Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Country	Azerbaijan
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Milli Seçim Turu 2011; Song: Internal selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 11 February 2011; Song: 14 March 2011
Selected entrant	Ell and Nikki
Selected song	"Running Scared"
Selected songwriter(s)	Stefan Örn; Sandra Bjurman; Iain James Farquharson;
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (2nd, 122 points)
Final result	1st, 221 points
Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest

Azerbaijan participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared" written by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain James Farquharson. The song was performed by Ell and Nikki. The Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany was selected through Milli Seçim Turu 2011, organised by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV). Following seven heats, a semi-final and a final on 11 February 2011, a seven-member jury selected Nigar Jamal and Eldar Gasimov as the winner. The song "Running Scared" was internally selected and presented to the public on 14 March.

Azerbaijan was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 18, "Running Scared" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Azerbaijan placed second out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 122 points. In the final, Azerbaijan performed in position 19 and placed first out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 221 points. This was Azerbaijan's first win in the Eurovision Song Contest since its first entry in 2008.