The auditions for the 2014 Azerbaijani national selection Boyuk Sehne 2014  aka Big Stage kick off today. The casting for candidates wishing to compete in the competition will be held throughout the country, in 8 different cities from 9-15 January.

Ictimai, the national Azerbaijani broadcaster has informed  esctoday.com that the music talent show Boyuk Sehne will be the mechanism used to select the 2014 Azerbaijani representative.  The winner of Boyuk Sehne will get the honour to represent Azerbaijan at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhangen. The show will run for a total of 7 weeks concluding in March.

Boyuk Sehne audition dates and cities.

 09 January – Sumqayıt, Gəncə

10 January – Lənkəran, Yevlax

11 January – Şirvan, Şəki

12 January – Quba

13 January – Baku

15-16 January – Baku  (final casting)

The famous talent show Boyuk Sehne was aired on ATV during the last season, and now will be aired on Ictimai. The date of the final where the 2014 Azerbaijani representative will be selected is yet to be announced. More details will be disclosed in due course.

It is more than likely that the 2014 Azerbaijani national final will be held by mid March before the Heads of Delegations meeting in Copenhagen. Auditions for Boyuk Sehne 2014 will kick early next year.

Farid Mammadov, the 2013 Eurovision representative shot to fame thanks to his participation in this show earlier this year. He then went on to compete in the 2013 Azerbaijani national final, where he won the golden ticket to Malmö. Farid and 2 more participants from Boyuk Sehne competed in the  2013 Azerbaijani Eurovision final.

Azerbaijan has enjoyed massive success in the contest since their debut in 2008, achieving a total of 5 Top5 placings out of their 6 participations, including a victory in 2011 (3rd in 2009, 5th in 2010, 1st in 2011, 4th in 2012,  2nd in 2013).

Azerbaijan debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 and won the event on its 4th attempt in 2011 with Ell and Nikki’s Running Scared, thus bringing the contest to Baku in 2012.

Farid Mammadov represented Azerbaijan at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö achieving an honorable 2nd placing with his entry Hold me.

Stay tuned to Esctoday.com for the latest news on Azerbaijan and its 2014  Eurovision Song Contest participation.