Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "For Real" written by Gökhan Özoğuz and Hakan Özoğuz. The song was performed by the band Athena, which was internally selected by the Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) to represent the nation at the 2004 contest. In addition to participating in the contest, the Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul after winning the competition in 2003 with the song "Everyway That I Can" performed by Sertab Erener. The announcement of Athena as the Turkish representative occurred on 2 September 2003, while their song was selected through the national final 26. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali. Three songs were presented to the public between 21 and 24 January 2004 and the winning song, "For Real", was selected entirely by a public televote and announced on 24 January during the TRT 1 show Sayısal Gece.

Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country Turkey
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: 26. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali
Selection date(s)Artist: 2 September 2003
Song: 24 January 2004
Selected entrantAthena
Selected song"For Real"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result4th, 195 points
Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

As the host country, Turkey qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 22 during the final, Turkey placed fourth out of the 24 participating countries with 195 points.

Background
Main article: Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2004 contest, Turkey had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 25 times since its first entry in 1975.[1] Turkey missed the 1977 contest because Arab countries pressured the Turkish government to withdraw from the contest because of the dispute over the Status of Jerusalem and 1994 contest due to a poor average score from the preceding contests, which ultimately led to relegation. Turkey had won the contest once: in 2003 with the song "Everyway That I Can" performed by Sertab Erener. The country's least successful result was in 1987 when it placed 22nd (last) with the song "Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne" by Seyyal Taner and Lokomotif, receiving 0 points in total.

The Turkish national broadcaster, Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT), broadcasts the event within Turkey and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Turkey has used various methods to select its entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer and song to compete at Eurovision. Since the country's debut at the contest in 1975, the broadcaster has opted to select the country's representative through the national final. In order to select the Turkish representative at the 2004 contest, TRT opted to internally select the artist and organise a national final to select the song.[2]

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

On 2 September 2003, TRT announced that the band Athena had been internally selected to represent Turkey in Istanbul. It was also announced that a national final would be held to select the song they would perform at the contest.[3]

26. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali

Three songs, all written by members of Athena Gökhan Özoğuz and Hakan Özoğuz, were submitted by the band to TRT for the national final and presented to the public between 21 and 24 January 2004 during special broadcasts on TRT 1, TRT Int and TRT Radyo.[4][5] The public was able to vote for their favourite song via telephone and SMS until 24 January and the winning song, "For Real", was announced on the same day during the TRT 1 show Sayısal Gece, hosted by Isik Özden and Ziya Kürküt.[6][7]

Final – 24 January 2004
Draw Song Televote Place
1 "I Love Mud on My Face" 10,931 3
2 "Easy Man" 12,024 2
3 "For Real" 86,362 1

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As the host country, Turkey automatically qualified to compete in the final on 15 May 2004. In addition to their participation in the final, Turkey is also required to broadcast and vote in the semi-final. The running order for the final in addition to the semi-final was decided through an allocation draw and Turkey was subsequently drawn to perform in position 22, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Romania. Turkey placed fourth in the final, scoring 195 points.[8]

The show was broadcast in Turkey on TRT 1 and TRT Int with commentary by Bülend Özveren and Didem Tolunay.[9][10][11] The Turkish spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Turkish televote during the final, was Meltem Ersan Yazgan.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Turkey and awarded by Turkey in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Greece in the semi-final and to Ukraine in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Turkey
Points awarded to Turkey (Final)[12]
Score Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina
6 points
5 points
4 points  Cyprus
3 points
2 points
1 point  Ireland

Points awarded by Turkey

References
  1. "Türkiye". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  2. "Eurovision temsilcimiz Grup Athena". Hurriyet (in Turkish). 2003-09-02. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  3. Rau, Oliver (2 September 2003). "Athena to represent Turkey in 2004". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2004-02-14. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  4. "Eurovision seçimi Sayısal Gecede". Milliyet (in Turkish). 2004-01-20. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  5. Bakker, Sietse (21 January 2004). "Turkish songs on TRT International". Esctoday. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. "TURKISH NATIONAL FINAL 2004".
  7. Rau, Oliver (24 January 2004). "Turkey: Athena will perform For real". Esctoday. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  8. "Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  9. "TV Programları – 12 Mayıs 2004". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 12 May 2004. p. 16. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  10. "TV Programları – 15 Mayıs 2004". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 12 May 2004. p. 16. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  11. "The Longest-Serving Eurovision Commentators". Aussievision. 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  12. "Results of the Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  13. "Results of the Semi-Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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