Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Armenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Fly with Me" which was selected internally by the Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia. It was performed by singer Artsvik who was chosen through the national final Depi Evratesil.
Armenia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 16, "Fly with Me" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May.
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Armenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in. Armenia's 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. In 2016, "LoveWave" performed by Iveta Mukuchyan placed seventh in the final.The Armenian national broadcaster, Public Television of Armenia, broadcasts the event within Armenia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. AMPTV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 30 June 2016. 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. After three consecutive years of selecting both the artist and song internally, AMPTV announced that a national final would be organized to select the artist for the 2017 contest.
Before Eurovision
''Depi Evratesil''
Depi Evratesil is the national final organised by AMPTV to select the artist that will represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. All shows in the competition will be broadcast on Armenia 1.Format
The competition compromises of four stages and it is expected to run for three months between October and December 2016. The winning artist will be determined by a combination of votes from a jury panel and a public SMS vote. Six previous Armenian Eurovision entrants will comprise the jury:- Iveta Mukuchyan
- Essaï Altounian
- Aram Mp3
- Inga Arshakyan
- Anush Arshakyan
- Hayko
Competing artists
Teams
- Winner
- Runner-up
- Third place
- Fourth place
- - Eliminated in Semi-Final 1
- - Eliminated in One of Two
First Stage: Auditions
Second Stage: Judges Selection
The second stage of the project started on 22 October, with 37 in the competition. The six judges competed to choose acts for their groups. The judges had the option of pressing their buttons in the last ten seconds of each performance. The first judge to press their button got the artist, with each judge looking for four artists to join their team. If none of the judges press their button, the contestant is eliminated from the competition.Day 1 (22 October)
Nine artists performed on Day 1.| Artist | Song | Left Seconds | Selected Judge |
| Veronika Grigoryan | "Rijeka bez imena" | Eliminated | - |
| Lucy | "Mercy" | 10 | Aram Mp3 |
| Egine | "Sledgehammer" | 9 | Hayko |
| Syuzanna Melqonyan | "The Power of Love" | 9 | Inga |
| Opera Viva | "Nessun dorma" | 10 | Essaï |
| Mery Mheryan | "One Night Only" | Eliminated | - |
| Christina Mangasaryan | "Try" | 10 | Iveta |
| Saro Gevorgyan | "Bang Bang" | 10 | Aram Mp3 |
| Rob Avalyan | "Yassou Maria" | Eliminated | - |
Day 2 (29 October)
Nine artists performed on Day 2.| Artist | Song | Left Seconds | Selected Judge |
| Vahe Aleksanyan | "Tonight Again" | 10 | Iveta |
| Payla Kevorkian | "Too Close" | Eliminated | - |
| Marissa | "Sweet People" | Eliminated | Essaï1 |
| Jujo | "Virtual Insanity" | 9 | Aram Mp3 |
| Albert Ghazaryan | "Pero Te Extraño" | Eliminated | - |
| Stepan Hovhannisyan | "Mamma Knows Best" | 10 | Anush |
| Artsvik | "Sweet Dreams" | 10 | Essaï |
| Armenuhi Gasparyan | "Feeling Good" | Eliminated | - |
| Anna Danielyan | "Dancing On My Own" | 2 | Hayko |
- Note 1: According to the rules, all six judges must have four participants in their groups. However, when all participants finished their performances, Essaï had only three, so he was given a chance to choose his final team member from eliminated participants. As a result, Marissa was selected as Essaï's fourth team member at the end of the Day 4.
Day 3 (5 November)
| Artist | Song | Left Seconds | Selected Judge |
| Mariam Yevriyan | "Beggin'" | Eliminated | - |
| Lilit Harutyunyan | "All of Me" | 10 | Aram Mp3 |
| Marta | "How Deep Is Your Love" | 9 | Anush |
| Diana Adamyan | "Bang Bang" | Eliminated | - |
| Kristina Avtisyan | "Hit the Road Jack" | Eliminated | - |
| Alexander Plato | "Monologue" | 10 | Anush |
| Anna Sedrakyan | "Wicked Game" | 8 | Anush |
| Diana Dikovski | "Georgia on My Mind" | Eliminated | - |
| Arthur Abgar | "Te quiero, te quiero" | Eliminated | - |
| Hasmik Shiroyan | "Dziwny jest ten świat" | 10 | Iveta |
Day 4 (12 November)
Nine artists performed on Day 4.| Artist | Song | Left Seconds | Selected Judge |
| Only Girls | "Kukushka" | 10 | Essaï |
| Sona Dunoyan | "Sorry" | 6 | Iveta |
| Gevorg Harutyunyan | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | 7 | Inga |
| Axel Daveyan | "Feeling Good" | Eliminated | - |
| Karine Harutyunyan | "Listen" | 10 | Inga |
| Zemfira Fridon | "Simply the Best" | Eliminated | - |
| Yeva Kans | "We Are the World" | 9 | Hayko |
| Amaliya Margaryan | "The Show Must Go On" | 9 | Hayko |
| Narine Jinanyan | "Love On Top" | 10 | Inga |
Third Stage: One of Two
The third stage of the project started on 19 November. During this round only 24 contestants remain in the competition. The six judges pit two of their own team members to compete against each other. One is saved, the other one is eliminated. Five judges have an opportunity to give one point to their favourite artist. After those votes are made, the team's judge votes by giving three points. To win the battle the participants must receive more points than their opponents. After that, the last two artists of each team compete against each other, but this time only their own judge selects who continues the fight.Day 5 (19 November)
During the fifth day, 12 participants performed; two from each team. Only six artists were given the chance to continue the fight.Day 6 (26 November)
During the sixth day the remaining twelve acts performed, two acts from each team. Only six artists were given the chance to continue the fight.Day 7 (3 December)
During the seventh day two artists within each team performed against each other. As a result, 6 artists, one of each team, get to advance to semi-final.Color key:
| Artist won the battle and advanced to Semi-Final | |
| Artist lost the battle and was eliminated |
Semi-Final 1 (10 December)
The first semi-final show took place on 10 December 2016 and the top four from the six competing artists qualified to the second semi-final. Top 4 was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and 9 professional juries. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 189 points to award. Each jury distributed his/her points from 1 to 6. The televote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through SMS voting.In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the interval act featured 2016 Junior Eurovision Armenian entrants Anahit & Mary with their song "Tarber".
| Draw | Judge | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | Result |
| 1 | Anush | Marta | "Naughty Girl" | 48 | 49 | 97 | 1 | Advanced |
| 2 | Essaï | Artsvik | "Hurt" | 32 | 39 | 71 | 2 | Advanced |
| 3 | Hayko | Egine | "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody " | 25 | 33 | 58 | 4 | Advanced |
| 4 | Aram Mp3 | Lusine Aghabekyan | "Turn Around" | 20 | 17 | 37 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Inga | Syuzanna Melqonyan | "Je suis malade" | 31 | 36 | 67 | 3 | Advanced |
| 6 | Iveta | Vahe Aleksanyan | "Writing's on the Wall" | 33 | 15 | 48 | 5 | Eliminated |
Semi-Final 2 (17 December)
The second semi-final show took place on 17 December 2016 and the top two from the four competing artists qualified to the Final. Top 2 was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and 11 international professional juries headed by Swedish producer Christer Björkman. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 110 points to award. Each jury distributed his/her points from 1 to 4. The televote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through SMS voting.In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the interval act featured Sos and Victoria Petrosyan with their quick-change acts.
| Judge | Draw | Artist | First Song | Draw | Eurovision Hit | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | Result |
| Anush | 1 | Marta | "Popuri" | 5 | "Rhythm Inside" | 21 | 40 | 61 | 2 | Advanced |
| Inga | 2 | Syuzanna Melqonyan | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | 6 | "Sweet People" | 30 | 24 | 54 | 3 | Eliminated |
| Essaï | 3 | Artsvik | "Crazy" | 7 | "A Million Voices" | 35 | 27 | 62 | 1 | Advanced |
| Hayko | 4 | Egine | "Crazy in Love" | 8 | "Warrior" | 24 | 19 | 43 | 4 | Eliminated |
Final (24 December)
The final show took place on 24 December 2016 and top two artists, Marta and Artsvik, performed two songs. The winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of public votes and 7 panarmenian juries from Armenian diaspora. The televote and jury's votes was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through SMS voting or by jury members.In addition to the performances of the competing artists, the opening act featured Voices of Artsakh performing a mashup of all Armenian 10 entries in Eurovision Song Contest. The interval acts featured Hovig with a mashup of his songs and "Hayi acher" and Iveta Mukuchyan with "LoveWave" and "Amenic amena".
| Judge | Artist | Draw | First Song | Draw | Armenian Hit | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| Anush | Marta | 1 | "Don't Stop the Music"/"Only Girl " | 3 | "Tsov" | 19% | 10% | 29% | 2 |
| Essaï | Artsvik | 2 | "I Have Nothing" | 4 | "Aprelu april" | 31% | 40% | 71% | 1 |
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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 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. On 25 January 2016, a special 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 9 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Armenia was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Slovenia.
Semi-final
Artsvik took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.At the end of the show, Armenia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Armenia placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 152 points: 65 points from the televoting and 87 points from the juries.
Final
Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Armenia was drawn to compete in the first half.Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Armenia and awarded by Armenia in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:Points awarded to Armenia
Points awarded by Armenia
Split voting results
The following five members will comprise the Armenian jury:- Ara Gevorgyan – Chairperson – musician, composer
- Emma Asatryan – vocal teacher, singer, songwriter
- Eduard Topchjan – conductor
- Aramayis Hayrapetyan – director
- Zaruhi Babayan – singer, vocal teacher
- Tigran Sanoyan – musician