Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Prior to the 2021 Contest, Azerbaijan had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since its first entry in 2008.[1] Azerbaijan had won the contest on one occasion in 2011 with the song "Running Scared" performed by Ell/Nikki. Since their debut in 2008, Azerbaijan has had a string of successful results, qualifying to the final and placing in the top ten each year until 2014, including a third-place result in 2009 with the song "Always" performed by AySel and Arash and a second-place result in 2013 with the song "Hold Me" performed by Farid Mammadov. However, in 2018, Azerbaijan placed eleventh in the semi-final with the song "X My Heart" performed by Aisel, making it the first occasion that Azerbaijan did not participate in a Eurovision final since their debut in 2008.

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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 six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on 28 January 2020, will be used for 2021 contest. Azerbaijan was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[3]