ESC 2026: Azerbaijan secures spot in first half of second semi-final

The countdown to Eurovision 2026 is officially on. As fans across Europe eagerly anticipate the glittering spectacle in Austria, the mystery of the semi-final line-ups has finally been unveiled, Azernews reports.

And now, Azerbaijan's spot on the grand Eurovision stage has been revealed, promising another thrilling performance in one of the contest's most hotly anticipated shows.

During the draw held in Austria, the host country of this year's competition, it was revealed that Azerbaijan's representative will take the stage in the first half of the second semi-final.

The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Vienna, Austria, in May 2026 after Austria's victory at last year's contest in Basel with JJ's song "Wasted Love."

Vienna is hosting Eurovision for the third time, having previously hosted in 1967 and 2015, and this year's live shows will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle arena with the first semi?final on May 12, the second semi?final on May 14, and the grand final on May 16.

On January 12, 2026, the official semi?final allocation draw took place at Vienna's City Hall.

This draw determined which semi?final each participating country will perform in, as well as whether it will appear in the first or second half of the show. In total, 35 broadcasters are expected to compete at Eurovision 2026.

As the contest approaches, each country will reveal its selected artist and song, and the final performance order, which often has a significant impact on viewer impressions, will be announced closer to the live shows.

It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan reached the Top 5 in five consecutive contests - 3rd in 2009, 5th in 2010, 1st in 2011, 4th in 2012, and 2nd in 2013.

Azerbaijan marked its debut in 2008 with the duo of Elnur and Samir, who managed to become eighth in the final with their song Day After Day.

The brilliant duet of Aysel and Arash, which represented Azerbaijan next year, took third place at the song contest, while Safura Alizada, who represented the country at the Eurovision 2010 in Oslo, came fifth.

On its fourth attempt with Ell and Nikki's song Running Scared, the Land of Fire won the event, bringing the contest to Baku's Crystal Hall in 2012. Ell and Nikki were the first mixed-gender duo to win the contest since 1963 and the first winners from Azerbaijan.

In 2018, Aysel Mammadova performed brilliantly at the Eurovision 2018 semi-final, but she couldn't make it to the final. The singer represented Azerbaijan with the song X My Heart.

Azerbaijan's Chingiz Mustafayev impressed all Eurovision fans with his stunning performance in 2019. The singer finished in eighth place in the song contest.

In 2020, the song contest was cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, fans of the music contest had a great chance to enjoy a spectacular show called Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light, featuring 41 songs from that year's entries.

During the show, Samira Efendi pleased Eurovision fans with the song Cleopatra about trusting your gut instinct, standing up for yourself, and being a "Queen" - even when things get tough and especially if someone betrays or hurts you.

Next year, Efendi thrilled the audience with her hit song Mata Hari, which features ethnic motives based on traditional Azerbaijani musical instruments, such as zurna (trumpet) and nagara (drum), as well as melodies from the Azerbaijani folk dance "Yalli".

In 2022, Nadir Rustamli represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2022. The singer left Eurovision fans speechless with the song Fade To Black, co-written by Andreas Stone, Anders Rethov, Sebastian Schub, and Thomas Stengard. He came 16th, scoring 106 points.

In 2023, young talents Tural and Turan Bagmanovlar rocked the Eurovision stage in Liverpool with the song Tell Me More.

The year 2023 marked Azerbaijan's 15th involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest since its debut in 2008.

Fahree (Fahri Ismayilov) and Ilkin Dovlatov represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2024 with the song? "Özünl? Apar".

The song is co-written? by Fahree, Edgar Ravin, Hasan Haydar, Mila Miles, and Mado Salikh.

On 4 February 2025, ITV announced that Mamagama had been internally chosen to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, with the song "Run with U".

Mamagama performed in the first semifinal on 13 May 2025, where they failed to qualify for the grand final.

Photo Credit: Eurovision Song Contest