On 6 October 2010, İctimai TV announced their selection process for Eurovision 2011. In the preliminary phase of the national selection, İctimai chose 100 hopefuls to participate in the process. The broadcaster called for participants that must stand out for their "beautiful voice, dance ability and stage culture". On 19 October 2010, İctimai TV announced that they had received 120 submissions for national selection. One of the candidates is 20-year-old Ilgara Kazimova, daughter of the renowned Azerbaijani pop singerAygun Kazimova. The candidates also included previous years' applicants: Azad Shabanov, Aynishan Quliyeva, teenage quartet Next, Chingiz Mustafayev, Arzum, and Seyran Ismayilkhanov who resides in Germany, as well as Elnur Hüseynov who represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 as part of a duo having been placed eighth. Other first-time contestants are Khayyam Nisanov, Nurlan Novrasli, Khayyam Mustafazadeh, Khana Hasanova, Sabina Babayeva, Diana Hajiyeva, Sevinj Aghashirinova, and others. Submissions came from abroad, including Nigar Jamal and Nicola Barclay from the United Kingdom, Tarik Yigit from Turkey, Sultan Mashadiyev and Tahir Guliyev from Russia and Gunay Alakbarova from Finland. In November 2010, İctimai TV released more information on their selection. 77 people would be fighting for the ticket to Eurovision in Germany. 11 participants would appear on air every week. By the end of each week the jurors and the audience would select the only participant who would advance to the final, where seven singers would compete. The candidates would perform a foreign song on Monday, an Azerbaijani song on Tuesday, a Eurovision entry on Wednesday, a song of their choice on Thursday, and on Friday the winner would be determined.
Televised heats
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
On 6 December 2010, Scottish singer Nicola Barclay, who came second in the third semi-final, was granted a place in the final as a wildcard. The jury decided that Nicola deserved another chance as they were "amazed" by her vocal skills. However, due to changes in format and her illness Nicola Barclay was forced to pull out of the competition.
Draw
Artist
Points
Place
1
Dilshan Ibadova
3
8
2
Gunay Ibrahimli
12
1
3
Khayyam Nisanov
8
3
4
Sevinj Aghashirinova
5
6
5
Kanan Gadimov
6
5
6
Nigar Babayeva
2
9
7
Orkhan Aghayev
7
4
8
Farid Mammadov
1
10
9
Nazir Aghayev
0
11
10
Nicola Barclay
10
2
11
Rinat Alimov
4
7
Heat 4
Heat 5
Heat 6
On 24 December 2010, Eldar Gasimov was granted the wildcard and won a right to compete in the final. In the final, seventh semi-final, Nigar Jamal received the third and final wildcard, also granting her a place in the final which would now involve 10 people and not 7, as planned originally.
Draw
Artist
Points
Place
1
Ilgara Ibrahimova
12
1
2
Eldar Gasimov
10
2
3
Seyran Ismayilkhanov
6
5
4
Leyla Idrisova
4
7
5
Rustam Allazov
5
6
6
Sultan Mashadiyev
3
8
7
Elyana Ahmadova
8
3
8
Fuad Mustafazadeh
1
10
9
Sarkhan Mammadov
2
9
10
Diana Hajiyeva
7
4
Heat 7
Semi-final
On 4 January 2011, representative of Azerbaijan's official Eurovision broadcaster Ictimai TV Natig Abdullayev announced changes to the original plan of holding the final among winners of the seven semi-finals. From 10 January to 14 January 2011, 9 acts competed in the semi-final which televoting and an "expert" jury determined the 5 finalists.
Draw
Artist
Result
1
Chingiz Mustafayev
Eliminated
2
Nurlan Novrasli
Eliminated
3
Gunay Ibrahimli
Eliminated
4
Arzum Khalilova
Eliminated
5
Aynishan Quliyeva
Finalist
6
Ilgara Ibrahimova
Finalist
7
Eldar Gasimov
Finalist
8
Ilhama Gasimova
Finalist
9
Nigar Jamal
Finalist
Final
The final was held on 11 February 2011 at the Akhundov Azerbaijan State Academic Opera & Ballet Theater in Baku, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva. The winners were chosen by an "expert" jury who decided to send Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal to represent Azerbaijan as a duo at Eurovision 2011.
Draw
Artist
1
Nigar Jamal
2
Aynishan Quliyeva
3
Ilgara Ibrahimova
4
Eldar Gasimov
5
Ilhama Gasimova
Song selection
On 11 January, the organising committee of Eurovision Azerbaijan announced a call for submissions for the song that would be performed by the Azerbaijani representative. Both national and foreign composers were invited to submit their songs, and one song would be chosen by an internal committee. As of 25 January 2011, the organising committee had received 15 submissions, coming mostly from Azerbaijan, as well as from Spain, Greece, Romania, and Australia.
At Eurovision
Azerbaijan competed under number 18 in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest, on 10 May, and qualified for the final. They went on to win it with 221 points. A later review of the split voting showed that the juries placed Azerbaijan second, but that the televoting carried the song through to first. With their entry only receiving 5.14 points per country, Azerbaijan holds the record of the lowest average score for a winning song under the previous voting system. Since the introduction of semi-finals and of the split jury-televoting system, they are also the third winner not to achieve first place in their semi-final, and not winning according to the juries' ranking.
Split results
In the Semi-final 1 Azerbaijan came 2nd with 122 points: the public awarded Azerbaijan 2nd place with 124 points and the jury awarded also 2nd place with 109 points.
In the Final Azerbaijan came 1st with 221 points: the public awarded Azerbaijan 1st place with 223 points and the jury awarded 2nd place with 182 points.
