Neha Patil (Editor)

Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

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Country
  
Armenia

Selected entrant
  
Genealogy

Selection process
  
Internal Selection

Selected song
  
"Face the Shadow"

Selection date(s)
  
Various (February-March 2015)

Semi-final result
  
Qualified (7th, 77 points)

Armenia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. Their entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV). The nation will be represented by the song "Face the Shadow" performed by the group Genealogy, which features members from the worldwide Armenian diaspora.

Contents

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Armenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its first entry in 2006. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been fourth place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2008 with the song "Qélé, Qélé" performed by Sirusho and in 2014 with the song "Not Alone" performed by Aram Mp3. Armenia had, to this point, failed to qualify to the final on only one occasion in 2011. The nation briefly withdrew from the contest in 2012 due to long-standing tensions with then host country Azerbaijan.

The Armenian broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, who broadcasts the event in Armenia and organises the selection process for its entry, was AMPTV. Armenia has used various methods to select the Armenian entry in the past, such as a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However internal selections have also been held on occasion. In 2014, the broadcaster internally selected both the artist and the song, a procedure that had only been used once before to select Armenia's debut entry in 2006. For 2015, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting both the artist and the song through an internal selection.

Internal selection

Armenia's entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest was selected via an internal selection by the Armenian broadcaster AMPTV. The song "Face The Shadow" performed by the group Genealogy was announced as the selected entry on 11 February 2015. The selected group was created for the purpose of representing Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest. In order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide (but this is not an official statement), the Armenian broadcaster extended invitations to five singers from the Armenian diaspora in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, to participate in the group.

Members
  • The first member of the group, Essaï Altounian, a French Armenian, was announced on 16 February 2015.
  • The second member of the group, Tamar Kaprelian, an American-Armenian singer, was announced on 20 February 2015.
  • The third member Vahe Tilbian, an Armenian-Ethopian singer, was announced on 23 February 2015.
  • The fourth member Stephanie Topalian, is a U.S. born Armenian-American-Japanese singer residing in Japan. Her father is Armenian and her mother Japanese. Her membership was announced on 27 February 2015. Topalian became the Asian Continent representative in the group.
  • The fifth member is Mary-Jean O'Doherty, an Australian opera singer of Armenian descent. Her membership was announced on 3 March 2015.
  • The sixth member is Inga Arshakyan, who also represented Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, along with her sister, Anush. She was announced on 12 March 2015.

    • The five artists at the same time symbolize the five petals of the forget-me-not flower. In their centre, the group will be unified by their sixth artist.

    At Eurovision

    All countries except the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), special guest Australia and the host country, Austria, are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Armenia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 19 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

    Split voting results

    The following five members comprised the Armenian jury:

  • Grigor Nazaryan – Chairperson – producer, music producer
  • Nune Yesayan – singer
  • Leyla Saribekyan – singer, composer
  • Aram Sargsyan (Aram MP3) – singer, songwriter, comedian and showman, represented Armenia in the 2014 contest
  • Aren Bayadyan – director

    • Semi-final 1

    The Armenian votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.

    Final

    The Armenian votes in the final will be based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.

    References

    Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA