Hello everyone and welcome to another post on The Blogging DJ. Today I will be continuing to look in detail at the songs that will be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. This post sees us move east, to the first male solo artist of this series, Chingiz, representing Azerbaijan with his song “Truth”.
Selection Process
As is tradition with Azerbaijan, their national broadcaster, iTV, internally selected their entry. Over three hundred and fifty songs were submitted to an open audition round and at least fifteen artists performed, with the top four qualifying to the final selection. On the 8th of March, Chingiz and “Truth” was revealed to be the winning entry. It has also been announced that Azerbaijan will perform in the second half of semi-final two in Tel Aviv.
Music Video
The Blogging DJ’s Review
Azerbaijan have gone from brilliant to experimental in the decade they have been in this competition, but this follow’s last year’s entry by feeling a bit too…safe? Don’t get me wrong, there is a good production behind this song and you could probably hear this on radio stations in any country. However, the use of terrific makeup skills and costumes on the figures in the music video gives them a uniqueness that doesn’t match up with the generic, radio-friendly song. There is also too much of a plateau musically in my opinion. It’s not a bad song by any stretch, it will certainly qualify, but, apart from the very handsome artist, not much is giving me a reason to vote for this. 6
Live Performance Video
This song has yet to be performed live. If it is performed before Eurovision, the video of the performance will be posted here.
Odds
Currently, according to Oddschecker, you can get odds between 33/1 and 50/1 on Azerbaijan winning the Eurovision Song Contest this year. This means that betters see this country as being a solid qualifier for the Grand Final and will challenge for a position in the top ten.
Record at Eurovision
Azerbaijan have entered the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since their debut in 2008, qualifying for the Grand Final on ten of those occasions, thus having one of the best qualification records in the contest. Their best finish came in 2011, where Ell & Nikki won in Dusseldorf with their love ballad “Running Scared”. They have also placed in the top five in another four contests. Last year, Aisel was their representative with “X My Heart”, but could only finish in eleventh place in semi-final one, thus making it the first year Azerbaijan was not present in the Grand Final.
What do you make of the Azeri entry this year? Is it a common “Truth” that they will qualify for the final this year? You can let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more Eurovision preview posts in the coming weeks, continuing with Belarus in the next part. See you guys then!
The Blogging DJ 
I do like this a lot, mostly because it is quite catchy and memorable. It stands out when I’m listening to the songs on my headphones. I rate it higher but I agree that it is rather safe and generic. A great stage show will be needed and I hope they go for something really original there.
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