The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the inaugural edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 15 November 2003, in Copenhagen, Denmark. With Camilla Ottesen and Remee as the presenters, the contest was won by the then eleven-year-old Dino Jelusić, who represented Croatia with his song "Ti si moja prva ljubav" while second and third place went to Spain and the United Kingdom respectively. The next time that a country would win on its first attempt was Italy in 2014.
Eurovision Young Dancers, often shortened to EYD, or Young Dancers, was a biennial dance competition, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and is broadcast on television throughout Europe. Thirty-seven countries have taken part since the inauguration of the contest in 1985; including Kosovo and Canada.
Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994. Russia won the 2008 contest with Dima Bilan performing the song "Believe". One of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century with a total of ten top five placements, Russia finished second with Alsou in 2000, Dima Bilan in 2006, Buranovskiye Babushki in 2012 and Polina Gagarina in 2015; third with t.A.T.u. in 2003, Serebro in 2007, Sergey Lazarev in 2016 and 2019, and fifth with Dina Garipova in 2013. In 2018, the country failed to qualify for the final for the first time in its history. The Russian entry has been chosen through both internal selections and a televised national final titled Evrovidenie, with its most recent entry (2021) being chosen by the latter.
Cyprus has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 10 times since debuting at the first contest in 2003. The country's best result was eighth place, which was achieved both at the 2004 and 2006 contests with Marios Tofi and the song "Oneira" and Luis Panagiotou and Christina Christofi and the song "Agoria koritsia" respectively. The national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) has hosted the event for Cyprus once, in 2008 in Limassol. The nation's last appearance in the contest was in 2017.
Belarus has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in every edition since its inception in 2003 until 2020. The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC), then a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has been responsible for the selection process of its participants since its debut. The country hosted the contest at the Minsk-Arena in 2010 and again in 2018.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the sixth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is the world's largest song contest for children. It was held at the "Spyros Kyprianou" Athletic Centre in Lemesos, Cyprus and hosted by Alex Michael and Sophia Paraskeva. The theme of the event was "Fun in the Sun". It was won by the Georgian trio Bzikebi, with the song "Bzz..". Ukraine took 2nd place and Lithuania finished 3rd. Bzikebi also became the first group act to win the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
The Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 was the inaugural edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest, a dance competition co-production between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster BBC. The first ever pan-European dance competition was held on 1 September 2007 in London, United Kingdom with the participation of 16 countries.
The Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 was the second and final edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest and was held in Glasgow, Scotland, hosted by the BBC on 6 September. The presenters were, as in the previous edition, Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman. The contest took place at the SEC Centre.
İctimai Television, or İTV, is a public television channel in Azerbaijan. After its legal creation in early 2004, the station began broadcasting on 29 August 2005, making it the first independent public broadcaster in Azerbaijan. The channel is based in Baku.
Azerbaijan debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Day After Day" written by Govhar Hasanzadeh and Zahra Badalbeyli. The song was performed by Elnur and Samir. The Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected through Land of Fire 2008, organised by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV). The final took place on 2 February 2008 and a fifteen-member jury selected Elnur Hüseynov as the winner. The song "Day After Day", performed in a duet with Samir Javadzadeh, was internally selected and announced on 8 February.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the seventh edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was scheduled for 21 November 2009. 13 countries were confirmed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to compete in the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the 2011 contest with the song "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki. It was the first time Azerbaijan hosted the contest – only four years after the country made its debut. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV), the contest was held at the Baku Crystal Hall, and consisted of two semi-finals on 22 and 24 May, and a final on 26 May 2012. The three live shows were presented by Azerbaijani television presenter Leyla Aliyeva, newsreader Nargiz Birk-Petersen and singer Eldar Gasimov, the latter of whom was one of the previous edition's winners.
Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Drip Drop" written by Anders Bagge, Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman. The song was performed by Safura. The Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway was selected through Land of Fire 2010, organised by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV). Following a semi-final and a final on 2 February and 2 March 2010, respectively, a seven-member jury selected Safura as the winner. The song "Drip Drop" was internally selected and presented to the public on 18 March.
Armenia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pan-European music competition, since 2006, while Azerbaijan has participated since 2008. The continuing conflict between the two countries over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is considered to be a de jure part of Azerbaijan by the United Nations, but had been under control of the Armenia-backed de facto Republic of Artsakh between 1993 and 2023, has affected the Eurovision Song Contest on several occasions.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the tenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It took place at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 1 December 2012. Dutch broadcaster AVRO was the host broadcaster for the event. For the second time the Netherlands hosted the contest, after hosting the contest in 2007 in Rotterdam. The show was hosted by Kim-Lian van der Meij for a second time, this time joined by Ewout Genemans. The motto for the contest was "Break The Ice".
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.
The participation of Azerbaijan in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the tenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 which took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. İctimai Television (İTV), a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. Azerbaijan originally used a national final format for their participation at the 2012 contest. The first representatives to participate for the nation at the 2012 contest were Omar & Suada with the song "Girls and Boys ", which finished in eleventh place out of twelve participating entries. After participating for a second time in 2013 and finishing seventh, İTV withdrew from the contest in 2014 for unspecified reasons. The country returned to participate in 2018 where they placed sixteenth in a field of twenty, before withdrawing once again for a further two years. Azerbaijan returned to the 2021 contest in Paris, France, with İTV internally selected Sona Azizova to represent the nation with "One Of Those Days". Azizova achieved Azerbaijan's highest placing to date, achieving fifth place in a field of 19. İTV then withdrew again from the 2022 contest in Yerevan, Armenia and are yet to return.
Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Hold Me" written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. The song was performed by Farid Mammadov. The Azerbaijani entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden was selected through Milli Seçim Turu 2013, organised by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV). Following eight semi-finals and a final on 14 March 2013, a six-member jury selected "Hold Me" performed by Farid Mammadov as the winner.
Azerbaijan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Start a Fire" written by Stefan Örn, Johan Kronlund and Alessandra Günthardt. The song was performed by Dilara Kazimova. The Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through Böyük Səhnə, a talent show organised by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV). Following three elimination shows and a final on 2 March 2014, a five-member jury selected Dilara Kazimova as the winner. The song "Start a Fire" was internally selected and presented to the public on 16 March.
