder cause she was famous before the ESC and sold many CDs. TL were not even known before the ESC and didn`t even sung own songs. Verkas was at least funny and people will remember her for sure, other artists will be forgotten soon.
5) Part of EBU's politics ? Sorry but are you serious ? We are the judges, we vote the songs, the EBU can not push any country in the final - at least not before 2008, when the jury will pick two entries. Albania,Moldova,Armenia and Georgia were successful because of their great songs,singers and performances ! Their success was well deserved.
dammit people stop nagging & get over it!
Azerbaijan is in, and that's it, wether you like it or not!!
Rob I didn't say PR was better, i just said there are problems on many different levels especially in a first past the post system (and other countries that have PR like Germany New Zealand ect have seemed to manage for a long time! Personally i agree that it means that there is a whole different form of problems with it, HOWERVER anything that means all the parties work together in a less bitchy and personal way can only be a good thing and something that gives EVERYONE the vote and a vote they know will be counted on a national level is much better than a system that favours the English middle classes and the South East of England, and that keeps devisions in society, such as the labour-conservative difference of north and south england, and the labour-tory difference between england as a whole and the other nations of the country can't be all that bad even if there are a whole new kettle of fish where problems are concerned! and actually i think you will find that a lot of people in the UK would agree, labour got into power in 1997 on a promise of PR as well as other things, which they did not act on).
At the end of the day democracy is not the be all and end all of a country that deserves to be recognised as a worthy member of the international community because there is NO perfect example of democracy in the world and to force countries to become democratic (such as in Iraq) just screws the country up even more! Democracy is a process and something that has to be worked out by the people for the people and the creases have to be straightened, it can't be imposed on a country, especially one that has very tribal communities because it simply doesn't work! there needs to be a sense of nationhood before the entire nation can vote on something as one!
What i'm trying to say is that the fact Azerbaijan is democratic doesn't really come into it (especially when it comes to ESC for God's sake!) and shouldn't come into it! While democracy is obviously a more desirable process of government, surely its more important that everyone in the country is treated with respect and equality, that the country works with the rest of the world to form a greater level of peace, and not start illegal or meaningless wars (three areas a country such as the United States - supposedly the icon of western democracy - could work on!)
I agree with you that the voting system is not working! and needs reformation though.
@ Owen
Democracy - the UK model.
I agree that the 'first past the post' system is not ideal. However, it was designed this way for very specific reasons - to ensure that local voices were heard at the national level. The system ensures that an area (or ward) elects someone that represents them.
Yes - there are problems - the overall proportions are skewed and the Boundaries make it much easier for an overall Labour majority than a Tory one (.... frequent boundary changes see to that - the Tories if elected could change it the other way etc...)
However, please do not see Proportional Representation (PR) as a wonderful answer or 'true' democracy. The PR system itself would throw up a whole new can of worms and issues to resolve e.g. how do you decide who gets which MP? Do you give a Tory heartland a Lib Dem MP? etc..etc...... It all becomes very messy - hence the reason why we have had the current system so long.
The Democratic model in the UK isn't perfect by any means, but it is recognised as one of the better ones and does have in built safeguards. For instance, PR would result in parties like the BNP having a bigger say in UK politics - that is something I would NEVER want to see.
@ Owen
" means that cultural devides that almost riped apart this continent only 20 years ago are consigned to the past!! SURELY thats something to celebrate!" >>>>>>
Owen, I welcome any country that is European or a member of the EBU and agree that the whole concept of ESC was to bring nations together through song/music. Yes, that is something to celebrate.
Unfortunately, the voting problems - which have endlessly been discussed and whatever viewpoints people have - the results and facts speak for themselves. There IS a problem.
Sadly, the voting problems now are only serving to reinforce the old divisions and stereotypes. The ESC is now just highlighting everything it set out to stop.
The voting issues/patterns are making the "contest" somewhat redundant because we all know who will be awarding high marks to whom. And no, it isn't just an Eastern problem - some Western countries are just as guilty. So I am NOT making this a West/East thing.
So - a big welcome to the new entrants because whats happened before is nothing to do with them. However, there ARE real issues with the voting, these must be addressed because they are destroying everything the contest aims to achieve. And that aim is one that both you and I think is worth protecting.
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I'm so sorry that this discussion about contestant countries of Eurovision Song Contest creates so much hostility between those who discuss. For God's sake! This is a SONG CONTEST, not a declaration of war between countries and neither is this discussion a session of La Haye Commission of Justice.
Please be friendly to each other, do not be prejudiced or hostile. Every year I vote for the song 
that I like most and many times I see that those are songs from neighbouring countries. The reason is not political, I like the songs because the melodies are familiar, the words are familiar or singers are familiar and it's only natural when countries are so close and distances are shorter now in the modern world.
I say welcome to Azerbaijan and I wish that everyone will stop claiming that only the song that he/she likes is the best song.
[b]"I'm absolutely certain that Azerbaijan will get to the final in 2008."[/b]
I TOTALLY agree with Keith Timmons on this one. One of the reasons why people are being so negative towards Azerbaijan is because you can already predict that that'll happen.
In 2004 Albania did it, 2005 Moldova did it, 2006 Armenia did it and 2007 Georgia did it.
In the past few years EBU's politics have been that at least one of the debutant countries should be successful. In other to attract more countries.
I'm supporting pissa rreira's comments all the way and I'd like to add that - concerning Texas Lightning - it's no argument to say that they were only a hype because they were hyped [b]at the time when they participated[/b]...
@ drusus 1
"TL weren`t popular before the contest, they sold their stuff after the national final and after they ESC, which was followed by a hype. They stayed a one hit wonder though and are already forgotten."
You were talking about Texas Lightning, right? Well, the exact same thing happened this year with Verka.
Like it or not, Verka had the most successful song of 2007. It was a relative success, it even entered the charts in some countries. But then, Verka's album flopped. Verka too is a one hit wonder.
This kind of relative success happens all time. ABBA's success was the exception. Céline Dion was the second exception, [b]BUT[/b] she became famous because she had major American mainstream record companies backing her. Eurovision had nothing to do with it.
@ drusus 1
"People are free to vote the songs they like, no matter if we like it or not. That`s democracy..."
Ok. But if as a result of "democracy" the results we have are: bad songs doing much better than good songs, then it's about time to change the voting system. And the voting system DOES NOT have to reflect the preferences of the population of a country (example: there is no reason why The Netherlands should give year after year 12 points to Turkey, when at the same time The Netherlands is competing against Turkey and it's unlikely that Turkey will give any points back) because [b] this is a competition between TVs, not between countries[/b].
"and it were western countries asking for the televote – not eastern ones."
Where did you get this information???? Anyway, I assure you that not all of the Western countries were happy with the change to televoting
"And they were right doing so as the old jury almost killed the contest in the 90s with predictable songs,"
It's true that juries will always tend to vote for the classical eurovision type of songs. But [b]the juries didn't almost kill the contest in the 90s[/b]. From 1998 on the contest started to change from what it always had been to a more modern version, and that happened [b] because EBU changed its contest politics[/b]. Then, [b] Old time participant countries[/b] continued to take part following more or less the old models, whereas [b] new participating countries [/b] brought songs that were more in touch with the spirit of the times. But it was EBU who changed the rules, not the new participating countries.
"no one outside the ESC really liked."
WAKE UP!!!! There is good music and there is Eurovision music and [b]the 2 ain't the same[/b]. Only once in a while there is a really good song in the contest.
It's funny and depressing at the same time to see how the Eastern Countries seem to think that by participating and [b] winning[/b] Eurovision they'll achieve success, international fame, an international career and money money money. And they're so wrong. In 50 years only one artist achieved [b]that kind of success[/b]: ABBA. But they achieved it, because they were really good. They would have been successful (maybe on a smaller scale) even if they hadn't participated in Eurovision. The Contest only helped to make them known.
Apart from Eurovision fans, nobody likes Eurovision music, that is, the majority of the population and the music industry. And nowadays if you want to have the kind of success ABBA had, [b] the first thing to do is NOT to take part in the contest[/b].
@ drusus 1
"if “ Shake it “ did well and “ My number one “ even won, we shouldn`t be surprised about that success"
Does that mean that if Sarbel takes part in 2008 with another version of Yassou Maria that we should all be glad that it finishes 7th? Because 7th is the natural placing for a song like that. Or does that mean that people [b] clearly[/b] vote for countries and not for songs?
It happens that this contest is still a [b]Song Contest[/b] and not a contest to decide [b] which is your favourite country [/b]
@ drusus 1
I [i]really[/i] don't want to be arrogant, but I'm really really sorry.
I'm sorry that I joined the discussion with you because I only wasted time...
You should read again what I wrote and then what you wrote and perhaps you will find out what I meant and that your argumentation was miles away from mine...
Perhaps you should read what Kathrin Schmidt wrote - she pointed it out in a way...
@ Keith Timmons
So Ireland, Sweden and Germany should leave the competition? Well, I think, all of these three has sent better songs than the United Kingdom this year... Perhaps the UK should leave the competition as well - following your logic?
@ drusus
"Lets start with the Big 4 - did they - as big european music markets - send they best they have to offer ? The best compositions and the best singers ? I doubt it !Same goes for Ireland, the Netherlands. Belgium, Austria and Switzerland..."
"Did the Big 4 send the best they could ? I don`t think so – TL weren`t popular before the contest, they sold their stuff after the national final and after they ESC, which was followed by a hype. They stayed a one hit wonder though and are already forgotten. Well, being voted artist of the year doesn`t mean ESC fame – many countries send national stars to the ESC without being successful. National success means nothing at the ESC, even international known acts such as Kate Ryan and Dj BoBo failed….I just hope Germanys best doesn`t mean Tokio Hotel or something."
You have a strange opinion! You say that the western countries should send their best singers but when they DO send their national (in some cases even international) stars they don't do enough in your opinion. What should they do? Their no name singers and their stars are all crap in your opinion. So should they hire big stars from the USA? Do you really want that?
I think that most countries which were not so successful in the last few years have already tried everything they could. They send new talents and national stars, groups and soloists, rock songs and ballads, pop songs and traditional tunes, serious and fun songs and have a lot of different performances.
So accusing them of not doing enough is stupid because the facts speaks against this.
@ Zohar, 16 Oct 2007 19:49:37
I wouldn't mind an Eurovision in [i]Astana[/i] (Kazakh capital since 1997), probably they would organize it under the huge transparent tent of Khan Shatyry. 
@ Max – Greece and Turkey aren`t new, eastern countries some people complain about all the time. They aren`t part of the contests enlargement. The diaspora votes won`t help much if the song isn`t good….else they would win the contest every year. Did I vote Yassou Maria ? No, I didn`t but if “ Shake it “ did well and “ My number one “ even won, we shouldn`t be surprised about that success. Plus how do you wanna change it ? People are free to vote the songs they like, no matter if we like it or not. That`s democracy and it were western countries asking for the televote – not eastern ones. And they were right doing so as the old jury almost killed the contest in the 90s with predictable songs, no one outside the ESC really liked.
Did the Big 4 send the best they could ? I don`t think so – TL weren`t popular before the contest, they sold their stuff after the national final and after they ESC, which was followed by a hype. They stayed a one hit wonder though and are already forgotten. Well, being voted artist of the year doesn`t mean ESC fame – many countries send national stars to the ESC without being successful. National success means nothing at the ESC, even international known acts such as Kate Ryan and Dj BoBo failed….I just hope Germanys best doesn`t mean Tokio Hotel or something.
PS : Once again agree with Owen !
Good one, Owen. i call everybody to read your post before shouting "democracy".
Anyway, Eurovision is not confined to countries with a certain level of democracy, or members of EU, not mentioning NATO.
As an Azerbaijani, I personally hope my country will never join NATO or EU (for the reasons, which would be irrelevant to state here), but participate and provide unforgettable entries in the ESC.
@Aris Arakelian
This is an extract of the Azerbaijan entry of wikipedia (which i know is not the worlds most reliable source but their country profiles tend to be very truthful), I have also seen and heard this information on other sites and books.:
Azerbaijan, a nation with an ethnic Azeri and Shi‘ite Muslim majority population, [3][4] is a secular and unitary republic. The country has been a co-founder of GUAM and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States since September 1993.[5] The country has a Permanent Mission to the European Union, hosts a Special Envoy of the European Commission and is a member of the United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.
I think you will find that satisfactory evidence that Azerbaijan IS an aspiring EU and NATO member as well as being a key player in world politics. AS IS your home nation of Armenia, and I would hasten to add that a country does NOT have to be democratic to join the EU or NATO it just has to APPEAR to be. It all depends on what you would call a "democratic" nation. If it means simply the population of the country is given a vote to elect its government and or head of state then Azerbaijan IS democratic, in that it is in the contitution of Azerbaijan to for the president and government to be elected by the people every 5 years. HOWEVER if you mean democratic in that ALL parts of the population have their say, and a proportionate strength to their size, and the government always follows the peoples word then the democracy of Azerbaijan is more debateable, but then so is the democracy of many other European nations, including the United Kingdom! we have a first past the post system which means someone can have 30% of the vote in one constituency and win the seat, this also means that the majority of votes are worthless, and also in the United Kingdom (just like in many other countries) families and sections of society have traditions for voting for a particular party, this is true for almost ALL sections of the public apart from Middle Class England which means that ALL the major parties (only two or three of which have even the slimmest chance of getting into power) target this group and the other groups can go to hell because they know their votes are safe!
THEREFORE I think you will find in the common use of the word "democratic" Azerbaijan can be described as such and in the less common form it really doesn't matter as some of the supposedly most democratic and liberal countries in the world are only debatable in that category.
NOT that any of this matters as ALL European and Eurasian countries that are members of the EBU can join the Eurovison song contest be they communist, leftist, centerist, rightist or facist or democratic, ultra-democratic, semi-democratic or undemocratic OR even MUSLIM!! (shock horror)!
I mean lets REALLY get to the bottom of why people were fairly fine about Armenia, Serbia, Georgia, Belarus (which is far less democratic than Azerbaijan I might add) and Bulgaria joining and why there is so much opposition to Azerbaijan joining! ITS BECAUSE THEY ARE MUSLIM!!!! the only three other Muslim states in the contest are Turkey which has been in the contest for ages, Bosnia who has also been in the contest for ages (be it as Yugoslavia for much of that time) and Albania who everyone sees as only a dim threat to the ESC Crown and which was the only country to be officially Athiest.
I personally couldn't care less if The Democratic Republic of the Congo joined ESC as long as they played the CONTEST fairly, understood the MAIN reason behind the contest, ie international and European co-operation towards peace and friendship for all be it big, small, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Ba'hai or other! EVERYONE is supposed to get a FAIR and EQUAL chance at participating in the contest! no matter what thier history, present situation or political squabbles!
Welcome!!!
if Armenia and Georgia can participate,Azerbaijan is also very welcomed...
and finally they are in,whether you like it or not!!!!
Welcome Azerbaijan,it's high time to show your great culture to Europe!
Moderated by: Cem Yalcinkaya at Fri 19 Oct 2007 18:23:41
it is probably because Azerbaijan is the last Caucasian country to enter and some people have become now even more frustrated about the contest's east extension.
@ jalal talal
well said, actually the enter of other Caucasus countries was not met with such a negative reaction as Azerbaijan was.
Keith
Your right its about beautiful music but that was only really a secondary aim when it was created, the real aim was to improve relations in a war torn Europe.
Hopefully they will, if they continue to send dull songs and dry stale acts along with them.
Aww thanx Mer Maid (red face)
Very well said Owen
No wonder you are one of the most well known fans of Eurovision
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