Shortly after the 2009 Contest had finished, İTV released information of the selection of the 2010 Azerbaijani entry. Two separate open calls for songs and artists were held to select the song and artists to represent Azerbaijan at the 2010 Contest. The first phase of the selection entailed submissions by interested artists to compete in the selection. Artists wishing to participate had to submit a karaoke version of the songs they wanted to take part with in the selection procedure, one of which had to be a ballad and the other an uptempo song. The artists' dancing, acting and foreign language abilities were also used in selecting the singer for the Contest. There were no restrictions to either the nationality of the composer, or the language of the song. Around 20 candidates expressed their interest in representing Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2010 by 8 July 2009. Among them was the winner of the last season of the Yeni Ulduz musical talent competition Safura Alizadeh, young participants of other musical contests such as Azad Shabanov, Chingiz Mustafayev and Huseyn Abdullayev, and Sumqayit band Sevan Uraklar. From a total of 30 candidates, İTV selected six artists to take part in the contest after being assessed by local and foreign specialists. The semi-final was held on 2 February 2010 at the Buta Palace in Baku. Three acts will qualify to the final, which will be held in late February 2010. The winner of the contest will be chosen by 100% jury vote. İTV announced the six songs selected for the contest on 30 January 2010, all of which are performed in English.
Semi-final
The semi-final was held on 2 February 2010 at the Buta Palace in Baku, where the six acts performed original songs. Three acts: Milk & Kisses, Safura Alizadeh and Maryam Shabanova, were selected from the six artist line-up by a jury to the final. The three qualifying acts were Milk & Kisses, Safura Alizadeh and Maryam Shabanova. However the competing songs may not be used in the final, and may be changed for others. The contest began with a solo performance by last year's Azerbaijani entry AySel, who placed third in Eurovision 2009 with Arash with the song "Always". Afterwards Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winner Ruslana performed many of her hits: "Dance with the Wolves"; "The Girl That Rules"; "The Same Star"; and her Eurovision winning song "Wild Dances", introduced by an oriental bellydance performance. After the competing performances, Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak performed some of his hits, including a cover version of "Can't Take My Eyes off You" and a Russian-English version of his Eurovision winning song "Fairytale".
Final
The head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Adil Karimli, has reported that about ten composers have expressed their interest in the contest, all of whom are non-Azerbaijani. However it has been reported by APA that the composer has already been selected, being American producer Timbaland. On 19 February 2010, Karimli confirmed that the three finalists would perform five songs between them, composed by foreign authors and recorded recently in Kiev, Ukraine. The four songs were: "Drip Drop" and "Under My Skin", performed by all three acts; "Soulless", performed by Safura Alizadeh and Maryam Shabanova; "Cancelled", performed by Milk and Kisses and later Safura Alizadeh; and "Don't Let The Morning Come". The final was held on 2 March 2010 at the Buta Palace in Baku. The three qualifying artists - Milk & Kisses, Maryam Shabanova and Safura Alizadeh, performed a total of four songs and a seven-member jury selected Safura Alizadeh as the Azerbaijani entry for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. The Georgian entry for the 2010 Contest Sopho Nizharadze, and AySel, part of last year's Azerbaijani entry, were guests at the final, with Nizharadze performing her entry "Shine" for the Azerbaijani public. On 18 March 2010, İTV selected "Drip Drop", written by Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman, as the Azerbaijani song, after deliberation over which song to send to Eurovision from the three performed by Safura at the final, or to choose a new song.
At Eurovision
Azerbaijan competed in the second semi-final of the contest, on 27 May, seventh on the draw. "Drip Drop" was performed after Sweden's This is my life and preceding Ukraine's Sweet People, and qualified for the final, to be held on Saturday 29 May 2010.
Split results
In the Semi-final 2 Azerbaijan came 2nd with 113 points: the public awarded Azerbaijan 1st place with 126 points and the jury awarded 3rd place with 89 points.
In the Final Azerbaijan came 5th with 145 points: the public awarded Azerbaijan 5th place with 161 points and the jury awarded 9th place with 116 points.
