Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018


Armenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Armenian broadcaster Public Television company of Armenia organised a national final in order to select the Armenian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Armenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven 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. In 2017, "Fly with Me" performed by Artsvik scored 79 points and placed 18 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 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 27 October 2017. 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. In 2017 AMPTV launched a new national final Depi Evratesil in order to select the artist for Eurovision. On 27 October AMPTV announced that Depi Evratesil would be organized again in 2018 to select the artist and song for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

Depi Evratesil

Depi Evratesil is the national final organised by AMPTV to select the artist and song that will represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Competing entries

On 27 December 2017, Armenian public broadcaster revealed the twenty participating acts.
ArtistSong 'Composer
AlternatiV"Stare at Me"Sargis Burnazyan
Amaliya Margaryan“Waiting for the Sun”Vahram Yanikyan, Amaliya Margaryan
Angel"Heartbeat"Anzhela Barseghyan, Vahram Yanikyan
Arman Mesropyan"What You Hide"Vahram Yanikyan
Asmik Shiroyan"You & I"HAJ, Neil Ormandy, Marli Harwood
Gata Band"Shogha" 'Andranik Manukyan
Gevorg Harutyunyan"Stand Up"Astghik Grigoryan, Gevorg Harutyunyan, Liana Aramyan
Hayk Kasparov"Enamórame" 'Rafael Artesero Herrero, Jose Juan Santana Rodriguez
Kamil Show"Puerto Rico"Vahram Petrosyan, Arthur Abgar
Lusine Mardanyan"If You Don't Walk Me Home"Lusine Mardanyan, Gagach Derkhorenyan
Maria's Secret"Escape"Jorj Tonoyan
Mariam Petrosyan"Fade"Mariam Petrosyan
Mher Armenia"Forever"Arsen Barsamyan, Arshavir Stepanyan
Nemra"I'm a Liar"Van Yeghiazaryan
Robert Koloyan"Get Away With Us"Robert Koloyan, Arthur Armeni Mnatsakanyan, Grigor Kyokchyan
Sevak Khanagyan"Qami" 'Sevak Khanagyan, Anna Danielyan, Viktorya Maloyan
Suren Poghosyan"The Voice"Georgios Kalpakidis, Natasha Turner, Jonas Gladnikoff
Tamar Kaprelian"Poison " Tamar Kaprelian, Sebu Simonian, Harutyun Der-Hovagimian, Ovsanna Khublaryan, Yana Karapetyan, Sanahin Papazian
TyoM“Follow the Ocean”Gevorg Gevorgyan, Inna Mkrtchyan
Zhanna Davtyan"Unbreakable"Nikolayn Egibyan, Zhanna Davtyan

Semi-Final 1 (February 19)

The first semi-final took place on 19 February 2018. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consists of Sacha Jean Baptiste, Mart Normet, Zita Kaminska, Tali Eshkoli, Evi Papamichael, and Mateusz Grzesinski.

Semi-Final 2 (February 22)

The second semi-final took place on 22 February 2018. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The jury panel that voted in the second semi-final consists of Gordon Bonello, Molly Plank, Felix Bergsson, Jan Bors, Olga Salamakha, and Natia Mshvenieradze.

Final (February 25)

The final took place on 25 February 2018. Ten songs competed for five spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. The jury panel that voted in the final consists of Nicola Caligiore, Olga Salamakha, Sacha Jean Baptiste, Natia Mshvenieradze, Gordon Bonello, Mart Normet, Ovi, Edoardo Grassi, and Christer Bjorkman.

At Eurovision

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 29 January 2018, 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 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2018 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 Finland and preceding the entry from Switzerland.

Semi-final

Armenia performed sixteenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Finland and preceding the entry from Switzerland. At the end of the night, Armenia was not included among the ten countries who qualified for the grand final, making it their second non-qualification. It was later revealed that Armenia placed fifteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 79 points: 41 points from the televoting and 38 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Armenia

Points awarded by Armenia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Armenian jury: